If brass were free, what open pistol caliber would you choose?

[G-ManBart]

I didnt realise supply has been sketchy at all. I have been able to get it from both Starline and Angus at will for more than 7 years without fail.

Yeah, for about the last year or so, there have been periods where Starline and Angus were both out. At one point, nobody I'm aware of had any, but about two weeks later, it showed up. Worst case, someone might have had to wait a month, from what I can tell. I just try to keep enough to get me through 6mos+ and it's not an issue. R,

[2011BLDR]

38 SC it is more consistent than 9mm for Major in the following areas:

• Feeding , no magazine spacers required

• Load development. Internal case capacity has less variance than 9X19

I mark all my brass and retrieve around 85% per match and 98% per practice session. I run it in batches of 3K when that pile of used or loaded will not support loading or cleaning 600ea cases I load it all for a lost bras match and start on a new batch of 3K.

Out,

2011BLDR

[larry cazes]

I didnt realise supply has been sketchy at all. I have been able to get it from both Starline and Angus at will for more than 7 years without fail.

Yeah, for about the last year or so, there have been periods where Starline and Angus were both out. At one point, nobody I'm aware of had any, but about two weeks later, it showed up. Worst case, someone might have had to wait a month, from what I can tell. I just try to keep enough to get me through 6mos+ and it's not an issue. R,

Hmm. Must have been those damn hoarders again I made a "pre Obama" buy on components myself.

[Papa Joe]

With out any question, I would go with 38SC. I have used 9mm, 38S, 38SC and the SC has been the most bulletproof (no pun intended)

[CocoBolo]

My 9 major brass only gets one shot, and I've been paying $25.00 per 1000 for once fired. I do pick up some noob brass but not enough to keep going. I paint my 9 major brass so I don't pick it up. I've been shooting 38SC for two years, I get 8-10 reloads on the brass and manage to pickup 80% of it. In actual cost it is cheaper to shoot 38SC than 9 mm major. Yeah, some reload the 9 major more than once, then they blame the reliabilty on the gun. Heck when the primers fall out in the tumbler its a sign! I shoot 172-175 pf, and the primers well they flat but not flowing.

If the pile of 38SC gets thin I RO a major match. I trade with other RO's and then the pile is deep again.

I have not had reliability problems with either 9 major or 38 SC, I run the same mags for both, older SVI mags. With some good load development 38SC & 9 major can shoot with about the same feel. Soft and Flat aka Sweet.

[Team Amish 1]

My 9mm brass is free, so I shoot 9mm Major. I have never purchased one piece of brass and my gun runs 100% (yes, 100%). When picking IDPA or Production Division brass, I still get a few reloads out of it. Once the primer pocket gets loose, I mark it and leave it after the next shoot.

There are just so many 9mm shooters and that's why I shoot 9mm and that's why IT IS free.

Super or SC is so much rarer to find and I prefer to return it to the guy who bought it.

If 9mm and SC were free, I'd go SC. Same mag capacity, more case capacity, more choices in powder.

[TerryO]

I voted 38 TJ only because it was an improvement of the SC design, however my Brazos doesn't care which one you feed it. Starline SC, TJ, Armscor, Armscor RL it just eats them all. I don't even sort them anymore.

Edited September 10, 2010 by tohlmann

[snake32]

free or not ill continue to use 38sc. if it gets harder to find ill just buy larger amounts when i find it. free would be great though

[wide45]

TJ with SC as 2nd choice.

More mag capacity, better feeding.

[Whitefish]

I have both 9 Major and 38 SC open guns. For overall performance, I prefer 38SC because of the wider range of slower powders available, primarily 3N38 and N 105. That said, I have loads worked up for both that are very shootable. So . . . it is 38 SC, but not by much, and I think the difference is closing as newer powders come available for 9 major and we gain more experience with it.

[rnbore]

My vote would be for 9mm primarily because that is what I am currently shooting and I have really grown to like the fact that I don't have to pick up my brass at matches. Like most everone else I began the sport shooting .45 ACP then moved to .40 S&W and with both calibers at the end of each stage I was out there with the other "range chicken's" trying to find and pick up my brass. I no longer have to do that and it's amazing how much less fatigued I feel at the end of the match.

The people that I shoot with who are still using the .38 SC are constantly looking to find their brass so that they can reload them time and again (which is a plus) but inveriably you don't come home with the same quantity of rounds that you left home with. The bays where we shoot are covered with 3/4" gravel so it is real easy to lose your brass even with elaborate marking that should be visible from space. So for my sanity and enjoyment I choose 9mm.

The powder limitation are kind of a mute point in my opinion, there are lots of options availabe to you with just a little research and the best bet is asking your fellow shooters what they have tried and what they are using currently.

[eric nielsen]

If you're only shooting full-length mags - 1911/2011 - then 38TJ or the old 9SuperComp are the best.

If you're shooting a shorter mag some or all of the time, say a Glock or an old/new Tanfoglio small-frame, then 9x21 is by FAR the best. It gives you consistent, strong brass without sorting 9x19 brands and it kicks out of the gun consistently because the case isn't back-heavy.

Since you can also seat bullets further out with capacity enough for 10-11 grains of most Open powders, it's good for 2011 guns too. Mag capacity as big as can be found. No spacers needed. One of the very few 9x21 votes. Wish it WAS free.