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You don't need a lot of power to knock pins off the table. I do it with a 22 in the rimfire shoots. You just have to hit them squarely. In centerfire, a lot of shooter do well shooting 9mm minor loads. I don't own a 9mm that isn't an Open gun, so I shoot 40sw minor (130PF) or 45 minor (144PF). The 40 is a 155gr TC, the 45 is either a 200 LSWC or a 180 TC. Pins fly off the table with either load. I am finding I do a little better with the 180, because the muzzle lifts a little less and the sights return more quickly. Also slide action is faster. Go ahead and try reversing the 158s. It won't hurt anything. I'd go for a lighter bullet with a larger meplap. In fact, I just use you wad cutters. At 148PF they will do just fine.

I load major at 1.161" OAL in fully processed mixed HS brass. It has been resized, deprimed, primer pocket swaged, push through or roll sized, cleaned, dried and lightly waxed. My OAL variation with this brass is +/- .001" on a Hornady LnL using Hornady dies. I've just started reusing cases I shot at the practice range. I checked a couple and they were right on. Now that I hear there is a problem, I'll have to check more thoroughly.

Will is just a question of money. It is a very simple machining job. The problem is setting up for just one piece. Gunsmiths generally charge per hour. So if you are willing to pay for his time, there should be no problem. If you are trying to fit a comp, consider ordering one and have it bored and threaded for 1/2x28. EGW will do that for several of their comps, but you pay $20 extra and have to wait several weeks.

None of the Level I matches I sign up for require prepay. All require registration via Practiscore. All fill up quickly. At one club if you haven't registered in the first 90~120 seconds, you are on the wait list. Same with the second. A third club is more forgiving. It is usually full in under 5 minutes. Same with a fourth, except they will allow walk-ons even if full. Singing up the day of the match would just start a timing race. Show up way early to be sure you get a spot, or risk travelling a hour or so only to be sent home. Then you sit around for 2-3 hours twiddling your thumbs. That might work if you required everyone to assist in setup. There are a lot of no shows. Some people sign up for a couple of matches and then decide which one to go to at the last minute. That sucks. Each club handles it differently. One club makes a point about no shows at the match briefing. They request you withdraw NLT Thursday, so they can fill in from the wait list. No show a couple of times and your name is mud. Two clubs allow 10 shooters to squad for each stage. If you miss out you sign up for the no preference squad (20 shooters). If you want to shoot with your buddies, show up early to register. If you don't, you are assigned a squad and you are stuck with it. A fourth club allows you to pre-register on Practiscore, but does not allow you to squad until approved. They approve all the ROs first and allow them to squad, requesting only that they squad so they are evenly represented. Then they approve all remaining in the order they signed up. That seems to have minimized the no shows at all but one of the clubs. That club shoots on the third Saturday. Evidently that slot is popular with a few other clubs in the area. It really pisses the MD off. That's why he went to the no-pref squad. He will attempt to accommodate a no-pref shooter's squad request, but he insists on balancing the squads. As far as squad sizes go, I think 10 is the minimum. Shooter, on deck, in the hole, and timing and scoring ROs leaves five to tape, etc. Three of the clubs have only 5 or 6 bays, so squad sizes go between 12 and 15. 15 is a lot, especially if one of the squads are slow. That makes for a long day.

Not always the case. You can get welding wire that produces quite soft welds. That type is used often for medical equipment.

Any gunsmith or machine shop can make that.

IVC, the reason you find such a variance in OALs is different manufactures chamber their barrels differently. European firms typically chamber with a very short leade. That's why you see so many astonishingly (to us) short OALs from European reloading tables. SAAMI length is 1.169" OAL with a round nose bullet. I load 115gr HAPs to 1.161" and have no trouble feeding in 2011 or 1911 mags. You got a lot of good info above. Personally, I'd develop a load for your revolver first. If it proved too long for the 1911, I'd have that barrel throated. That's exactly what I did with both my auto barrels. There wouldn't plunk anything over 1.150", so I had them throated for 1.165" and load to 1.161" Another powder you might try is Alliant Sport Pistol. A twin to N320 and great for coated bullets.

I have a CZ TS 40 and a couple of 2011 40s. I decided to shoot Limited several years ago and didn't have time to build a custom 2011. Several friends at the club owned TS in 9 and 40. I shot the IPSC (predecessor to the TS) and several TS guns. All of them ran 100%. So I bought one, a fourth mag and four CZC extended base pads. For about $1500 I had a ready to go setup for USPSA and I didn't have to do a thing to it. There are advantages to the TS/TSO over a 2011. The slide is lower so your sight radius is closer to the bore axis. The bore axis is lower in your hand so the recoil is more straight back and the front sight does not rise as much. You can load to 1.126" OAL and use less powder. My major load was 3.7gr e3 under a 180 plated for 172PF. You can drop the mags on stone or gravel and you won't hurt them. After three+ years of dropping mags on all kinds of surfaces, I've only had to tweak the feed lips on one mag once. Unless you are spending $130+ on a 2011 mag, you cannot say that. The disadvantages of the TS/TSO are the limited number of customization options. You basically have four firms to go to. That being said, I ran mine stock for 2.5 years without a hiccup. I only decided to customize it because I felt like it. Replacement parts are readily available. Disadvantages of a 2011 are the opposite of the advantages of the TS/TSO. The slide is larger, heavier and higher. Muzzle flip and recoil is greater with the same load. You have a bajillion choices of parts and customization with a 2011. In my opinion, the TSO upgraded to 20 round mags is the better Limited gun, but not by enough that I'd say no to a good 2011. I'm not trying to talk you into either. I have both and none of them are going anywhere. I can say that if my eyes were still good enough to shoot Limited again, I'd be using my customized TS; not one of the 2011s. Now, to throw more confusion into the picture. If you decide you no longer want to shoot Limited, because of eyes or other reasons, and want to move to Open, a 2011 is your choice. Yes the TSO can be converted to an Open gun. I've done that and decided the compromises were not for me. One of my Open guns is a converted 2011 40sw Limited gun. You really only need a barrel swap, comp and a little slide work to convert. Since I own both, I can tell you that 40sw Open is way easier to load to major and a lot softer shooting than 9mm major. I think you should go to a range and see if you can handle and shoot both. Then make your decision.

You really need to handle and shoot both to find out which is better for you. Everyone has their own preferences. I hate Tungsten sleeves or 6" limited guns, because I cannot stand that much weight out front. One of the guys I shoot with on occasion uses a 6" 2011 with bull barrel and Tungsten guide rod. He loves it. To me it feels like there is an anvil hanging off the front. I'm more a 5" bushing barrel kind of guy.

For some reason the Al grip feels more aggressive than the SS grip. Stick it in a vibratory cleaner with walnut media or glass bead blast it.

I did mine years ago with a vertical belt sander. While I was at it I deepened the beavertail and undercut the trigger guard a little more. Then I finish sanded down to 1000 grip and put strips of transparent grip tape on the front and rear straps. Backstrap is shown finish sanded. Front strap is only down to 400 grit. I finished it to 1000 after this photo.

Southern Chester County in Kennet Square, PA also shoots the third Sat of the month. They will allow walk ons even if the registration was already filled. Their only concern is no shots after 4PM. That's never an issue, because they only run six stages.

I really like aircooled6racer's custom comps. All three ports work and exhaust all the gas 10.2gr Major Pistol powder can generate. The vortexes go forward and out to the sides. You have a much clear view of the target for the second shot. Another plus is he cuts the ports way forward, so if you want to add poppels later, you can add them in the comp. I put two 3/16" poppels in a V2 config. I bought two Trubore blanks from him with his comp cuts. I really like it in the (mm double stack I built for USPSA. The gun balances beautifully with a steel grip. My only complaint is with the weight in the dedicated 1911 Open I built for steel. I love the idea of a one piece barrel/comp but It is a little nose heavy in the 1911 and hurts my tendonitis. It also feels slower in transitions than the 2011. So I'm going to replace it with a KKM barrel and Binary Engineering Ti comp. I originally went to the Trubore because I was tired of comps coming loose after monster matches. That's not the case with SCSA matches, so I'll live with the two piece setup. I had both of mine machined and fluted to get the weight down to 10.5 oz. I'd urge you to at least consider it. I'm astounded by the accuracy, and back to back 64 round count stages don't faze it a bit. I still can't decide if I like 40 Open better, but I have so much money sunk in these two custom builds I'm sticking with 9mm. Below is a picture of my 2011 build. After I'm sure I'm not going to do anything else to it, I'll tend to the cosmetics and have it finished.

Your 40 Open load is the same as mine. With a four chamber, five port comp and two 3/16" poppels it is the flattest and softest shooting Open gun I own. You will find that the matching 9mm Open load is 10.2 under a 115gr for 168~170PF. You will also find that 9mm Open hits your hand harder than 40 Open. You can experiment with bullet weights all you want. You will quickly find out you cannot fit enough powder in the case to drive an 88gr bullet to major. You will also find there is not enough powder under a 147 to 'work' the comp. They shoot soft, but the muzzle rises quite a bit. Barrel selection: I have threaded bull barrel, standard with cone comp, and custom comp Trubore barreled Open guns. A standard barrel with a steel cone comp is a full 2 oz. lighter than a threaded bull with the same comp. The custom Trubore is a smidge heavier than the bull. Barrel weight is reciprocating mass, so the lighter the barrel comp is, the less you have to lighten the slide. Barrel idea 3 is not the way to go. Comps: the purpose of a well designed comp is the pull the gun forward when fired. The bore baffles you have in the comp (up to a point) the softer the gun shoots. That is the case right up until you generate so much gas some of it jets out the front. That increases felt recoil. Seconderally, the comp directs some or all of the gas upwards and reduces muzzle rise. Poppels or barrel ports: The surest way to reduce muzzle rise at the expense of felt recoil. The poppels/ports rob gas from the comp. It doesn't 'work' as hard, so your hand gets hit harder. The size and quantity of the barrel holes affects your load. The 9mm case is really quite small. You are used to a 40 case which is so huge by comparison you can fit gobs of powder an a small refrigerator in without filling the case. No so with 9mm. So you quickly reach a point that you cannot fit enough power in the case to make major. Slides: a 6" slide is a waste of time. Mine are all 5" slides machined down to 10.5 oz. It takes a lot of machineing to safely get down to that level and still ensure a bulletproof slide. With a cone comp, you don't have to lighten as much. With the Shuemann hybrid you are taking extra weight off the slide, which makes up for the heavier barrel. Everything about building a 9mm Open gun is about balance and tradeoffs. My recommendation is to start with only a comp, coned or not. Work up a load. If it doesn't shoot as flat as you like, and a poppel or two. You'll have to add more powder to bring it back up to PF and it will hit your hand harder. Basically, it comes down to how you want the gun to feel when shooting. You don't have as many options as you do with 40 Open, so you have to choose wisely. I type with two fingers. I see that three others have replied while I was typing this, so some of it may already have been covered. Added later: my 16" twist 9mm barrels handle 115 HAPs fine and shoots literally same hole groups at 15 yards. Good 115 bullets are not overstabilized at 1:16.

I'm a huge fan of Alliant e3 for 40 major Limited. I loaded to 1.126" and use 3.7gr under a plated 180. 172PF and single digit SDs. Super clean and no temperature sensitivity.

Even if the RO is holding the timer in the correct position, especially CED 7000 timers. Competitors use them because they don't want reshoots. The worst is rifles shooting Standard Velocity and no brake. With some timers you have to hold the timer out in front of the shooter to pick up the shots. Most learn in a hurry, so I rarely see anything slower than AR Tactical (1200fps).

Believe the myth if you must. Hopefully others will not.

Even stages you think should only be shot one way offer choices. I RO at all the matches I shoot. I'm constantly amazed at the variety of stage plans executed on the same stage. Sometimes I think to myself - why on earth did you do it like that. I routinely shoot at three different clubs, and occasionally at a fourth. Each club has their own 'style' of stages. One club shows mostly hoser stages with lots of twists and turns and firing ports in the COF. A second does not have a lot of room in some of the bays, so they present imaginative, high round count (24-32) stages that can be shot multiple ways. They are always a treat. The third has all wide 25 yard bays and the MD (and stage designer) presents highly technical courses that usually require lots of long distance running. A fourth club hosts several Level III matches, so they have all the stuff to make hard stages. And they do just that for their Level I matches. They are actually Level II stages and are a hoot to shoot.

That is simply incorrect, as an examination of any properly fit bull barrel will show. The wear marks go all the way around, except for the part that sits above the spring tunnel. In otherwise identical guns (I had two such guns) the cone comp shoots softer because it hits your hand less hard. A two oz. difference in reciprocating mass is a big, big difference. There is simply less to move.

Reliability shooting minor loads is a function of how the gun is built, not whether it has a cone comp or bull barrel. My latest 2011 9mm build shoots 135PF and 168PF with the same 8 lb. spring. Going to a 7 lb. I can shoot sub-minor. Any way you slice it a bushing barrel with a cone comp is going to shoot softer and require less slide lightening than a bull barrel/comp. Personally, I was going to go with a bushing barrel/cone comp for my last two builds. I like the way they shoot. However, I got tired of comps coming loose after monster matches, so I went for one-piece barrel/comps for both. If you lean towards a cone comp, but want more choices, EGW makes a good conversion cone. With that you can use any comp designed for a bull barrel.

I built a 1991 9mm Open gun for steel challenge. It is a twin to my 2011 Open gun for USPSA. Both shoot the same load equally well. After a lot of trying, tweaking and conditioning I settled on Brownells 9mm 1911 mags. The look like they were made by Metalform. I initially had lots of issues with them, mostly because 9mm mag springs are quite stiff. Leaving them fully loaded whenever I wasn't shooting them eventually conditioned the springs. Now I can shoot full mags of 1.161; OAL rounds all day long. BTW, I only shoot JHPs in either gun.

I was also surprised there were still spots open. It must be vacations.

Going with a cone comp saves 2 oz. of barrel weight. Since the barrel is part of the reciprocating mass, that counts. I have both styles and guns with custom Trubore barrels. The Trubors are the heaviest by a tad. The bull/steel comp is next, the the cone comp. The cone comp gun is the softest of the four and will handle minor loads without problems. It's bull barrel mate won't run anything under 160PF.

Be careful when you use Loctite primer. IF you have cleaned the parts properly, applied primer to both and let it dry, you only have between 15 and 20 seconds to get the comp screwed on and clocked before you cannot move them anymore. Attached in this manner, the comp will hold for an entire season. It will only loosen at a mega monster match. 64 target stages are tough on the gun. It gets really hot and the comp is likely to come loose at some point during the match. If not, for certain at the next monster match. All my current Open guns have custom Trubore barrels. If I were still using separate comps, I'd try this Loctite® 2422™ Ultra High Temp Blue Threadlocker or this Loctite 2620 High Strength Ultra High Temperature Threadlocker Red. Both are rated to 650 F.

I have several reloading scales. The most accurate is the one from Perigrine. It is calibratable to different weight and is accurate to 0.01gr. It is a bit of a hassle to use if there are any air currents around. Turn on with nothing on the platen. Put measuring cup on the platen, close cover and hit Tare. Gently raise the cover, pour in the powder and gently close cover. It takes about 5 seconds to settle. It is used by long range bench rest shooters. It even comes with a sharp tweezers for picking individual grains of powder out to get an exact weight.