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9 x 23 winchester

dboutwell
i just bought a taurus .38 super, to shoot 9 x 23 win ammo.

i appears to be the same, and many so called experts say it ok.

does anyone else due this. i love the 9 x 23 win ammo, and have a

lot of it................... Andy 630-400-1966
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Comments

4 comments

Date Votes
  • beantownshootah
    The cases are externally similar, but they are NOT the same.

    For one thing, .38 super has a teensy rim, 9x23 is entirely rimless.

    Also, 9x23 brass is stronger, on purpose, to handle the higher pressures, and help prevent catastrophic case ruptures in guns with less than fully supported chambers.

    Per SAAMI specs, nominally .38 super (+P) is supposed to be loaded to a max pressure of 36500 PSI. I don't think 9x23 Winchester is rated by SAAMI, but I understand its loaded to higher rifle-like pressures up to 50,000 PSI. Its one of the hottest semi-auto pistol rounds, actually.

    Edit: Per Winchester (which designed and manufactures the round), max pressure specs on 9x23 is 55,000 PSI. That is WAY hot. . .

    http://38super.net/Pages/Technical Specs.html

    Bottom line is that standard 9x23 loads are a good bit hotter than .38 super. .38 super will yield about 1250fps with a 124 grain bullet, but 9x23 gives you 1450fps, which is quite a bit faster and ballistically similar to TRUE .357 magnum (rather than "nearly so" like the 357 SIG).

    Consequently, I think you have to be extra-careful when running this round!

    While there probably ARE some guns where you can just run 9x23 in a .38 super gun safely with no changes (I've heard that the EAA/Tanfoglio Witness is one of these), I would definitely NOT just assume you can do it with any gun safely!

    Edit 2: In fact, I'd say there is a non-zero chance that you'll blow the gun up trying this, and both the ammo manufacturer and gun manufacturer won't want to be held liable for your bad judgment.

    At the very least you'd want to beef up your recoil spring for the 9x23 to reduce slide-frame battering, and it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to have a special 9x23 barrel fitted. Also, because of the rim shape difference, ideally you'd want to have your extractor changed/tuned to handle 9x23 rimless rounds, though this may not be strictly necessary.

    Do those things, and you've got a better shot of not damaging your gun or yourself.

    Now, if you want to take 9x23 brass and underload it to .38 Super-like specs, then yeah. . .you probably could run loads like that through a .38 super gun without major problems. But this is a different sort of thing, obviously.
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  • rufe-snow
    I had a special run SA, with a supported barrel, chambered for 9 X 23 Winchester, bought off CDNN in the late 90's. The 9 X 23 is a very hot high pressure cartridge. Factory stuff is loaded hotter then the .38 Super pressure wise.

    My personal experience with Taurus's wasn't positive, i.e. unless your has a fully supported barrel, I wouldn't be shooting factory 9 X 23's in it. Only lighter low pressure hand loads that won't stress the pistol
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  • BHAVIN
    If you want to shoot 9x23 buy a 9x23 barrel from Brownells or others and have it fitted. I am not impressed with the quality of Taurus and putting the 9x23 through it would not be something I would attempt without at least changing the barrel.
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  • celse
    Believe it or not! 9X23 will chamber in a 38 super but, it should be considered unsafe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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