maybe stupid questions, maybe just ignorant

[MDaly]

OK, so maybe I' stupid and missing the obvious or maybe I'm just ignorant and need to be educated. Y'all get to figure that part out.

So, let's get started. I just the other day bought a Colt Combat Commander Series 70 in 9mm. I want to know:

1) Is there a difference in the 9mm mag and a 38 Super mag for the same gun?
2) I know that this pistol was offered in 9mm, 38 Super and 45 Auto from the factory. If a 38 Super barrel were fitted to this slide, could you shoot 38 Super out of this pistol IF #1 above is true?

Please let me know what you know about all this. If there is more I should know but I failed to asked, please bring it to my attention.

Thanks for the assist,

MDaly

[halfmoonclip]

Not sure if I know the answers, but it might help to know what your goal is here? The Super picks up perhaps a couple hundred feet per second compared to the 9mm, but the ammo is considerably more expensive and harder to come by. You can achieve most of that by shooting the wrath-of-God CorBon 9mm rounds; they are +P rated, but my Speer loading manual is saying the same of the Super.
There is a difference in max overall of 0.112", which is either a lot or a little,depending. Having examined the 9mm mags for my Defender, it looks like there is a spacer that might account for that much difference.
Curious to see what you find out.
Moon

[MDaly]

The goal is pretty simple. The Colt Combat Commander is available in both 9mm and 38 Super. Rather than buy 2 pistols, I'm wondering about putting a 38 Super barrel in the 9mm I own and shooting 38 Super from the same firearm simply by changing the barrel and maybe the magazine.

I would prefer to purchase a separate Colt in 38 Super but the ones I am finding are pretty high in the price department.

MDaly

[halfmoonclip]

Not meaning to argue, and I can see some merit to what you're suggesting. Only reservation is, for the trouble and expense of a new barrel and (maybe) mags, you could buy a bunch of high performance 9mm ammo.
If you're simply charmed by the concept of the .38 Super, then by all means, see if you can get it to work. A buddy had one years ago, but we've lost touch. Others here should be able to give you more definite advice.
Moon

[kenhwind]

You will need a Super .38 barrel and magazine to do it.
The 9mm Luger magazine has a spacer in it and is therefore too short inside for the .38 Auto round.

I fit a 9mm barrel to a .38 Super Combat Commander just because I could.

You will also need a barrel bushing, current barrels are all the same O.D., whereas once apon a time the 38 & 9 barrels had a smaller O.D.

[dickttx]

As kenhwind said, you need a barrel with bushing, link, link pin, and magazines. The 38 Super cartridge will not fit in the 9mm magazine, because of the spacer, but the 9mm will fit in the Super magazine OK. I have fired some 9mm from my Super mags without any problem, but not extensively.
I recently added the 38 Super to my 9mm Commander and really like it. True, if you buy ammo the 38 Super is harder to find and much more expensive. If you reload, the Super is MUCH easier to reload than the 9mm, and uses the same bullets.
I ordered the BarSto barrel assembly, 2 SS magazines, and the dies from Midway for about $300.

[halfmoonclip]

Dick, 'splain to me why the Super is easier to reload than the 9mm? Realize the 9 is actually a tapered case.

Since we are interchanging parts here, I could be really interested in a 9mm barrel in a Government Model. Do 9mm and .45 barrels interchange? Will the two mags fit in the same gripframe?
Wheels are turning here...
Moon

[dickttx]

BECAUSE the 9mm is tapered and the Super is not. Super loads as easily as a 45 ACP. Also, more case capacity to play with.

You are getting way above my pay grade on the technicalaties of the 1911, but, as I understand it, the breach face of the 9mm and the 38 super slide are smaller than on the 45. Therefore you can't use them with a 45 slide. The ejectors also are different. As I understand it, you can install the Super/9mm ejector on your frame, then use a 9mm slide, barrel, bushing, etc. But then you would have so many $ in it that you may be better off just buying a 9mm 1911.

Surely someone who actually knows something about it will chime in.

Found lots of good info about this on this forum also. http://forum.m1911.org/forums.php

[kenhwind]

No, the Gov't Mod. doesn't interchange as easily as the Commander, and the 9mm/ 38 SA barrels will not work with the 45 slide. This is true with both the Commander and GM.

The .45 Gov't Model has an ejector that is for the .45 cartridge and generally speaking the slides will not interchange. The 9mm/10mm/38 SA ejector is different. But the Commander uses a similar ejector for all three calibers. Slide assemblies usually interchange.

I had a Colt XS LWT .45 Commander and a Colt XSE LWT .38 Super Commander and the slide assemblies would interchange. I never shot them though. Feed ramps are different also.

Magazines interchange; or they should, except the Officers length.

The 38 Super is a bit longer than the 9mm so that makes it a bit easier to reload IMO.

[dickttx]

Thanks, kinhwind, I was already in over my head.