How to tell 9mm from 9mm major open gun

[ksf141]

Hey guys,

Forgive me if this topic is covered elsewhere but I am new to the forum and am learning the ropes. I used to shoot USPSA 10 years ago then went away to college and got a job so Ive been away from it for about 8 years and have the itch to get back into it.

Im noticing a trend towards 9mm major more than 10 years ago when it was considered a wildcat round and 38 super and supercomp dominated. My question is, I was looking at a used open gun the other week from a used gun dealer who knew nothing about the gun. The barrel was marked 9x19 but I was wondering if there is any way of telling whether a gun was set up to shoot 9mm minor/factory (steel gun) or was set up to shoot 9mm major for a major power factor uspsa gun?

I guess perhaps a more general question is whether or not there is a difference in the "gun setup" between the two loads or is it simply a difference in the ammunition? Thanks in advance for all your help.

[warpspeed]

First indication would be recoil spring. I run a 10# spring in my 9 major gun and a 7# spring when I shoot sub-minor pf steel loads.

Second would be the comp. Most people running a 9 major are using a comp with more than 2 ports and quite often holes in the barrel called Popple Holes.

Like this:

[blind bat]

Warp speed pretty much nailed it.

The only thing I would add is that generally you won't see a 9mm major gun with less than a 5" barrel. It's difficult to stuff enough powder in a 9mm case to make major with a short barrel and if you manage to do it you probably won't like the recoil.

On the other hand, I've seen a number of open steel guns (shooting minor or less) with short slides/barrels to keep the weight down and help the slide cycle.

[trgt]

Folks here seem to LOVE pictures, you could probably take a snapshot and post it, and I'm sure you'd see some thoughts on the gun you were looking at.

[bigfish]

If the price is right I would buy it either way. You can always change it to shoot one or the other for not a ton of $$$$$$