Wilson Combat dropping 460 Rowland, 38 Super, and 40 S&W pistols this year

[Bucky]

Still, I hope they keep offering it. The 9mm has the advantage over 38 Super when it comes to availability of good defensive ammo and certainly the cost of practice ammo. But aside from that, the 38S is a better cartridge than 9mm for the 1911 pistol IMO. Having a readily available source of decent hollow point ammo that us up to at least 9mm performance level isn't really a bad thing, even if it's not a full-powered load.

I couldn’t agree more.

[ccmdfd]

I couldn’t agree more.

Me too. To me it's the optimal caliber, firearm combo.

cc

[falar]

Still, I hope they keep offering it. The 9mm has the advantage over 38 Super when it comes to availability of good defensive ammo and certainly the cost of practice ammo. But aside from that, the 38S is a better cartridge than 9mm for the 1911 pistol IMO. Having a readily available source of decent hollow point ammo that us up to at least 9mm performance level isn't really a bad thing, even if it's not a full-powered load.

Couldn't agree more. Which is why I have .38 Super 1911s and instead of 9mm even though I own many a 9mm.

I think the case length just works better than the short, tapered 9mm case. You see so many "my 9mm 1911 won't function" threads/posts.

Factory .38 Super is generally only loaded to 9mm +p levels though unfortunately.

I did find a GECO 124gr load at 1411fps that I like.

[wvincent]

Couldn't agree more. Which is why I have .38 Super 1911s and instead of 9mm even though I own many a 9mm.

I think the case length just works better than the short, tapered 9mm case. You see so many "my 9mm 1911 won't function" threads/posts.

Factory .38 Super is generally only loaded to 9mm +p levels though unfortunately.

I did find a GECO 124gr load at 1411fps that I like.

Perhaps the lack of posts regarding .38 super not functioning in 1911's is proportionate to the lower numbers of ownership?
9mm in 1911's seems to pretty much be a non issue at this point. STI, Wilson, MARS, etc. have this shit figured out.

On the other hand, I would love to have a .38 Super 1911, but with modern ammunition, 9mm and 38 Super are just too close to justify.
Competition aside, there is really no reason to choose .38 Super over 9mm.

[falar]

If you don't consider proper a function a reason, sure.

[wvincent]

Yep, that's why all the major manufacture's are churning out all those 1911/2011's in .38 Super.
Oh, wait, they aren't.
And ammo isn't the reason either. If there was a major resurgence of .38 Super, the ammo manufacture's would swap dies in a heartbeat.
But, it's not going to happen. Ever.
9mm functions just fine. I mean, it is 2020, pretty sure they have it sussed out by now.

[Robinson]

Yep, that's why all the major manufacture's are churning out all those 1911/2011's in .38 Super.
Oh, wait, they aren't.
And ammo isn't the reason either. If there was a major resurgence of .38 Super, the ammo manufacture's would swap dies in a heartbeat.
But, it's not going to happen. Ever.
9mm functions just fine. I mean, it is 2020, pretty sure they have it sussed out by now.

All I can base my opinion on is personal experience, and I'm not going to speak for anyone else. I've had pretty good luck with Colt 9mm 1911s in the past several years, but I still think that the 9mm 1911 is more likely to be problematic than either the 45 or the 38 Super. My 38 Super guns are really solid and they shoot better groups than any 9mm 1911 I've owned.

I actually agree with most of the advantages of 9mm over 38 Super. But overall I still think 38S works better in a 1911 than 9mm. That doesn't mean folks don't have great shooting 9mm 1911s and I wouldn't try to put anyone off them. But 38 Super is a really nice shooting cartridge.

All said and done, I've done a LOT of experimentation with 9mm 1911s because it's something that I wanted to work for me. But after a bunch of tries, I've gone back to 45 and added the 38 Super for my own personal use. It isn't 9mm 1911s that are keeping 38 Super from being more popular, it's 9mm in every thing else that is making 9mm 1911s more popular.

[HCM]

If you don't consider proper a function a reason, sure.

It’s an engineering issue. Just like any other deviation from a 5” ..45 acp with 7 round magazines.

38 super is the proper length for optimal function in the original 1911 design.

Getting optimal function out of a shorter case like 9mm is simply an engineering issue. Some places have cracked the code some haven’t. Ammo and mags matter too.

There really is no “a 1911” in current production there are only 1911 pattern guns.

[Rock185]

I'd guess demand for .460 would be minimal, and .40 has sure fallen from favor. Surprised to hear they're dropping the 38 Super though. Although major US manufacturer 38S SD/carry ammo is limited, and what is available has not fully utilized the capability of the cartridge, that situation seems to be improving thanks to some of the smaller, "Boutique", ammo manufacturers. And with handloading, the 38S can really shine. Should one desire it, 124/125 grain bullets at 1450 FPS and 147 grain bullets at 1250 FPS is easily accomplished with some of the excellent powders available now days.

My Wilsons were chambered in the "proper" 45 ACP, but I have owned and reloaded for a number of Colt and Kimber Supers, and one STI. Some converted to utilize 9MM also. With modern integrally ramped barrels, I've found reliability of my 9MM and 38S 1911 type pistols to be equal to pistols chambered in the "proper" .45 ACP cartridge

[Zincwarrior]

Couldn't agree more. Which is why I have .38 Super 1911s and instead of 9mm even though I own many a 9mm.

I think the case length just works better than the short, tapered 9mm case. You see so many "my 9mm 1911 won't function" threads/posts.

Factory .38 Super is generally only loaded to 9mm +p levels though unfortunately.

I did find a GECO 124gr load at 1411fps that I like.

Colt made the 38 super for 1911s so it should be somewhat better.