Popular Open chamberings?

[bikerburgess]

Mike,

What load are you running? in theory you should be able to get much more gas to the comp than 9x19 right?

Until recently I was running 10.5 get of blue dot behind a Montana gold 115 jhp then I ran out if power so now I am running long shot at I think 9.7 grains at 170ish power factor. I need to bump that load up some as it is not working the comp as well.

It does a pretty good job taming the recoil as it has less than my regular 9 mm minor in a G17

Careful with the Longshot. I've heard that beyond a certain point, you don't get any more performance, just lots of unburnt powder.

I will

Book max is 10g per Hodgdon

[MangledMoose]

Lots of guys running 357 sig north of the border... One load I keep hearing is 17 grains of h110 with a 124

[Shadyscott999]

9major vs 38S/SC is VERY regional. I don't know a single person shooting a 9. We all shoot SC in SC.

Edited July 11, 2014 by Shadyscott999

[rc51g]

which carries up to NC. a lot more 38 something. runs like the energizer bunny

[Dranoel]

Soooo.... I should just get one of each casing, put my hat on the floor, toss all the casings up in the air and whichever one lands in the hat wins?

Is anyone using .45 ACP with any success? Understand, I have no delusions about being world champion or anywhere near that level. But if I can be relatively competitive locally (top 10-15) I'll be pretty happy.

[Steve RA]

.45 will work, real nice looking one in classifieds right now.

[superdude]

The 45 will work as an open gun. To get the most from the compensator select a light weight bullet and a gunpowder that requires a large charge weight for your required power factor.

[gennaro]

Unfortunately there is a bit of a disadvantage in shooting .45ACP ,

do to the problem of not being able to hold as many rounds in the magazine as the other competitors.

So during the course of fire or stage , you may end up having to reload more often than the other Open shooters,

and that may or may not cost you more time.

That's why the more popular or competitive round to use in Open Division is the 9mm or 38 SC.

But I still enjoy the .45ACP round ,

it has that great knock down big hole factor to it.

Edited July 13, 2014 by gennaro

[kneelingatlas]

The big limitation of .45 is capacity; i know first hand a 140mm holds 13 and I imagine a 170mm mag only holds a few more. 9/38 big sticks hold 29 easy and I've heard of as many as 31.

[Shadow]

which carries up to NC. a lot more 38 something. runs like the energizer bunny

+1

[Matt1]

We run .357 Sig in Standard division here in Oz (because we are not allowed to use anything bigger than .38 cal for IPSC). Most shooters load 150-180gn pills for 170+ PF.

I've thought about using it in Open because we're limited to 10 round mags here anyway but it would need to be a custom build so haven't got to it at this stage.

I would say 90% of Open shooters here use .38 Super or Super Comp and the rest use 9mm.

[Dranoel]

I understand the capacity issue. But this is primarily going to be a Pin gun that I can use for steel and an occasional USPSA/IPSC match. I am building it on a Caspian wide frame so I'll at least have 12 round reloads. If I end up shooting more steel or "jump and run" I'll build a second gun, which I'm already considering. The 45 I think will be the better compromise for me as I really don't trust 9mm/.38 for bowling pins.

My original idea was to build a 10mm and swap in a 40S&W for everything else. But I just can't find a compensated barrel for 10mm.

[bikerburgess]

Lots of guys running 357 sig north of the border... One load I keep hearing is 17 grains of h110 with a 124

I tried to make major with 296 (same as H110) but I couldn't get enough to fit at a short enough COL to fit my GLOCK I think the closest I got was about 15.5grains at about 155 power factor but it was super soft

[IHMSA15151]

9mm seems to be the most popular at the matches I have been to. That being said I am somewhat new to the sport. When I was looking for a used STI on all the auction sights there were a lot more 38 super guns for sale than 9mm. When a 9mm came up it usually went quickly. Could also be a factor of folks not wanting to reload and you can get 9mm everywhere now.

[BSeevers]

Ya missed one and possibly mis stated one

I think the necked down one you meant was 9x25 Dillon. It was a 10mm necked down to 9mm so people could go to the extreme of 18 grains of powder looking for the "flattest" gun made. It is an example of how you can go too far in any direction but was shot but such unknowns as Robbie. That's sarcasm for you less enlightened.

I don't remember a 9x22 but the 9x21 was very popular. It is basically a 9mm profile just a little (2mm) longer. It was developed by countries ( I think Italy) that don't allow their regular citizens to shoot a military round (9mm)

It is a lot more expensive than regular 9mm but it could be a compromise solution since it could hold more powder

That is why I like 38 Super. I can use any powder that I would like to and 9mm can't.

[Dranoel]

Just found Briley's website and they have a 10mm barrel with a cone bushing and 4 chamber comp. They also have the same barrel in 40S&W and 357 Sig. I think I just solved my dilemma.

[kneelingatlas]

That is why I like 38 Super. I can use any powder that I would like to and 9mm can't.

Which powders are these Bill? I've heard the comment many times but no specific powder referenced. I ask with honest curiosity, because I know in theory 38 should be able to hold a larger charge of slower powder, but in practice I run into a lot of 38 guys running faster powders with heavier bullets than I do in my 9.

[Parallax3D]

That is why I like 38 Super. I can use any powder that I would like to and 9mm can't.

Which powders are these Bill? I've heard the comment many times but no specific powder referenced. I ask with honest curiosity, because I know in theory 38 should be able to hold a larger charge of slower powder, but in practice I run into a lot of 38 guys running faster powders with heavier bullets than I do in my 9.

I think it's still a throwback to the mentality from when the PF for Major was 175, and there were fewer powders available. Currently, I can name about half a dozen powders that will make major in a 9mm. If that's not enough choice, then you have other problems.

[kneelingatlas]

I'm just really curious about specific powders like N105, Longshot, HS7, AA #7, (or #9?) because it seems to me that most 38 super shooters are using the same powders as 9 shooters: HS6, 3N38, Autocomp, Silhouette, etc. and a lot of them seem to be using 124gr bullets.

[Steve RA]

I used to use 4756 in 9mm and .38 Super when the PF was 175.

[kneelingatlas]

I used to use 4756 in 9mm and .38 Super when the PF was 175.

How did your charge weights compare Steve? Were you using the same weight bullet?

[Powder Finger]

Ya missed one and possibly mis stated one

I think the necked down one you meant was 9x25 Dillon. It was a 10mm necked down to 9mm so people could go to the extreme of 18 grains of powder looking for the "flattest" gun made. It is an example of how you can go too far in any direction but was shot but such unknowns as Robbie. That's sarcasm for you less enlightened.

I don't remember a 9x22 but the 9x21 was very popular. It is basically a 9mm profile just a little (2mm) longer. It was developed by countries ( I think Italy) that don't allow their regular citizens to shoot a military round (9mm)

It is a lot more expensive than regular 9mm but it could be a compromise solution since it could hold more powder

That is why I like 38 Super. I can use any powder that I would like to and 9mm can't.

if I remember right the .356 TSW (team S&W) was between 21 and 23 MM probably because they could.

maybe it's about 22mm?

i think I got one laying around if so I'll check the length.

[Steve RA]

I used the same bullet - 130 gr .38 Super FMJ from Winchester - back then they measured .356 but from what I've read on here lately they have dropped some in diameter. Used pick up brass from an indoor range once in the 17L Glock and left it lay, then used Starline .38 Super in the McCormick (early STI, Chip sold them initially). I didn't load the ammo for either so don't know the charge weight - do know it was 4756 in both.

The load that worked best in the Glock went 1422 FPS at the last KC Indoor match and one other major match (can't remember which). Seems - as best I can remember - the load in the super was around 1390/1400 FPS. Used CCI SRPs in both.

Sorry I don't remember what the powder charge weight was.

[BSeevers]

That is why I like 38 Super. I can use any powder that I would like to and 9mm can't.

Which powders are these Bill? I've heard the comment many times but no specific powder referenced. I ask with honest curiosity, because I know in theory 38 should be able to hold a larger charge of slower powder, but in practice I run into a lot of 38 guys running faster powders with heavier bullets than I do in my 9.

I'm sure I'll misstate one but how about 3n37 3n38 AA7 n105 to start? I only use 115gr bullets so a heavier bullet might open possibilities

[kneelingatlas]

That is why I like 38 Super. I can use any powder that I would like to and 9mm can't.

Which powders are these Bill? I've heard the comment many times but no specific powder referenced. I ask with honest curiosity, because I know in theory 38 should be able to hold a larger charge of slower powder, but in practice I run into a lot of 38 guys running faster powders with heavier bullets than I do in my 9.

I'm sure I'll misstate one but how about 3n37 3n38 AA7 n105 to start? I only use 115gr bullets so a heavier bullet might open possibilities

Well Bill, I've never used any of those powders, but I use SP2 and VV says 3N38 can use the same data so that's where I base my assumptions:

I've made 181PF with a 115gr bullet over 9.5gr of SP2 (I pushed the charge weight all the way to 10.0 and didn't get any more velocity), I I would assume similar results from 3N38; 3N37 is faster and according to the VV published data takes roughly 85% of the charge weight to make the same velocity, so that should be no problem; N105 is slightly slower than 3N38 (the data shows ~1.5% more powder for the same velocity) so since my normal load is 9.3gr of SP2, I would think 9.4-9.5gr of N105 should safely make major; AA#7 is certainly too slow to make major in 9mm as it seems to take ~15% more powder than 3N38 to make the same velocity.

I have read posts from multiple users here that say they shoot 9 Major with both 3N38 and N105 (if I can get my hands on some I intend to try both).

The point of my previous comment is that I don't know anyone shooting 38 super using powders in this range, most guys I talk to (and who's pistols I've shot) are loading HS-6 or AutoComp under a 124gr bullet so while I know 38 super has the potential to create more gas, but I think there are a lot of 38 shooters not using that potential. On the contrary, I think I am squeezing every pit of potential out of the 9x19 case and am very happy with it (that's not to say I will never borrow/buy a .38 super gun, do my own load development and fall in love ).