The Art and Science of Keeping Your 1911 Running

[Bucky]

Definitely ideal for that work. Although now that we have reliable 9mm major and workable .40 Minor it's very niche overall.

To be fair, reliable 9mm Major wasn’t a thing until after Major was watered down from 175 to 165.

Back in the day if you wanted a handgun bullet to punch through car bodies, you used .38 Super, this was before .357 Magnum. Quite a few G-Men and Texas Rangers used .38 Supers when man hunting. I can imagine a really good load would be a 125-grain Barnes Tac-XP bullet at about ~1200fps. That would likely do excellent in barrier penetration, general penetration, and expansion. In fact, if you look the Tac-XP factory load for .357 Magnum is 125-grain @1200 fps.

That’s a light load for a good super. Heck Major today is a125 at 1320. Many of us were running a steady diet of 125s at 1450 “back in the day”.

[JAD]

There is a lot to love about this load from WCB. https://shopwilsoncombat.com/38-Supe...A38SU-124-XTP/

It's what I carry when I run the Super. It's delivering ~200-300 fps better than the same projectile in 9+P. With a solid copper projectile, I think that's a good thing.

I am not aware of other practical 38 Super defensive loads, but one is enough.

[JHC]

There is a lot to love about this load from WCB. https://shopwilsoncombat.com/38-Supe...A38SU-124-XTP/

It's what I carry when I run the Super. It's delivering ~200-300 fps better than the same projectile in 9+P. With a solid copper projectile, I think that's a good thing.

I am not aware of other practical 38 Super defensive loads, but one is enough.

https://shopwilsoncombat.com/38-Supe...8SU-115-TACXP/

Both sound legit.

[JAD]

Gosh darn it, I copied the wrong link. I carry the Barnes load, not the Hornady XTP.

[RevolverRob]

There is a lot to love about this load from WCB. https://shopwilsoncombat.com/38-Supe...A38SU-124-XTP/

It's what I carry when I run the Super. It's delivering ~200-300 fps better than the same projectile in 9+P. With a solid copper projectile, I think that's a good thing.

I am not aware of other practical 38 Super defensive loads, but one is enough.

Buffalo Bore has an almost identical load, a little hotter (about 1400 FPS) - https://www.buffalobore.com/index.ph...t_detail&p=336

The other loads I can find that I'd consider:

Sig's V-Crown - https://www.sigsauer.com/store/38sup...crown-jhp.html - 125-grains @1250fps.

Underwood's 124-grain Gold Dot Bonded @1350 - https://www.underwoodammo.com/collec...18785726300217

[JAD]

Buffalo Bore has an almost identical load, a little hotter (about 1400 FPS) - https://www.buffalobore.com/index.ph...t_detail&p=336

The other loads I can find that I'd consider:

Sig's V-Crown - https://www.sigsauer.com/store/38sup...crown-jhp.html - 125-grains @1250fps.

Underwood's 124-grain Gold Dot Bonded @1350 - https://www.underwoodammo.com/collec...18785726300217

While playing with 38 Super is fun and I don't think I need to apologize for carrying it, I do have an awful lot of respect for Dr. Roberts.

The 115 XPB is on his good list -- though I don't know how it performs when driven to 1350 fps, and I could be badly disappointed if it rapidly expands and therefore underpenetrates.

The Gold Dot is the same, a good bullet but questionable if overdriven.

The XTP and V-Crown are not on his lists as far as I know.

[JHC]

While playing with 38 Super is fun and I don't think I need to apologize for carrying it, I do have an awful lot of respect for Dr. Roberts.

The 115 XPB is on his good list -- though I don't know how it performs when driven to 1350 fps, and I could be badly disappointed if it rapidly expands and therefore underpenetrates.

The Gold Dot is the same, a good bullet but questionable if overdriven.

The XTP and V-Crown are not on his lists as far as I know.

I knew which you meant so I had your back on that. I am fascinated with 115 grain defense load options because if I ever did carry my spectacular Sams customized 9mm Operator I need a 115 grain as I had Dave use his special KKM barrel that is purely optimized for 115 with a very slow twist. Hence his 10 shot 1" @ 50 yards guarantee and actual result in my gun's case. Degradation of precision is noticeable 124 grains and up. For my range gun I knew exactly what I was getting.

From memory - IIRC if the Barnes is driven too fast I think it just sheds petals then the plug penetrates pretty deep. I could be mis-remembering but if so I'd call that no big deal.

[RevolverRob]

While playing with 38 Super is fun and I don't think I need to apologize for carrying it, I do have an awful lot of respect for Dr. Roberts.

The 115 XPB is on his good list -- though I don't know how it performs when driven to 1350 fps, and I could be badly disappointed if it rapidly expands and therefore underpenetrates.

I doubt it - here is a test of the 95-grain +P+ 9mm Barnes bullet it moves at 1500 FPS - https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/am...r-p-lead-free/

A 115-grain @ 1350 should not be beaten up any worse than the 9mms in that test and they performed quite well overall (15" of penetration is maybe a bit shallow, but still fine overall).

[JAD]

I am fascinated with 115 grain defense load options because if I ever did carry my spectacular Sams customized 9mm Operator I need a 115 grain as I had Dave use his special KKM barrel that is purely optimized for 115 with a very slow twist.

Cuidado: Because the all-copper XPB is lighter than lead a 115 XPB is much longer than, and has much more bearing surface than, a 115 conventional. You might want to look at the 95g XPB.

[JohnO]

I finished watching Hilton Yam's 1911 Duty Tune DVDs this morning. Very well done. One area I found lacking was the lack of good closeup shots where they could have been used in the video. The lighting into tight spots also could have been better. Additionally it would have been great if Hilton or Panteao included a toll list and their associated Brownell's catalog numbers.

Overall I found the presentation to be very good. I've done some fitting (extractor, Firing pin stop, mainspring housing, trigger, sights, grip panels and grip bushings) on my 1911s and found Hilton's info to be excellent. After watching the video I'm getting the itch to buy a base gun like in the video and get to work.

It's kind of unfortunate that Robar is used to cover finishing. Robar details their finishes and refinishes Hilton's 1911 after he is done filing on it. And they are gone!