Can a 9mm barrel be reamed to .38 super?

[Tito's Glock]

And still stay in spec.? I know the super case is somewhat tapered.

edit: and the case head is larger

[Allman]

A "9mm" barrel can be chambered for 38 super. Or .38, .357. 9mm Largo, several others, even .380 I think.

Any already chambered barrel can be rechambered to any larger overall dimensioned chamber, or you can shorten the chamber end of the barrel and chamber it to a smaller overall dimensioned chamber.

If you are wanting to change the chamber of a barrel already fitted to a particular firearm, you may not be able to do so since there are other considerations than just the chamber.

Is the question generic, or do you have a specific project in mind?

[Custom Glock Racing]

Yes but if you are trying to use super in a 9mm glock it will not work as the mags will not fit the longer OAL of the super.

[JWG_34]

Originally posted by Tito's Glock
And still stay in spec.? I know the super case is somewhat tapered.

edit: and the case head is larger

Just for the record,The 38super case is not tapered,it is a striaght wall cartrige,the 9mm is tapered.
Jeff

[Jim Watson]

Actually, it is the other way 'round.
The 9mm P case is tapered and is larger at the case head than the straight .38 Super. Maybe you were looking at the semirim of the Super. If you rechamber 9mm to .38 you will get considerably bulged brass. It won't usually rupture. "Varminter" Gebby once did an article about converting a S&W M39 to Super and he considered that an advantage, the bulged brass held more powder for the reload. He used 90 grain bullets seated deep to fit the 9mm P magazine. Silly.

[Tito]

Thanks for the replies. Jim, I'm going to give you the final word, unless someone can convince me you're wrong.

I'm looking at a 4" Kimber Tactical 9mm and was wondering if I could have the barrel reamed to .38 Super, but it sounds like the answer is "no"

Thanks for your replies.:)

[Jim Watson]

Since this is Glocktalk, I thought you were trying to soup up a Glock.
But wait, Titos Glock in Michigan is not the same as Tito in Tijuana
The Kimber will certainly handle the length of the Super, using the right magazine.

Best thing to do would be to replace the barrel.
No doubt somebody somewhere has reamed out a 9mm to Super but I haven't and I am not going to recommend it.

[BuckyP]

Many years ago I did a test to see if a 9mm barrel (1911) could be reamed feasibly accept .38 super. What I did was trim the .38 super cases down to 19mm and then loaded them up with a very mild load. Even with a minor load, the cases buldged quite a bit. You certainly couldn't reload the brass and I would be concerned about case failures if it were to be loaded to the hotter loads that the .38 super is normally loaded to.

[spober]

im almost 100 percent sure you can get a 38 super barrel along with 38 super mags for the kimber.

[Glock-N-Fun]

Tito,

I thought 9mm was a nono(unless your LE)in your location of the globe,at any rate,call Kimber,they made a 4" 38S at one time.

[Tupperware]

Originally posted by Tito
Thanks for the replies. Jim, I'm going to give you the final word, unless someone can convince me you're wrong.

I'm looking at a 4" Kimber Tactical 9mm and was wondering if I could have the barrel reamed to .38 Super, but it sounds like the answer is "no"

Thanks for your replies.:)
Jim is correct, cartridge specs available here:
http://www.handloads.com/articles/cartridge.htm
If you're interested in changing to super, I'm going to assume you reload, as current factory .38 super ammo really doesn't offer much advantage over 9mm, if any. If you can load your own, why not just load 9mm hot? Please forgive me if my assumptions are in error.