What's the difference in a .45 and a .38 super?

[a_kayaker]

Well I was looking for a deal on a new .45 slide and found a hell of a deal on a 38 super from STI. I will be building the gun up including milling the frame to completion from an 80% frame.

Now my question is what exacly is the difference in a 38 and .45? Do they sell kits to convert a .45 toa 38 super? Could I expect to install the new 38 super slide on my .45 frame and have it function?


I know there is a difference in the barrel and clip, but what about the internals?

If I am going to finish an 80% frame should I just stick to the .45?

Any help is always appreciated.

Eric

[Flint]

The extractor and cut are different, as the rim is closer to the centerline on a 38 or 9mm.  The firing pin has a smaller diameter nose.  The channel or breech face is narrower, to accommodate the 38 rim diameter.  The ejector is different, reaching in toward center more, so the 38Super (and 9mm) slide has a different cut to accomodate that.  Basically, you can use a 38Super or 9mm barrels and slides (or fit them to do so) interchangably for those two calibers, but the 45ACP is too different to simply rebarrel to the smaller bores.  The frame's feed ramp is even different between the 9/38 and the 45ACP, and as mentioned also the ejector. If you want to shoot a 38Super (or9mm) barrel/slide assembly on a 45 frame, you will need to swap out the ejector, and maybe play with the feedramp.  You can shoot 9mm ammo from a 38Super magazine, but not vice-versa

[Mikey]

a_kayaker:  Flint is right on the money with his advice.  Especially so since you are mixing and matching frames and slides.  When I worked on my conversions, going from a 45 slide to a 38 Super slide, all parts were Colt and that made it a bunch easier.  It was all the easier because i picked up a complete 38 Super slide, with all parts included, including the barrel (which immediately went the way of a Bar-Sto barrel that headspeaced on the casemouth - best investment I ever made for that pistol).

There will be a bunch of work involved in your building your convertible pistol but when you are finished it should be all you had hope for.  

Flint had another good suggestion to buy a 9mm barrel and have a 3 caliber conversion capability.  If you pick up a 400 Cor-Bon barrel, that makes it 4.  If you can find or have made a 7.65 Luger or a 7.62x25 barrel made up for that conversion, that would make 5 or 6.

See, you can really have a lot of fun with this stuff.  Mikey.

[Henry Bowman]

Didn't I read that STI makes a slide with an interchangeable breechface??
One slide for all calibers, well all centerfires anyway.