JonHegreness

I'm kind of leaning the same way. I still like the idea of getting more gas into the comp though. You are pretty spot on. His gun starts to run really well, such as slide speed and feeding correctly/consistently at around a 140 PF. Thank you!

He does have a sight. He has a C-More RTS2 on a Carver Custom mount so it looks a lot like the 2011 race guns and takes the weight off the slide. We have the 2.0 CORE with the slide cuts, so adding the weight back on seemed silly.

If we can build a round that shoots well, runs the gun fast and consistent, I am not at all concerned about the power factor at the moment. I don't see any direct benefit in bringing him into a Major Power Factor in terms of scoring, at least for now and I could agree somewhat with the polymer gun argument to some extent. I will admit all day that a well built 2011 has a different response to the load, but I do believe his gun can handle it. I am less concerned about the power factor as I am controlling recoil and making this gun shoot as fast and flat as we can. I set out to build that sort of a gun with him, but didn't want to jump into a 2011 and just have it work. That may sound really weird, but he has learned so much about guns building a gun from the ground up. We are tinkering as much as anything and learning. He is 11 and getting into the sport pretty seriously and I want to to not only shoot well, but also want him to learn all he can about how the gun works at each level.

Do you shoot a 9mm with a Compensator? I am very new to reloading and would appreciate some help on round design. What bullet weight/brand/type and powder weight/brand/type would you recommend for a 9mm load in a 5" barrel with a 5 port compensator FOR A 70 Pound Kid? Do we go major for more gas? Do we go powder puff with some 85 grain plinker? This past summer my Son has been experimenting with different configurations of an M&P 2.0 9L. Currently we have an Apex Competition barrel with an SJC 5 Port Compensator. The gun runs really well and will handle Major loads. I can adjust recoil spring strengths and setup the pistol for the round made. My Son is shooting in local pistol competitions that closely resemble small scale USPSA Matches and really soon we will be joining our local USPSA League. We have ran 170 power factor 124 loads and he handles the recoil OK. We have ran larger 147 and 150 at lighter charges and he handles the recoil OK. We have just purchased a Dillon reloader and are going to start making rounds for his pistol and compensator. I want to create a good round for him to best minimize or control the recoil for him. Simply, I want to run the gun fast and keep it as flat as possible. I have found that he handles the snappier 115 rounds better than he handles the flatter 150 rounds. The flat kick of the bigger rounds he can handle, but with his small frame he doesn't handle it as well. One thing I have noticed is that the gun runs slower and slower as I decrease power. We tried some 100 grain subsonic and could get the gun to run with light recoil springs, but the slide was supper slow. Off the shelf 115 grain 1100 FPS run slow as well, and this is due to the compensator. I have the press setup pretty well.....I think. We are spitting out pretty consistent 1.150 OAL with a .377 case. So far we have only test fired 250 rounds and we have not had any sort of round, feed or cycle issues. We loaded 6.0 AutoComp and a Berry's Round Nose Hollow Base and got a fairly consistent 1,330 FPS +/- 50FPS (we were also dialing in the reloader and getting some 5.8 and 6.2 loads in the process). Thank you for your help.

I have the steel frame and a standard PPQ. My love gun club also has the Polymer Q5 Match for rent and I’ve shot it since it was first put out until buying the steel frame. The steel frame is much heavier and does handle recoil much better. I have found it doesn’t handle standard velocity 115 when I have an optic (Trijicon RMR) on the slide and have to shoot 124 to get flawless operation. The lighter won’t always lock the slide after the last shot. When running the gun real fast the steel frame does group better and I can get my follow up shots sighted faster. If you are going to compete in matches with the Q5 and are already a decent speed go with the steel frame. It has not made me any better, but I’m not great to start with. Even though, I like the feel of the steel frame better and enjoy shooting it more. It has a real right and high quality feel when I’m shooting it.