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9mm minor with compensator?


hcore44

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I just getting started in open and have worked up a load for 9mm major.  What would be a good load for 9mm minor making the most out of the compensator?  I know that my normal 9minor of titegroup and 135s won't be helped with the comp due to low gas volume.  Should I use a lower load of WAC?  Im using 6.9 Wac under a bayou 125 coated for major.  Thanks for any help.

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I was wondering the same thing because I just picked up a compensator. I went with a Lone Wolf Alpha compensator that only has two ports on top for use with sub-major ammo. The compensator is paired with an 11 lb. ISMI spring. Not planning on shooting Open. I was just curious to see how much of a difference a comp can make.

My normal target load is 3.8 gr WSF behind a 124 gr TC Bayou Bullet at 1.095 OAL. I had to bump up the charge to 4.2 gr to reliably cycle a Glock 17. Muzzle flip is definitely less pronounced in rapid fire. 4.4 gr had more push on recoil but without any added reduction in muzzle flip.

My comp has fewer ports and is not as efficient as ones with more ports, so I didn't need to adjust my load as much. 

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4 hours ago, hcore44 said:

  Should I use a lower load of WAC?  Im using 6.9 Wac under a bayou 125 coated for major.  

Try 5.5 gr WAC with that same bullet, or with a lighter bullet (115 gr).   Very nice - but

I'm shooting mine in a TruBor, which is a pretty heavy 9mm (2.5 lbs vs 2.0 lbs for most 9mm's).    :) 

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Just stick with lower charges of your medium to slow burning powders. I've had good luck with minor loads using 3N37, HS-6, and Longshot. 

A comp and porting still makes a very noticeable difference with minor loads. Don't get too worked up with "running the comp".  If there's any gas being produced (and if your bullet makes it out the muzzle there is) then it's helping. Test a few and find what feels best. 

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I suggest the lightest bullet (95 or 100 grain) you can gets your hands on with a powder between HS6 and Lil' Gun (Lil' Gun is the slowest powder I'm aware of which can cycle an Open gun, 9.8 gr under a 115 only made 111PF in my Open gun, too slow to cycle in my opinion).

The best shooting Open minor load Ive ever shot was 10gr of SP2 (similar to 3N38) under a 100gr bullet, soft, flat and fast!  Made 1640 FPS :goof:

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2 hours ago, Bkreutz said:

Comps on a minor gun reduce muzzle flip mainly because they act like a barrel weight. Not enough gas to really make it do much of anything.

Do you have data to support that claim? 

Specifically, do you have objective data that measures muzzle rise with a 'barrel weight' and a compensator of equal weight?

Edited by superdude
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Comps on a minor gun reduce muzzle flip mainly because they act like a barrel weight. Not enough gas to really make it do much of anything.

I disagree , I have taken comps off then put them on again with the same load and felt a noticeable difference. A big enough difference to say without a doubt comps on minor guns work. Even in slow mo videos you can see how much the Comp works directing the gas. Take the Comp off a minor gun and see if the dot stays in the glass as it does with it on. As far as a weight in the front there isn't that much there to help. My recipe is a 124g with 6.3 of HS-6. I did try 115 but liked how the gun cycled and felt with the 124's. That could be preference as with powder. Some prefer WAC but again I like the feel of HS-6. Even a fast burning powder will work but slower is better IMHO . I use MG Bullets as well it was afraid of gunk build up in the Comp and I did have that problem with my PCC and didn't want to keep cleaning it out . For that reason I stick with plated / jacketed bullets with comps

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What KneelingAtlas said sort of points out the problem with the question.  

To the OP:

When you say minor, what are you talking about?  Something in the neighborhood of PF 130-133, where most people shoot 9mm minor?  Or do you mean anything less than 165?  Remember that minor is everything from PF125 to PF 164.999.   If you're talking a typical minor PF of let's say PF133, you're not going to get much from the comp, and the most you can do is just go with one of those medium slow poweders like Silhouette or WSF so that you aren't blowing half a case worth of unburned powder out of the pistol with each shot and work up to whatever soft minor PF you want.  On the other hand, if ANY minor PF is okay, KneelingAtlas has shown you the way -- go with one of those slower powders for 9mm major and load close to 9mm major with as light a bullet as possible, in the 90-105gr range.

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2 hours ago, kneelingatlas said:

The best shooting Open minor load Ive ever shot was 10gr of SP2 (similar to 3N38) under a 100gr bullet, soft, flat and fast!  Made 1640 FPS :goof:

Wasn't it keyholing every other time? ;)
.356 bullet?

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I'm shooting minor out of a comp'ed CZ P-09, but in the 143PF range.  Specifically a 100gr Xtreme FP under 6.4gr Autocomp.  This was the best trade off of feel, flatness, accuracy, and cost in the limited amount of testing I did before the shooting season started, when its over Im going to do some more testing to see if I can improve on what I have now.

There is a noticeable difference shooting these rounds through the comp and not so I do believe a comp does make a difference.  I did shoot some 90gr JHP rounds and they are definitely soft and flat but quite a bit more expensive, if I could find them at the same price point I may switch to them, if the accuracy was the same.  

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Im going to play around with some very light weight bullets and the same powder charge of 6.9.  I am sure I am sure I could go lower but I want to get used to the blast level while still minimizing recoild and jump until I get used the red dot.  Im thinking of trying a few loads with 95-105gr coated bullets to see how they do.  Thanks for all the leads.

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Anyone that says a sub-major load won't work a comp is mistaken. Physics are physics. This has been tested repeatedly, even by me with a comp blank vs a finished comp using light .45acp loads and a Ransom rest. Just because a load doesn't make a lot of gas or have high pressure doesn't mean the comp isn't helping any. The difference is in how *much* it helps. A better load will work better but any comp is better than none. Even those crappy bushing comps work. Not as well as a proper comp, but they do work.

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When you're talking less than 4 grains of powder and bullets traveling at the speed of the average BB gun, you'd need a serious nerd to calculate whether the mass or the acceleration has more to do with the effect of the comp. :roflol:

Edited by Absocold
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Anyone experience a  loss of accuracy shooting minor through a comp?

And I assume 124's are the most common. I shot some 147's at 130PF  through a Comp and could tell a difference. I was using Prima V powder. Supposed to be about the same speed as Titegroup but has almost double the volume in the case, 

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I have a dedicated steel gun that is a commander length slide that has the bejesus cut out of it. I shoot 4.7 grains of universal clays under a 95 grain zero bullet.. It seems the dot just quivers a little. The bullet chronos at 1250 fps and it is super flat and soft. when I shoot the same load out of a 9mm limited gun, it feels a lot more snappy; I am pretty sure the comp is working.

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On October 12, 2016 at 4:27 PM, kneelingatlas said:

0.355" like laser beams :sight:

Isn't that the truth! We were practicing at the range a few weeks ago and we saw a groundhog at 125 yards.  I tried to hit him. I was shooting 95 grain FP running at 1500 FPS. I figured I would have some drop at that distance so I aimed 18" high. I couldn't see where I was hitting so I gradually worked my way down until the dot was right on him. Pow, I rolled him and I was amazed  how flat that round shot at that distance. Just like you said, a laser beam.

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Saying that comps don't work with minor loads is complete bs.  If you have a screw on comp; before you glue it down next time turn it 180/upside down and shoot some minor through it.  News flash, they DO work. 

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  • 3 years later...

Hate to drag this up from the dead, but this post continues to come up when I'm looking into ammo for my comped g19. 

 

I just wanted to throw this video out there as a proof of compensator function on a data driven level... 

 

https://youtu.be/bUY2bHTf8i8

 

Ammo will make a difference but I think you should try a few different types, reloading your own or not.. And find what works for you and your comp setup.

 

In my case, I have a g19 I built, not specifically for competition, just for me.. And I am going through this process. I bought a bunch of Winchester whitebox 115g a while back when I knew I was getting into a 9 and after the comp installed I had a lot of stove pipes, failure to feed, eject, and fire. I've since gotten a new ndz spring kit and changed my striker spring back to 5lbs from 4.5(i think the white box ammo just isn't reliable on 4.5lb spring). But atm it's reliable with a 15lb recoil spring, on that ammo.. I intend to get small batches of 124 and 147gr ammo to test and see if theirs any combination of ammo & spring weights that I like that run reliably and then start getting into reloading. I have 0 reloading equipment or experience so I'd like to find a round to mimic at first to learn. 

Edited by NomadSeltzer
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