motosapiens

in my fantasy world, there would be some small percentage correction factor applied for small guns, perhaps by a combination of weight and barrel length, to encourage more folks to shoot their actual carry guns. OTOH, perhaps shooting in competition makes more people think about how to routinely carry their grownup guns.

I've only shot 1 idpa match (going to my second one tomorrow) and I brought my daily carry, an m&p40compact (with 180gr factory ammo). I was slightly surprised to see everyone shooting full-sized guns with owb holsters, but whatever. For various reasons i'm planning on shooting my cz75 (9mm) tomorrow, but I also carry it from time to time. I think in the future I'll probably alternate between the two. Once I found out about IDPA, the idea for me was to increase my own skills and help focus my training, not to game it up so i can get the best possible score against others. I want to move up the overall with both guns, and it won't bother me if I do better with one than the other. I sort of expect that, and I think it's not a bad idea to be aware of the difference in speed and accuracy that comes along with the convenience of a lighter smaller carry gun. I personally don't think it would be very fun to shoot my pf9 in an idpa match tho.

if you're shooting factory .40's, they're way overpowered. OTOH, factory 9's seem to be almost as close to the pf as I'd want to cut it. I'm sure that going with a heavier bullet and faster powder would make even a 9 feel better tho.

+4 (if I counted correctly) on the cz. I bought a 75bd because it just fits my hand perfectly and points very naturally, and I've been quite pleased with the accuracy. Base price for that model is around $500 and if you get one from czcustom.com you can order it with an upgraded smoother trigger assembly and still be well within your budget. I'd get wood grips for it too just because they're pretty. I think the sp01 is barely too heavy for IDPA, but is probably a bit better target gun than the 75 due to the heavier barrel. I can't put a link in my post, but you can figure it out. czcustom.com/CZ-UB-USA-Factory-Pistols.aspx

Understood, although PP does seem to work just fine if you load it down even as much as 15-20% fro starting loads. I just liked the idea of starting out with a large margin of safety pressure-wise in case i made a rookie mistake, so the slower burn rate made sense. I'm hoping to hold out for a year on the progressive machine, but we'll see.

I was in a similar situation as you, except my old press is moldering away in another state, so I just bought an inexpensive new single-stage. It allowed me to get going again more quickly with less to go wrong and fuss with and adjust. I've only loaded 350 or 400 rounds with it, but it's not too obnoxious so far. With a single-stage i can do it while I watch tv. all told, 50 rounds takes me around 45 minutes including swapping dies (lee breechlock system so no need to readjust everything, just check it quickly). I decap, size, and prime all the brass I have at once, then I do lots of 50 at a time expanding and charging, seating and then crimping. Starting with decapped, sized, primed brass, it's just under 30 mins for me load 50 cartridges, so I can spend an hour a week to get 400/month. I know I'll eventually get a dillon progressive system, but there's no way I can spend the money right now. At any rate, you really have nothing to lose since you already have the press. You'll need dies and a scale and a powder measure evntually anyway, so your investment now should be minimal. If you want cheap, the lee perfect powder measure is cheap and effective. I would stay away from their scale which is painfully hard to use (but is accurate and works) and get a decent digital scale. Other than that you just need some dies. For $130 or so you could be rolling with a cabela's digital scale. If you don't have a primer tool, add a few bucks for that too. It will still come in handy in the future.

I did a little reloading back in 1980 or so for .357. Got a .40 last month, and entered an IDPA competition to see what it was all about and had so much fun I figured I'd better get back into reloading. This forum has been invaluable to peruse, but I got tired of not being able to search so I figured I'd better join, even tho I have little of value to offer others. Picked up a lee breechlock challenger press, some berry's and zero bullets, and a jar of power pistol powder to get started. Once I'm sure I won't blow myself up, I'll be loading some idpa loads with a faster powder like solo1000 or n320.