9mm Major ammo sources

[Rob Tompkins]

Hello Open shooters. I just joined the club! I bought my first Open gun this week and it's in 9mm major (http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=165746835). I'm very excited and can hardly wait for it to arrive. But now I'm in a quandary. I'm staying in temporary housing so all my reloading gear is in long term storage and it will be at least 2 - 3 months before I can start reloading again.

In the mean time, is there a source for 9mm Major factory ammo, or something close to major PF? I just called Atlanta Arms and Ammo (28 April 2010) and asked for some 355 Super (9mm Major) and the person on the phone said they haven't made that in over a year!

I hadn't planned to start shooting Open competitively until this fall or next spring after I could work up my own loads and do some significant practice. However, I had hoped to try out the new blaster to make sure it works, but now....

Thanks,

Rob T.

[lcs]

Welcome to the dark side Looks like you got yourself a deal. The comp looks to be a Brazo's Thundercomp.

To test the functionality of the gun, the gun should be able run any off the shelf 9MM ammo. I had a 9 Major with the exact same comp. If you need any suggested load data, PM me and I will be glad to get you started (depending on the powder you have).

[BlackBuzzard]

...... I just called Atlanta Arms and Ammo (28 April 2010) and asked for some 355 Super (9mm Major) and the person on the phone said they haven't made that in over a year!

Rob T.

I did not know that.

I got nearly 1000 rounds of AAA's .355 Super in storage. Stuff ran great - 100%.

But it was also had more recoil snap than anything I put together........115's MG, 3n37, HS6, Autocomp combinations.

There may well be NO commercial 9mm major ammo out there anymore.

BB

[matt2ace]

Rob,

Do you shoot with any open shooters who run 9mm major? You might

want to see if they would let you use their reloader to get some ammo

built. If you search the 9/38 reloading forum, you will find lots of

info on 9mm major loads to get you started.

[Rye]

Atlanta Arms and Ammo sells major ammo. Call them and look for Danny. I had bought some ammo from him before. The ammo is good and the price is decent. (770) 464-2203.

[Rob Tompkins]

I just started shooting USPSA here in MD (know a lot of shooters back in AL though) so I don't have many connections, yet. I plan to shoot Limited at least until the Area 8 Sectional in Aug, then I'll probably switch to Open.

Just wanted to play with the new toy a bit!

[Rob Tompkins]

Atlanta Arms and Ammo sells major ammo. Call them and look for Danny. I had bought some ammo from him before. The ammo is good and the price is decent. (770) 464-2203.

The lady that answered the phone said they have not made 355 Super in over a year. I'll try calling back and asking for Danny.

Thanks,

[rupture]

Yea Atlanta arms is not getting the 9 brass for some reason. Funny thing is they have plenty of 38 super and super comp. Rob did'nt you shoot at Rocket city?

Edited April 28, 2010 by rupture

[werewolf45auto]

Hey nice buy! that looks like a clean pistola. Like someone said above to check the function get some factory 9mm. My gun won't run all factory 9mm but it will run the Remington ball ammo and Fiocci HP stuff. I don't remember the bullet weights of that stuff I shot but hopefully this will help.

[JorDanO]

Wow you got a great deal! My 9 major gun runs my minor loads (132pf) mostly with no problem. If I was going to shoot a match with minor loads I'd switch to a lighter spring though.

[eric nielsen]

You could search and see if there is any Hirtenberger L7a1 ammo out there for sale. It was pretty reasonable when I bought 1000 rds about 5 years ago. Now it's probably sky-high if available.

If you're lucky someone near you may have some of that to try a box [boxes of 50 in ammo cans of 1000] - you might not make Major and the primers are hard as nails.

If you have police connections you could try Ranger 127 gr SXT +P+ ammo like TGO shoots.

For 3 months of shooting you might be best off just shooting minor and getting good hits.

Edited April 28, 2010 by eric nielsen

[Rob Tompkins]

Yea Atlanta arms is not getting the 9 brass for some reason. Funny thing is they have plenty of 38 super and super comp. Rob did'nt you shoot at Rocket city?

Yes, I did! We moved back up to MD over the winter for number of faimly and job reasons. I enoyed shooting and the folks in Huntsville very much.

Rob T.

[PINMAN44]

Rob shoot me a pm where in MD are u located?

[Rob Tompkins]

I've found several sources (some on Gunbroker) that sell the Ranger ammo, ~ $0.80/round.

Also, Buffalo bore http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=26 catalogs some pretty hot stuff, might even make major and is available from mainline outlets like Midway. It’s expensive, $1+/round, presumably because it uses expensive premium bullets, but...

I have some Speer bulk 9mm (all most) +P I'll try just to see if it works.

Rob T.

[Rob Tompkins]

Rob shoot me a pm where in MD are u located?

Sent.

[rma_38sup]

The Hirtenberger ammo dried up 2 or 3 years ago. It would make major in cold weather, borderline in hot ( Inverse temp curve, was designed for shooting out of Sterling Submachine guns in cold weather but they found it was too hot as I understand it so they dumped it here).

Ranger is pricey, but ought to come very close to major.

Of course you can always find some minor 9 that runs in it and just shoot lots of A's.

Robert

L2723

[Rob Tompkins]

.... find some minor 9 that runs in it and just shoot lots of A's.

Yes, that would be a good thing.

[BlackBuzzard]

All I see is opportunity for somebody with decent reloading operation.

While the market aint big, selling 9mm Major for $0.40 each is still profitable.

Autocomp, 115's and 124's, starline brass, CCI Pistol primers............something that goes major in most all open guns.

OAL would be a compromise, but non re-loaders cant be that choosy.

BB

[Rob Tompkins]

All I see is opportunity for somebody with decent reloading operation.

While the market aint big, selling 9mm Major for $0.40 each is still profitable.

Autocomp, 115's and 124's, starline brass, CCI Pistol primers............something that goes major in most all open guns.

OAL would be a compromise, but non re-loaders cant be that choosy.

BB

In addition to "standard" load, you could offer a "optimiztion pack" that had, say 5 differnt loads 10 rounds each. That way you find the "best" load for your gun/comp and order a semi-custom load. Of couse the pack might be $1 / round and the custom load might be $0.50 / round if differnet from your "standard" load.

But I bet its a PITA to get a license to manufacture and sell ammo.

Rob T.

[rak]

Rob if you need help with ammo pm me i shoot at F burg.

[G-ManBart]

Yea Atlanta arms is not getting the 9 brass for some reason. Funny thing is they have plenty of 38 super and super comp. Rob did'nt you shoot at Rocket city?

The difference is that most of the 9 Major folks are buying/using used brass rather than buying new. 9 Major using new brass would actually cost more than Super/SC even if they were to recover their brass...it won't last as long. So the market for .355 Super is pretty small...probably mostly Atlanta Arms buying it. In comparison, there are quite a few folks buying Super and SC brass from Starline, so it's higher on their priority list....and even those two have been a lot harder to get for the last year. Starline doesn't just make Starline brass, so I'm sure that's a big part of it (they're also Sierra bullets if I remember correctly). R,

[gerritm]

Is 9mm major brass the same as standard 9mm? The reason I ask is there is a cartridge company I use called Arizona Cartridge company. The guy who runs it is very easy to work with. He will load your components or load his to your specs. I buy my 9mm 124gr minor loads and my .45 185 gr open gun ammo from him until I get my reloading going. It is always very accurate and runs well with no problems. It might be worth giving him a call. Let me know if you need his contact info.

[Rob Tompkins]

Is 9mm major brass the same as standard 9mm? The reason I ask is there is a cartridge company I use called Arizona Cartridge company. The guy who runs it is very easy to work with. He will load your components or load his to your specs. I buy my 9mm 124gr minor loads and my .45 185 gr open gun ammo from him until I get my reloading going. It is always very accurate and runs well with no problems. It might be worth giving him a call. Let me know if you need his contact info.

Based on all I've read, it is all the same. I have seen some references that lead me to believe there is some 9mm brass with a custom head stamp of 355 Super but it is otherwise normal 9mm brass. BTW, per Starline’s web page 9mm +P head stamp brass is the same brass just different head stamp so you can see what is a +P load.

[CocoBolo]

Rob - Congrats on the purchase. I looked at that gun real hard and seems like a good one to me, I was tempted to jump on it myself. 9 major is just a 9 mm with a butt load of powder in it. Where the trick comes in is tuning the load to your gun, now if your buying ammo then you will have to tune the gun to the load. The dark side is full of gotya's like that. To get the most out of your gun the load and gun have to complement each other. The only way an ammo supplier can make sure you get a mojor load is to pump it way up, and to use a little faster powder than may work well in your gun. Differences in open guns shooting the same bullet etc can vary in the powder charge up to one grain. Non compensated guns also vary but not nearly as much.

I would suggest that you get a reloader and start working up a load that works in your gun for your style of shooting. The best cheap set up I can think of is the Square Deal B from Dillon.

I pickup range brass in 9 mm (try to spot the once fired) I load them once and leave them. I paint them red with Dykem so I don't pick them up.

[Rob Tompkins]

Rob - Congrats on the purchase. I looked at that gun real hard and seems like a good one to me, I was tempted to jump on it myself. 9 major is just a 9 mm with a butt load of powder in it. Where the trick comes in is tuning the load to your gun, now if your buying ammo then you will have to tune the gun to the load. The dark side is full of gotya's like that. To get the most out of your gun the load and gun have to complement each other. The only way an ammo supplier can make sure you get a mojor load is to pump it way up, and to use a little faster powder than may work well in your gun. Differences in open guns shooting the same bullet etc can vary in the powder charge up to one grain. Non compensated guns also vary but not nearly as much.

I would suggest that you get a reloader and start working up a load that works in your gun for your style of shooting. The best cheap set up I can think of is the Square Deal B from Dillon.

I pickup range brass in 9 mm (try to spot the once fired) I load them once and leave them. I paint them red with Dykem so I don't pick them up.

True enough. The only reason I was looking to "buy" ammo was all my reloading gear (I have a full house Hornady LNL set up w/ case feeder, etc.) is in long term storage and I won't be reloading again until this fall. I fully intend to tune the load to the gun but just wanted something on hand to play around with. I have some lose-packed Speer (almost) +P I'll try out. If it functions the gun (good comp effect or not) I may give Open-Minor a try for a few months until I can get a load worked up.

Glad we didn’t get in a bidding war! If the price went up I probably would have gone for the really nice SVI Infinity that had a reserve for $2250, which is what I think it sold at.