Supervel ballistics question

[dwarven1]

A friend gave me a box and a few rounds of SuperVel .38 Special hollowpoints.

At the range today, I fired off some of my normal carry ammo (Remington .38+p hollowpoints) and an odd round of the SuperVel. Oddly enough, the SuperVel round seemed to have more recoil in my S&W637 than the +P! Was the SuperVel loaded particularly hot? I still have a full box; maybe I should use that instead of the Remington for carry purposes?

 

[jhrosier]

Maybe you should trade the box of Super Vel to a cartridgde collector for 4 or 5 boxes of new ammo.

Jack

 

[dwarven1]

Maybe you should trade the box of Super Vel to a cartridgde collector for 4 or 5 boxes of new ammo.

Why? It still goes BANG.

Actually, I did try to see if there was any interest and there wasn't any. I guess I could try and line up someone with a chronograph to see what kind of speed these loads are developing, but I thought that someone on NES might have some insight.

 

[TY43215]

To answer your question in a word "Yes"

I had the joy of specifying Super Vel ammo for my Department some years ago. We issued 357MAG 125gr JSP for duty to those carrying Magnum revolvers and 110JSP 38spl for those that carried 38spl revolvers and all pouch ammo was the 38spl for interchangeability between Officers.

Super Vel made a qualifying load that was the same as the first line but less money to the PDs but allowed you to qualify with basically the same load as you carried on duty.

Be very careful with the 110gr loads. S&W had warnings about them in their firearms but I do not recall the exact problem. Part of it was flame cutting of the frame but there was more.

If you contact Mas Ayoob, I believe he was an investor in the company and can tell you a lot more about them.

Edit to add: I would not shoot it in the 637 and I don't care what it is rated for.

 

[dwarven1]

To answer your question in a word "Yes".

Which question - the "is it hotter than +P" or "should I carry this instead of the Remington" question?

Edit to add: I would not shoot it in the 637 and I don't care what it is rated for.

One box would damage the gun?? 'Cause that's all I've got is the one box.

 

[Recono]

At the end of 1998, I chronoed several brands of ammo in my 4" S&W Model 10 and my 6" Colt Official Police. 110 gr Super Vel was one of them. In the 4", average velocity was 1180 fps. In the 6", it was 1250. SD was fairly large, at 36 and 42, respectively. BTW, sample size in each case was 10.

I believe that this is better performance than most present-day 110gr .357 ammo.

I would not shoot this ammo in a 637, for at least three reasons. First, when I fired some other +P ammo (probably 125gr) in my Model 37, my second shot was on a fired chamber, just like sometimes happens with Model 29's made before the improvements. Second, I believe that Mas Ayoob experienced frame stretching on an alloy J-frame many years ago, with one or two boxes of +P+. Ask him about it. Third, I am not that crazy about 110gr-bullet ammo, particularly in a short barrel. I did carry Super Vel for several years in the 4" Model 10 when overpenetration was an overriding concern. I still feel that I was right then, but I'm not in those circumstances now, and don't even carry a Model 10.

In my 2" Model 15, I carry 158gr LSWCHP +P. I feel that for an alloy 1.875" J-frame, the best ammo is probably 158gr LSWC standard-pressure.

YMMV.

 

[dwarven1]

In my 2" Model 15, I carry 158gr LSWCHP +P. I feel that for an alloy 1.875" J-frame, the best ammo is probably 158gr LSWC standard-pressure.

Even though the 637 is rated for +P?

 

[Recono]

Even though the 637 is rated for +P?

I am not up to date on that model. If it is rated for +P, I would try it out with 158gr LSWCHP +P ammo, and if it worked in that gun and shot to POA and didn't hurt me much, I would carry the +P.