Dfehr401 Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 Is it cheaper in the long run to sell the 38 and find a 9 or is getting a new slide fit a reasonable expense? Ive been trying to sell but no takers yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rnlinebacker Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 Get a new slide for. Open gun market is already slim to none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBomber Posted August 26, 2023 Share Posted August 26, 2023 You shouldn't need a new slide. Just rebarrel the gun you have. Might need to get a new comp. 500-700 dollars should get it done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc68cal Posted August 27, 2023 Share Posted August 27, 2023 The problem with having the same slide and two barrels is that if/when the slide cracks, you have two barrels that are fitted to a slide that is cracked. It is better to have a slide paired with a barrel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted August 27, 2023 Share Posted August 27, 2023 This, plus one always gets used more than the other, so they wear in differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyScuba Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 Is it really worth it in the long run? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CocoBolo Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 I converted two guns from 38 Super/SuperComp to 9 Major. One with a cone comp and the other a bull barrel. I bought new barrels and comps and had them fitted. Since both guns had the Aftec extractor they both ran fine after being fitted. My SVI mags run either caliber and the STI mags needed spacers. As to cracking slides, yes, both guns did crack slides at some point, and STI gave me a new slide for one and balked on the other a couple years later. I replaced both with Caspian Slides, and had my smith fit those to both barrels. The real expense was getting the Slides cut down to fighting weight and Hard Chromed. I used a precut Brazos slide and that saved some money but everyone thinks my Franken gun is a Brazos now. At 75 I have no love for shagging brass at a match, that said if I had more money than sense I would just shoot 38SC, easier to load and you can re-load the brass till it splits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNsTeR Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 (edited) Let's assume it costs a nice round $500 to re-barrel. Starline 38SC brass is $188/k and bulk 9mm brass is $50/k. Let's further assume you get an average of 3 uses out of the 38SC brass before losing it, and the 9mm you use once and leave it. We'll also assume you shoot 5000 rounds a year. Adjust all of these assumptions as desired, some of them are very arbitrary. Your baseline 38SC brass cost will be $188 times 5 (batches of 1000) divided by 3 uses -> $313 Your alternative 9mm brass cost would be $50 times 5 -> $250 Savings is $63 per year plus the saved wear & tear on your back from picking up brass. You may also spend a tiny bit less on powder but we'll ignore that. In pure monetary terms it will take you 7.9 years to earn back the rebarrel cost (ignoring Time Value of Money) If you shoot more than that, pick up your 9mm brass, or get "free" 9mm brass the payback period is shorter. If you get more uses from your brass it's longer. If you really really really don't want to pick up brass the math is kinda irrelevant. Edited April 23 by MoNsTeR initial post erroneously said picking up your 9 brass makes the payback longer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyScuba Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 And some guys use new 9mm starline for big matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted April 22 Share Posted April 22 6 hours ago, CocoBolo said: At 75 I have no love for shagging brass at a match, that said if I had more money than sense I would just shoot 38SC, easier to load and you can re-load the brass till it splits. and your gun will probably last longer and work better. seems dumb to me to spend 5-10g on a gun and then use cheap crappy mismatched overpressured 9mm brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnyglock Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 On 8/26/2023 at 2:44 PM, MadBomber said: You shouldn't need a new slide. Just rebarrel the gun you have. Might need to get a new comp. 500-700 dollars should get it done. That’s way too cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzt Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 Coco, there are some strange opinions here. You are 75 and don't want to do the brass chicken dance after every match. I didn't either. That's why I went 9 major. Once you rebarrel, you will never shoot 38SC again, unless you have a little left over. Buy a one piece barrel/comp from Brazos and have a good smith fit it to your existing slide. It will last longer than you and you'll never have to re-Loctite a comp. As far as 9mm being hard on the gun, I see no evidence of that. My major load was 10.8gr SWMP under a 115 JHP for 175 PF. I have no idea how many I've shot, but it is a lot. Just recently I ran out and substituted AA7. I had none left from last year, so I hurriedly loaded some up with 10.8gr. After two matches I'm wondering why the dot is jumping so much. I chrono's and found the 115 JHPs were going 1600fps, 184 PF. No damage to the gun at all. I'll be pulling the remainder and loading softer. I buy fully processed, once fired, roll sixed, resized, swaged, polished same HS brass for 5.5 cents each. I generally buy 6k at a time. I was down to 5k primers and had the opportunity to buy 5k new Win+P HS brass primed with lead free primers for 14.4 cents each delivered. My SDs for 10 and 20 round strings are always less the 6. There is absolutely no reason to use mixed HS, range pickup brass for major. I'll admit I do just that for 132 PF minor and 100 PF sub-minor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davsco Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 oh cmon, stick with 38 super, it's cool! just buy new brass. powder ain't spilling over. believe the longer 38 feeds a slight bit better than 9 (so i've heard). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 The only benefit to shooting a 9 open gun is brass availability. Everything else a SC will do as well or better. You can decide if that's 'worth it' for you. These days I do a lot of practice shooting with 9s and switch to the SCs before major matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darqusoull13 Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 Every day I thank people like @shred for showing me the light and the way that is, was and will be 38 SC in Open. I regret nothing about it. Best decision ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyScuba Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 I only tried out a 9 major gun once and the dot was dancing all over the place. SV and Limcat sell guns with 2 top ends but at thousands extra when will you ever break even? Considering you’ll need a 2nd toolhead which for a mark7 ain’t cheap either. A few guys up here have a match 38 and practice 9. That’s a lotta $$$$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Phil Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 Oh, okay... wait! When did most (any) of us obsessive (to quote my wife) shooters ever worry about breaking even? Is that why we have a 'race gun' and a spare? Or 2 or 3 spares? It's more like, "I saw it. I want it. Now I got it... Hey, what's that? I want one of them too!" I keep thinking maybe I will sell off some of my wore out guns. Maybe then I could break even? Naa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
392heminut Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 1 minute ago, Dr. Phil said: Oh, okay... wait! When did most (any) of us obsessive (to quote my wife) shooters ever worry about breaking even? Is that why we have a 'race gun' and a spare? Or 2 or 3 spares? It's more like, "I saw it. I want it. Now I got it... Hey, what's that? I want one of them too!" I keep thinking maybe I will sell off some of my wore out guns. Maybe then I could break even? Naa. Yup, we be like yada yada yada ..............SQUIRREL!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Phil Posted April 23 Share Posted April 23 Now that's funny!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddc Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 5 hours ago, MikeyScuba said: I only tried out a 9 major gun once and the dot was dancing all over the place. SV and Limcat sell guns with 2 top ends but at thousands extra when will you ever break even? Considering you’ll need a 2nd toolhead which for a mark7 ain’t cheap either. A few guys up here have a match 38 and practice 9. That’s a lotta $$$$ Breaking even? I think about saving money but... In this sport people will spend thousands for any advantage, perceived or otherwise, lol... I try to get sucked in to that mindset as little as possible... lately without much success! First world problem for sure...don't tell my wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Phil Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 Dude! I'm pretty sure your wife knows! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
392heminut Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 26 minutes ago, Dr. Phil said: Dude! I'm pretty sure your wife knows! Oh, they know! They don't let on until they want a new appliance or car or something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CocoBolo Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 I'm sure the attempt to educate me on 9 major was with good intentions, but after 14 years of 9 Major I already learned most of it. To be to the point if you have a 38Super shoot it, pickup your brass, and be happy you have a s#!t load more powders you can shoose from, and the $2000 you didn't spend on converting to 9 Major you can use for Brass or your next Open Gun. Shooting wise 9 maj and 38 SC are about the same, but you do have to work up the load to fit the gun. My 38SC worked best when I pushed the PF up to @178, and the 9 Maj settles in nice @172. I always use a timer to test if one load is better than the other, it may feel good, but did you accomplish the mission, are you faster now? I miss smelling Dykem in the morning, maybe I'll go back to 38SC, but if I did I would miss the powder slinging of 9 Maj and those annonying crimped primer pockets of 9 mm, along with the occasional 380 case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNsTeR Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 Despite my math arguing for sticking with 38SC, and I agree super is better "on paper", I only shoot 9 major. I load same-headstamp brass, pick it up, and get 3+ uses. No one here picks up brass at matches anymore so if I shot super my loss rate would be around 80% and I can't stomach that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted April 24 Share Posted April 24 3 hours ago, Dr. Phil said: Dude! I'm pretty sure your wife knows! my wife talked to the open gms around here and insisted in 38sc for her open gun. to her credit, she does help pick up brass and works a couple majors every year where we scavenge hordes of brass. so far we have never had to buy brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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