Power factor ammo.

[shootsforfun]

How many people buy minor and major power factor ammo and what is the benefits of it.

[Jaycwebb]

An overwhelmming majoity of people who shoot handload. It's cheaper and the ammo will perform better in your gun.

[boudreux]

I don't reload so thats all i buy. I shot production for my first year of shooting with a Glock 35. Atlanta Arms loads a 40 minor which was perfect so I didn't have to shoot major loads while everyone else is shooting 9mm minor. I shot those minor loads and a shooting buddies 9mm and couldn't tell a difference. As far as I know they are the only company that loads 40 minor. I started shooting limited last month and I have been shooting AAA .40 major and Freedom Munitions 180 grain .40. I borrowed a buddy's chrono and got about 170 pf which is perfect for limited. I would love to get into reloading and it makes more sense cost wise and I will do it one day. But I also like to be able to call up a company and place and order when I need some reliable ammo.

I wouldn't say there are really any benefits other than from what I hear its hard to find components for reloading and that can be a hassle, especially if you are loading up ammo for a match.

[Parallax3D]

Major power factor ammo really depends on what you are shooting.

Buying commercial ammo that makes major in .40 S&W and .45 ACP is not that hard. Most commercial ammo is well above major. (I think .45 ACP Winchester White Box runs somewhere around 190 PF!)

Finding ammo to run .38 Super or 9mm Major is next to impossible, which is why almost everyone shooting Open handloads.

[shootsforfun]

Oh ok. I shoot white box 40 and 45. I wanted to see if buying loads at 170 pf would be better or is 170 and 190 pf about the same when shooting

[kneelingatlas]

The recoil impulse is not all about pf, but weight of the bullet and the burn rate of the powder as well. The WWB you're shooting is probably loaded with 180gr bullets and relatively slower burning powder than most of us hand loaders are using for .40; a faster powder, heavier bullet and a lower power factor would make your particular gun shoot significantly softer.

Even with the same bullet at the same velocity, the recoil impulse varies quite a bit with the burn rate of the powder.

You can buy ammo specifically loaded for USPSA 40 major from some of the sponsors on this site, but I would highly recommend you make friends with someone hand loading their own ammo and ask them to teach you; bribing them with components helps

[shootsforfun]

Ok cool thanks

[superdude]

Just to clarify, burn rate does not do a very good job of predicting recoil. This is in part because none of the companies that rank the powders can agree on where to rank them. Burn rate ranking is only a "general" guide since it correlates with charge weight.

The best predictor of recoil is the charge weight required for the same velocity. More gunpowder weight for the same velocity means more recoil.

http://38super.net/Pages/Recoil.html

[shootsforfun]

Good read thanks

[GrumpyOne]

Good read thanks

Good read? Those pages are almost a MUST for all thinking of reloading 9mm or 38s...Superdude has done a great service to the shooting community for many years with those pages!

[rowdyb]

I asked a lot of people to quantify the performance gain they felt they received switching from factory made ammo to loading their own. The way I phrased the question was, "If you shot a match where a score of 100 equaled a good match for you and you did it with factory ammo, how much time would you gain shooting your own ammo?" Most people replied about 5% and a few up to 10%.

If I spend $300 a month on ammo supplied for factory that's about 1,000 rounds. That's enough for like 3 matches and one good practice session a month. Not nearly enough..... The same amount each month gets me almost 3,000 rounds if I make my own (9mm). And then to top it off I actually shoot a better score by a tiny bit? I'm in!

When I made the switch from factory to my own reloads it made a difference I could notice, small but still noticeable.

[MikeRush]

I know OP is asking about purchasing major or minor ammo, but one advantage to loading (or perhaps chronoing a variety of factory ammunition) is finding something that is still over the major PF floor but by a slimmer margin.

I bought a G24 for Limited and ran some factory forty through it and it was downright violent. Never chronoed to see what kind of velocity I was getting out of the 6" barrel but I would say there was little doubt it was well over major.

I got 40 dies and components within a week or two and loaded up some moly 180s over 3.6 grs of WSF (loaded short to fit the Glock). It made right around 165. That was a night and day difference for me. It felt like a completely different cartridge.

Similar story, albeit less dramatic, between factory 230 gr hardball and 200 gr SWCs loaded to 170 PF in 45.

I basically always shoot major so I may not have the most discerning palms but at minor there is less of a difference to me as it is all pretty soft. My favorite factory ammo in my G17 is the hot Aguila 124 gr. It made a bit over 140 PF in my Glock and gets the slide doing what it needs to do quickly.