Major match, minor practice

[drivingit]

I am quickly running out of powder to load major 9 ammo, therefore have been considering saving my major powder for match ammo and loading 9 minor for practice. Does anyone else do this? And if so, besides the headache of re-zeroing the c-more with every switch, should I be concerned about anything else?

[Trent1k1]

I tried this for a while when shooting steel challenge pretty regularly.

For me, and your mileage may vary, the change in slide speed and recoil screwed up my timing for major loads. Dry Firing may be your best option.

[drivingit]

Trent 1k1 thanks for the response and advice.

[Parallax3D]

I generally would want to practice with the same ammo I shoot in a match, but I do understand that with the cost and scarcity of reloading supplies that you may HAVE to compromise. Personally, I used to shoot Steel Challenge with major ammo, but recently I've been loading a cheaper alternative for steel matches. Of course, my "minor" steel ammo is still in the 145-150 PF range, just with cheaper bullets/powder that won't make major.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Parallax3D

[openclassterror]

+1. Use a powder that goes to max pressure without compressing the load to keep recoil high without the velocity. There are a lot more powder choices in this range than major powders. Only thing though is that your comp WILL track differently, so go back to major loads a few days before the match. What I do is use the minor loads for shooting steel (stuff that does not require double taps) and practice with the targets spread out, so I don't get used to riding the recoil to the next target. Your timing will go weird if you shoot rapid fire with minor ammo. Something like Power Pistol is good, lots of gas for the comp but won't quite make major. Blasty though.....

[joedirt]

I have shot two local match's, minor open just to change things up. I wanted to slow things down and make the points count. if there is nothing to loose, why not shoot minor? I'm actually doing a tad better. a lot more a's, and not hard on the gun at all. shoot maj at maj matches. when I went back to maj, I was able to appreciate how the higher pf helps control the gun better. (much less flippy) save powder have fun. next match will again be minor open, try and shoot all a's even if my time sucks.. just to see..

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: You can do it. I would buy minor ammo and keep the brass. Then when you can get powder again you will have brass to load up. If your gun is built right shooting minor ammo is no problem. You may have to use a lighter recoil spring but that should be it. Thanks, Eric