What is going on with civilian gun calibers?

[ALBY]

7 hours ago, chuckdyke said:

The .38 Super is legal in some countries as it is a civilian round but the 9mm Parabellum being a military round is not. I would think a Thompson in .38 super would have been a superior sub-machine gun but they never made such a version. The1911 was very popular chambered for .38 super. A little trivial. 

38 super was a very old round that had pretty much died pre ww-2.   many countries were gun controlling 'military' calibers so civilians who wanted a hi-power or colt gov model had to get one in a 'civilian' caliber and .38 super fit the bill.  we never had that issue here in the USA.  but, 38 super, then 9x21 and 9mm major were all innovated as sneaky ways to get more rounds in a magazine for IPSC competition.  it was all about the government model .45 and reload times for competition.  original USGI mags = 7, which was a huge advantage over revolvers which held 6 and were slow to reload.   For advantage, IPSC shooters modded the USGI follower and figured out how to stuff 8 .45 ACP in a mag.  you could now start a stage with 9 in the gun.  1 in the pipe and 8 in the mag, a big competition advantage because fewer reloads are required.  Then shooters started showing up with glocks that held 17 rounds of 'puny' 9mm and they had to make way fewer reloads.  to even things up, IPSC/USPSA had a power factor formula that is biased towards larger, heavier projectiles (you actually have to shoot thru a chronometer at matches and have your bullets weighed to make sure you achieved PF) and major PF makes all your hits worth more in scoring.  so naturally, people started hot loading 9mm cases and then modding their chambers to hold larger cases with more powder to make the major power factor requirement.  that's how we ended up with open class pistols that hold 26 .355 projectiles firing at insanely fast muzzle velocities.  many people blew themselves up doing this lol.  you can buy all this stuff at brownell's now.   sorry to bore you here.

[chuckdyke]

9 hours ago, ALBY said:

38 super was a very old round that had pretty much died pre ww-2. 

The .38 ACP goes back around the same time as the 9 mm Parabellum and the .38 super was introduced around 1920. IMHO they missed the boat for military acceptance. In the 1911 it was the caliber of choice by Australian IPSC shooters. A muzzle compensator worked more effectively and indeed you could buy custom magazines. My 1911 in .45 ACP had a custom magazine of the same dimensions of the original. So, 8 in the Magazine and 1 on the 'spout'. Reloading was a breeze never was in a serious disadvantage against the Browning HP or the CZ75 which the 9 mm shooters liked. Yes, some CZ75 shooters loaded their ammo to make 'Major'. I stopped shooting around 1990 as by that time I didn't improve my scores. 

Edited October 4 by chuckdyke

[ALBY]

I started in the mid 90’s lol.