Somehow I'm into these orphaned calibers. First 10mm, now 38 Super. Anybody shoot it? I'm curious. Getting interested in a 1911 in this caliber, I'm told it's a fun load, real flat trajectory and pretty high velocity without real heavy recoil.

Almost all of Mexico still shoots it

We both have .38 Super competition guns built on 1911 frames. You pretty well said it all: velocity without a big recoil. It's a very reliable load, we never have malfunctions, it's accurate and it's cheap to reload. Haven't tried it in an out-of-the-box gun though.

I don't shoot it seriously but years ago I ran a couple thousand rounds of an easy shooting handload recipe though a pair of astra 400s I was very fond of then. Seems like the general concensus is that 38 super out of the box is supposed to be too hot for a 9mm largo substitute. I'm still here to talk about it though so ...

Springfield makes a pretty good looking .38 super in either chrome or really polished stainless w/ ivory grips. If i was a milionare i would carry that.

It's nickel. But has a couple of things against it; I think it's a limited production gun that's not easily available, it's listed at over $1200, and I can get a Kimber for a lot less money.

Which isn't to say I don't like the New Orleans pimp finish or that it's a bad gun. But I have the same Kimber in 10mm and like that gun a lot, I just don't see paying the difference and getting more.

The final nail in the coffin is the new Model 29 I just bought...

The 38 Stupid has come of age

The main reason the super became popular in recent years was the extra two rounds in a single stack and a mag of 27 in the max allowable IPSC mag. The fact that it shoots flatter and ,with a good comp, the felt recoil is very low were secondary benefits.

AMMUNITION BALLISTICS FOR: .38 Super Auto Colt

BULLET BARREL LENGTH VELOCITY (fps) ENERGY 30 yd. MIDRANGE
CARTRIDGE WT. TYPE MFG (INCHES) MUZZ. 50 YDS. MUZZ. 50 YDS. TRAIL
.38 Super Auto Colt
115 JHP (P) 5 1116 1001 318 256 1.0 PF128
125 JHP (W) 5 1240 1130 427 354 0.8 PF155
130 FMJ (P) 5 1092 994 344 285 1.0 PF142

The details get a little mixed up in flat format, but these loads came from a G&A table, but they dont give the manufacturer.
As usual, the super was an answer to a question that was never asked. Colt produced the pistols in the caliber as a low power version of the .45. It was never much more powerful that the 9mm, typically only 5 to 10 PF points hotter.
I have not had a chance to look at the latest commercial offerings, but I understand that several companies are producing ammo in the 140 to 155 power levels. If you hand load for it, a 165 to 185 PF can be easily achieved, however for any load in this range a fully supported chamber is de rigeur.

Have good time shooting it, it's a fun caliber.