Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

I am pondering buying a Colt XSE Commander LW in a .38 super. I've read a lot of reviews, which have been mainly positive...just looking for some real world opinions. I would be carrying it every day for personal defense. I currently carry a Glock 30SF. Any and all opinions/comments/suggestions are appreciated.

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I'm curious; why in .38 super? It's popular enough in action pistol competition, but it's not at all popular in the US as a carry caliber.

To have something different. I think it's an excellent caliber for self defense, just mainly wanting opinions on the gun. I realize they are not as popular here as they are in South America.

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As a carry caliber, the .38 Super's down side is the availability of ammo having state-of-the-art hollow point bullets.

Colt makes a good 1911. But as with almost any 1911, you may have to put some additional work in it to get its reliability where you want it to be for a carry gun. It's a heavier gun than than your .45 caliber Glock 30 and it has a manual safety you need to learn to operate well under stress.

Chasbo00 wrote:Colt makes a good 1911. But as with almost any 1911, you may have to put some additional work in it to get its reliability where you want it to be for a carry gun. .

I hear this all the time. I have a Colt Delta Elite in 10mm and a Colt XSE in .45 - I have *yet* to have any FTF, FTE, stovepipe, jam, or anything other than 100% reliability with cheap ammo, expensive ammo, defense ammo or plinking ammo. I carry them on occasion but they are not carried as frequently as the others just because - but I trust them 100%. Maybe I don't read enough about them, but is there really an issue with reliability in 1911s nowadays in the better brands?

To the OP - if you want a .38 Super, I say go for it. You can find some Winchester Silvertips and you can also find Doubletap Ammo 115 grains TAC-XP hollowpoints @ 1425 fps (wowzers!) for .38 super...but you won't find that ammo at your local WalMart. My XSE has one of the nicest trigger pulls I have ever felt for any out-of-the-box semi-autos...

CCFan wrote:

Chasbo00 wrote:Colt makes a good 1911. But as with almost any 1911, you may have to put some additional work in it to get its reliability where you want it to be for a carry gun. .

I hear this all the time. I have a Colt Delta Elite in 10mm and a Colt XSE in .45 - I have *yet* to have any FTF, FTE, stovepipe, jam, or anything other than 100% reliability with cheap ammo, expensive ammo, defense ammo or plinking ammo. I carry them on occasion but they are not carried as frequently as the others just because - but I trust them 100%. Maybe I don't read enough about them, but is there really an issue with reliability in 1911s nowadays in the better brands?

The reason you hear this all the time is because many don't have your trouble free experience with their 1911s. I had lunch today with a bulls-eye pistol shooter. He is on the Army Reserve's national team and is one the few still shooting a .45 rather than a 9mm in service pistol competition. He just missed making the President's Hundred last year at the national matches - he had more malfunctions than his allotted alibis covered.

Shooting in action pistol competition, I get to see a lots of folks shooting 1911s. Most experience a malfunction from time to time and nearly all lament about having to tinker with their pistols. I will admit though that some of this tinkering is shooter rather than gun induced.