Brass Advice - Super or SuperComp

[Ross Chevalier]

So I've gotten to where I am shooting Standard but have been advised by some far better shooters to shoot open over the winter as with practice and diligence it will actually improve my standard game.  My current open gun is, shall we say "unreliable" and I am considering buying an alternate that is "proven but not dead".

The potential gun is an SV and is fitted with a 38 Super Comp breechface.  I of course have several thousand one fired and new 38 Super +P brass cases around.  I have heard conversations on rimmed and rimless and would really appreciate some guidance on this subject, so please pardon my ignorance;

What's the fundamental difference?

Can you mix the two in the same gun?  (I recently discovered I had picked up a couple of TJ cases and fired them in my gun - they worked fine but I caught them in the reload process - is this supposed to work?)

If I change to Super Comp, is my Case Pro resizer useless, or is it a case of another sizing plate set?

Since I already have a 38 Super, I'm inclined to ask that the breechface be changed from SuperComp, but am holding pending better data.

Thanks in advance,

Ross

[38supPat]

I have played with both, I don't have time for a detailed explaination right now, give me a call. Long and short is that yes they will work unless your breechface is actually undersized for supercomp/TJ, you can measure it. If the breechface width is .400 or less, reg. .38super brass will get stuck, for .38 super you want it to measure .405 -.410

[ong45]

Ross,

I switched to supercomp a year ago and i am glad i did it. The rounds stack better in the mag , with super they used to be nosedive prone.

They can mostly be mixed but the load data for TJ is different because the case holds less powder. Also something to be aware of is that the rim diameter varies by a few thousands between the different brands. So if your extractor is set a little tight but functioning for tj or armscor, it might be too tight for one of the other ones.

If you decide to go rimless, get yourself a .223 shellplate for your reloader, this will prevent any stray .38 supers from getting into your batch.

The casepro will be fine, i have one also and i bought it originally for super , works fine with all the rimless types.

Good luck

James Ong

[joshua]

The TJ and MCM brass are very similar and with the same 7.3 grn powder charge that is required for my Supercomp brass (making 172 PF with 125 grn bullets), will yield approx 70 fps more in the TJ brass.  I highly advice not to mix regular 38 super with supercomp or TJ due to the difference in rim size-yes it's a small one but, if you're using a standard 1911 extractor it will become to loose for the comp stuff in due time.  I like the way the supercomp or TJ stack up in my Caspian hi-cap mags.  Believe me I think the Caspian hi-cap are the hardest mags to feed with regular super brass.  Also I can load my bigsticks with supercomp and not worry about getting a jamm.  My open guns haven't failed in feeding yet when I use the supercomp brass, even when I don't follow the minimu COAL of 1.245, I still have to follow the max COAL of 1.270 because the rounds will be too long for the tubes.  I use 38 standard super brass for club matches since I have a load that is very reliable with my standard 19 round mags.  I don't mind forcing myself to reload during field stages just for practice. You say why the extra $6 bucks matter? It doesn't - I just have 5k of regular super brass in the inventory that I need to use.  =) josh  

[Shooter Grrl]

SuperComp and TJ both feed and stack more reliably than .38 super.  My gun runs all three with absolutely no hiccups.  I stayed with the Super because that's what I had and I didn't feel like shelling out more money - also, the TJ and SuperComp are made by one company only - what happens if they go away?

Only you can decide if the extra money is worth the improved reliability (which btw, is really not an issue as there is really no noticable improvement between them)

[mrm79]

Is anyone shooting TJ Brass on a regular basis? I have a new blaster coming and looking at 38TJ setup.  How does the brass look after several reloads.....  Thanks

[shred]

I just switched one of my blasters to 38TJ and I'm happy with it and will swap the other when time permits.  I've only got a couple loads on the brass but it's still in fine shape.  Todd says he's got brass with 20+ loadings on it.   The cool thing about TJ is the spot where regular super 'belts-up' after several loads doesn't exist-- the extractor cut is bigger so there's no brass the resizer can't reach.

What I did was use a slide with a .38 Super breechface and a Supercomp/9mm AFTEC.  It'll still run Super like that if needed and can be quickly converted back by swapping extractors.

You do need some way to mark brass if you've got both cohabiting.

[2alpha]

Mine and about a zillion other open S$I's run great with standard old 38 super brass.

[Loves2Shoot]

Plain old .38 super has done great for me. I have had none of the problems mentioned above, but I have only had about 100,000 rounds through my super.

[shred]

If you're happy with Super, stick with it.  If you're just starting, and don't have the investment in Super, there's less point dinking with it.

All my Open guns have run 100% with regular 38 Super for years, but I'm still switching to rimless for the ease of feeding, loading and reloading.  The guns will still run 100%.

TT had some thoughts on the topic.

(Edited by shred at 3:15 pm on Jan. 2, 2003)

[mrm79]

Thanks for the info. and the thread to TT thoughts.  Will order a couple of thousand pieces of TJ Brass, 223 shell plate, and wait on my new gun to show up....This is better than Christmas!

[Tony Chiavacci]

Been using regular Super for 6 years with very few problems. None of which I would blame on the brass. I usually get back most of the brass I shoot (of course it's not always mine), don't think the same holds true for supercom or TJ guys.