kbear38S Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 I was sorting though some used brass yesterday and came across some cases headstamped Lapua 38 Super. It is NOT .38 Super. The brass is rimless and similar to Starline Super Comp. I cannot believe Lapua would do something as idiotic as stamping a case as a caliber that it is not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singlestack Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Thanks for the heads up. What does Lapua's head stamp read? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 It reads 38 super Lapua It is the same as super comp from what I can tell. I found a bunch of it when sorting through brass from last years racegun nats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianH Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 So what do they call their "rimmless" Super? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 I think the SAAMI name is ".38 Super Auto" ... So if the headstamp is "38 Super Lapua" or ".38 Super Duper" or "Bob's 38 Super" then I would automatically assume it is not .38 Super Auto. I'm willing to bet SAAMI members agree to use specific headstamps for specific cartridges. Notice that you see a lot of "9mm Luger," or just "9mm" with the factory's name, but never any "9mm Parabellum" or "9x19?" Hey Guy Neill, how am I doing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Neill Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Looks good Erik. SAAMI does have specified names. Looking at the 9mm Luger, they show either 9mm Luger or 9mm Luger +P. There will be some slight variances, as the "official" descriprion of the 38 Super is 38 Super Automatic +P. It won't fit on the headstamp so most are simply 38 Super +P. Lapua was supposed to have sent me a sample of their brass over a year ago, but it didn't happen for whatever reason. If they are marked "38 Super" and are rimless, it will cause confusion. Regardless of convention or specification, two items marked "38 Super" and "38 Super Duper" will cause confusion. But then we have Federal loading their Non-Toxic 45 Auto with small primers, so there will be variations in details. Regrettably, the ammunition manufacturers seldom consider the reloaders. There is no actual spec as to the primer to use in a cartridge, but there have been conventions and historic usage. You also get the gun manufacturers confussing things. The designation for the 40 is "40 Smith & Wesson" (with most marked simply "40 S&W"), but many guns will be marked "40 Auto" as various makers do not want to have a competitor's name on their guns. That sort of rivalry goes back a long way. It can lead to changes. The current "official" name for the 45 is "45 Automatic", not 45 ACP as is commonly used and, I believe, the original designation. As always, know what you've got, or don't use it until it is properly identified. Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Guy, they are rimless, and it does cause confusion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPSCDRL Posted August 6, 2003 Share Posted August 6, 2003 It really shouldn't matter. The only difference will be if your extractor will pull them from the chamber consistiently. The dimensions other than the rim should al be common. In my own Caspian .38 Super, I can run .38 Super, 38 Super Comp, 38 TJ (Hornady's version using Todd Jarrett's initials) and even the odd 9X23 that slips by. I'm sure I must have some of the Lapua stuff in the thousands of rounds of brass/ammo on my shelf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Midway USA wants $53 for a box of 100 .38 Super Lapua, $437 for a case of 1000. God's Holy Trousers! That's about 4-5 times the price of Armscor or Starline rimless? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Boudrie Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 It really shouldn't matter. The only difference will be if your extractor will pull them from the chamber consistiently. The dimensions other than the rim should al be common. In my own Caspian .38 Super, I can run .38 Super, 38 Super Comp, 38 TJ (Hornady's version using Todd Jarrett's initials) and even the odd 9X23 that slips by. I'm sure I must have some of the Lapua stuff in the thousands of rounds of brass/ammo on my shelf. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I will make a *BIG* difference if you have a 38SuperComp (ie, 9mm) breechface in your gun and encounter a regular 38 super . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Same applies to A Dillon set up in Super Comp with shellplate #3, whereas 38Super uses shellplate #5. The worst that can happen is you use rimless in the rimmed shellplate and it damages or rips the rim. The other way round and the press stops as the shell will not locate. Getting it in a 1050 is a real PITA. Another good reason to sort your brass at the range, when you tumble and / or reload. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 If your gun is that picky, you should be sorting. Since you're sorting, and you can clearly read the headstamp, what's the problem? Lapua is proud of their brass and ammo, and rightly so. I just toured the plant a short while ago, and I've never seen a group of people so comfortably anal, picky, detail-oriented and thorough. After seeing what they go through, I'd have no hesitation in touching off a round of Lapua. (I agree, paying for it would be painful at times.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Midway USA wants $53 for a box of 100 .38 Super Lapua, $437 for a case of 1000. God's Holy Trousers! That's about 4-5 times the price of Armscor or Starline rimless? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Check out what they want for 38 TJ brass. The froofy low-volume stuff gets pricy fast. The worst that can happen is you use rimless in the rimmed shellplate and it damages or rips the rim. The other way round and the press stops as the shell will not locate. Getting it in a 1050 is a real PITA. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I like the shellplate-sorter to get rid of rimmed. As long as there aren't a lot of 'em, it's pretty easy to retract the casefeed slide a bit and flip the offending brass out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singlestack Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 I had forgoten about this thread and I obtained some Lapua 38 Super brass after working a match. I thought it was 38 Super and sorted it as such. When I tried to load it I discovered it will pop through a Dillon 38 Super shell plate when seating the primer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingerjg Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 I had forgoten about this thread and I obtained some Lapua 38 Super brass after working a match. I thought it was 38 Super and sorted it as such. When I tried to load it I discovered it will pop through a Dillon 38 Super shell plate when seating the primer. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thats y i use a .380ACP/.223 shell plate when loading 38SC. Also .38 super auto will not fit in that shellplate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singlestack Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 I had forgoten about this thread and I obtained some Lapua 38 Super brass after working a match. I thought it was 38 Super and sorted it as such. When I tried to load it I discovered it will pop through a Dillon 38 Super shell plate when seating the primer. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thats y i use a .380ACP/.223 shell plate when loading 38SC. Also .38 super auto will not fit in that shellplate. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I use a .223 shellplate for 38SC too. If you read again you will discover I was loading 38 Super, not 38SC so I was using a 38 Super shell plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPatterson Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 I think there for I am confused. So if brass is marked 38 Super +P or 38 Super Auto then it is the same? And where does 9X21 fit in? Is 38 Super Comp and Hornady 38TJ the same? I'm sorting through brass from an area match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 I think there for I am confused.So if brass is marked 38 Super +P or 38 Super Auto then it is the same? And where does 9X21 fit in? Is 38 Super Comp and Hornady 38TJ the same? I'm sorting through brass from an area match. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You want This Thread, I think. There are some others as well. The bottom line is there are two main flavors of .355 brass used in Open guns today-- the tapered 9mm-based cases (9x19, 9x21, 9x23, 9 Supercomp) and the straight-walled 38 Super variants in both rimmed (38 Super, +P) and non-rimmed (38 Supercomp, 38 TJ, MCM, Lapua, AP, etc). I wouldn't mix any of the 9mm-based cases (they're all different lengths, for one). The Super cases are somewhat easier to mix, but caution is still required, especially in the area around the rim and extractor tuning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harmon Posted August 14, 2005 Share Posted August 14, 2005 i love me some lapua 38 super brass... that stuff is as good or better than the TJ brass. soupacomp still is the most plentiful though...next to that its the armscor rimless. so far i havent had any trouble with the AP marked brass...shoots good, reloads good and havent had any cracked brass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galt11 Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 Ironically, I had ordered some Lapua 38 super from Midway a while ago, they had it in sale, and the box does say 38 super comp. The headstamp though just says super. Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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