Dan Bone Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 Since our club has started shooting Steel Challenge type matches I'm considering what would be the best LIMITED steel gun. I've tried plenty of different types/brands of weapons/calibers and have pretty much made up my mind that I want an STI Trojan. The issue is whether to make it a 9MM or 38S. My thoughts are: 9MM shoots very nice and Wal-mart ammo enables reduced costs. But I've read plenty about the reliability issues of magazines and 9MM feeding in a single stack. Would shooting 38S elliminate the magazine/feeding problems? I already have the press, reloading components. So although I'm now forced to do the labor of reloading, I can keep the costs under control. What are you thoughts? Are there any pros - cons that you can think of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 I'm going to have mine in .38 Super. I'm lazy and can just dial down my powder measure for steel loads vs. IPSC loads. As soon as I save my pennies, I'm getting a Limcat steel gun. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve223 Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 I dont have any feeding problems in my sprindfield 38 super. Im kinda like rich and just diel down the powder for steel. I just got a new open steel top end for mine,now just to find the time to set it up. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhgtyre Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 My buddy has an SVI 9mm and I have an STI in .38 super. Both guns are really fun to shoot but there are some differences. The 9mm doesn't take steel as readily as the .38 super but this is only really a problem on full sized poppers and even then it isn't an issue 99.9% of the time. The 9mm also seems to be a bit snappier to shoot. Reliability with both of these guns has been outstanding. Both guns shoot 115 gr fmj's with 5 gr's of WST. At the end of the day it really sucks when I don't get all of my super brass back. My buddy just shrugs it off if he doesn't get all of his 9mm back. -ld Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 tough choice. At our Steel matches, we put down tarps to catch all the brass...so the shooter almost alwasy gets back 100% of their brass. 9mm is handy though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougCarden Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 I converted over both of my Steel guns(STI open gun and stock) from 9SC to 9x19 and use the STI spacer/follower kits. 100% reliable with pussy plate loads or Win White Box. Whatever I throw in works. I dont have to worry about loosing my 9SC brass at matches anymore, due to my 5gal bucket of 9mm brass. Works for me...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 If you already have a Limited gun in 40 - try loading up some 135 gr bullets with some fast powder (I like Clays). Drop in a 10 lb. recoil spring, too. I've shot 38 Super 9mm and Rhino's SA 9mm and thought they recoiled quite strangely. I love the feel of fast, light bullets out of a 40 at minor PF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 In general ... I think you'll have fewer reliability headaches with .38 super. If you like to reload, then I'd go with the super. If not, I'd go with the 9mm, especially since you're getting an STI and either caliber should be plenty accurate and reliable. I will say that my Springfield 9mm gun runs like a top with their 9mm magazines. You can get them either from Springfield or from Metalform and they should work great with your STI as well. On the other hand, your 9mm STI gun may also run well with .38 super mags. If that's the case, then you're in business with McCormick 10-rd mags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalmas Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 I have a full duster SVI 9x19 and have never hand any problems what so ever. The few times it has not feed or malfunctioned is due to my laziness in keeping it clean. I shot military issue 9x19 which hold about 150 pf. Have never really shot much else so I don't know how it would act with cheap off the shelf ammo of lower quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunther Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 I just turned a old Hi-cap Caspian 38 Super OPEN gun into a Limited 9mm. With the solid steel frame and shooting 130 PF 9mm it is like shooting a dream. Seems to shoot just about any ammo, reloads factory stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Dedmon Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 My Iron Sight Steel Gun is in 38 Super. I run a 124 gr. Hornady FP @ 1050 fps with VV N320 and it works great. My Open Steel Gun is in 38 Super also. Even if I was going to start over and built both guns again I would go 38 Super. Just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redmercury2 Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 I have a single stack setup with both a 9mm and 38super barrels which can be switched simply by swapping barrel and bushing. I USE THE SAME 38 SUPER MAGS FOR SHOOTING BOTH CALIBERS. no feed problems at all. the super has the advantage only of more powder in the case.i prefer the super for the simple reason i have a 1050 setup for 38 super!!!! good shooting!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GENE S Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 I took my STI open gun, un-screwed the Red Buff mount and had a new STI slide and barrol put on in 38 Sup for my limited & limited 10 gun. I shoot minor, 130 gr copper clad with 7.3 of accurat # 7 at a 128 pf. Keeping the same frame, I have the same trigger pull and feel of the open gun. It has never failed me in the past two years. I use nickle brass for the limited gun so as to not get my loads mixed. Anything to keep it simple. I won my class at the tri-states last year. The gun works great. Gene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerT Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 I had been told by several shooters that the 38 Super would feed more reliably in the 1911 style gun, but several of the threads before this would suggest other wise. If that is in fact not the case, I might lean toward the 9mm, since the brass is just so damn cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmon Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 buddy has a sti edge 9mm, man thats a sweeeet gun/ maybe a touch heavy for a 9, slow transitions kill a steel gun. my glock 34 can haul some ass on steel.. i bet if i had the sti, i could shoot faster as the gun has less felt recoil. off the subject a lil bit, i am looking to build a single stack 9mm for steel, comp, optics, this isnt going to be a limited gun. i say get the 9mm, it will feed as good as the supers, plus brass is everywhere and if you dont fancy reloading the 9, ammo is cheap cheap. i really think i shoot steel faster with 145 pf ammo than i do with 125 pf ammo, especially in my glock.. my 45 with 155 pf ammo smokes the steel down, 40 oz and nearly no recoil makes some fast shootin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Weidhaas Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 Dan, Since you want a single stack gun, I'd definetly go with .38super-comp. My son (age 11) shoots a gun like this and the thing is awesome. We originally had the gun built in 9mm, but could not get the gun to run reliably in 9mm. This was a magazine issue. One of the problems with 9mm in a single stack is that the bullets are short (like to nose dive) and they are tapered in that the rear of the cases will stack leaving the nose of the cartridge flopping up and down. We turned the gun into a 38 super-comp and run Wilson .38 super mags. The cases stack flat in the mag and the OAL is perfect for feeding. No problems and the gun is very pleasant to shoot with 115gr. handloads. (NOTE: I tried every single 9mm mag made and Wilson .38super mags and could not get this gun (Custom built Caspain) in 9mm to run. Bullets would nose dive coming of the mag. The caliber switch fixed everything. If you decide to build a wide body on an STI or SV, the caliber issue is not as big a deal. A good friend runs a 9mm STI limited gun and has no problems. The 9mm problems lend themselves to the single stack design. Hope this helps, Nick- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
switch05 Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Wouldnt the 38 super be able to knock down steel more readily over a 9mm i havent had much expirence with either but the 38 super has a larger case volume than the 9mm does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Most steel is calibrated / designed to fall over at 125 pf. ( 125 gr bullet x 1000 fps = 125 pf) very easily done in either 9mm or 38 super - and the steel can't tell the difference And for the "carnival match" that Dan is talking about, The Steel Challenge the plates don't fall, just need to be hit.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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