Convert Steelmaster to 9 major.

[Jimbo76]

I was curious to see if anyone ever converted a steelmaster into basically a matcmaster. I thought if i could get a matchmaster barrel fitted to my SM slide, change springs and now 9 major. Is my logic flawed and if it isnt, anyone know who could fit the barrel?

[EkuJustice]

The difference in barrels is just a t1 vs t2 comp. a T1 works for major as well. Actually the trubore guns use to come with a t1

[davsco]

I was told by sti that I could shoot 9 major out of my 9mm steelmaster just by changing recoil springs. whether the barrel length and comp are adequate is another issue. I have yet to do this.

Edited April 24, 2015 by davsco

[Nimitz]

yes, just change springs and you can shoot 9 major ....

[Jimbo76]

I compared the comp on a trubor to my steel master and the steelmaster has bigger holes in comp but only two versus the three smaller holes on the comp on the trubor. As far as gas volume it looks pretty close to me. I cant see that one would be better over the other?

[rferris]

I am currently running a Steelmaster in minor, 124 grain Berry's HBRN on top of 4.6 grains of Bullseye which yields a MV of 1171 f/s and a 147 PF. I am toying with the Ideal of stepping up to 9mm major with a spring change, a slightly longer overall bullet length, to accommodate the larger powder load, but anything over 5.0 grains of Bullseye in a 9mm scares me because the compressed load factors.

Does any one have any ideas or recommendations regarding Powders, Powder loads and OAL's for 9mm Major. I have Bullseye and PowerPistol and N310. Bullseye and PowerPistol, per Lyman's 49th Ed., don't make Major PF. N310 is so hot that Vihtavuroi only charts data for a 9mm, 90 grain bullet over 3.9 grains of N310 and it doesn't come close to MPF and Vihtavuroi charts N310 for bullet weights of 185, 200 and 230 grain for the .45ACP using 3.7 to 5.1 grains of N310 powder.

My question. --Maybe I'm nuts but has anyone reloaded and tested 9mm Luger round producing a muzzle velocity of 1350 f/s and a 167 Power Factor using N310? If so, how did it run and do you think it is safe? Much obliged!

[BeerBaron]

NO! None of those powders will give you a safe 9major load. Pressure would be off the charts. Besides that they would not produce the kind of gas volume needed to work the comp properly.

Look at some Winchester autocomp, vv N350 or 3N37. They are suitable 9 major powders. You need a slow burning powder to safely build the velocity needed.

[superdude]

N310? NOOOOOOOOO! It's one of the fastest powders made and no one in their right mind would even attempt it. Pressure would be about 3 times past the SAAMI limit. That translates into an explosion. Seriously. Don't attempt it. If you do, expect serious injury or death. Really.

Power Pistol would probably work, but other powders would be recommended. N310 is too fast. I wouldn't attempt bullseye either because I don't know of anyone using it. That's usually a hint.

Search the threads on 9 Major for gunpowders that are commonly used and charge weights.

A compressed gunpowder is not necessarily a bad thing. Some gunpowders are okay with some amount of compression. Some, not so much. The trick is to use the proper gunpowder for the task. Many gunpowders have proven safe for 9 Major, even though they produce high pressure. Use powder that have been proven safe.

[Jimbo76]

Autocomp is what you want and thanks for highjacking my post ! Just kidding, I will have load data for the steelmaster soon. Due to the shorter barrel i will likely have to dial it up a little more than 7 grns

[lcs]

Autocomp is what you want and thanks for highjacking my post ! Just kidding, I will have load data for the steelmaster soon. Due to the shorter barrel i will likely have to dial it up a little more than 7 grns

HS 6 is very good powder for 9 M.

[jcc7x7]

Max Micheal has the front ports of his comp cut off

Bedell builds his guns that way for him. So the shorter comp must work OK

Change the springs load up some auto comp and go for it

[Jimbo76]

Fyi a 10 lb spring, 124grain mg bullet, and 7.0 grains of autocomp makes 165 to 175 pf. I like it. My rts2 died on the 5 th shot of major, going to slide ride again!

[JohnnySpreadsheet]

While I would not claim the Steelmaster is the ideal platform for 9 major I have been happily running mine with just 1 fail to feed in about 3000 major power rounds. At first all I did was develop a safe load based on the HS6 and 115JHP data shared on this forum by Cocobolo and others. Their info was spot on and after working up I make 168 PF with 9.1 grains of HS6 at 1.160 OAL with Hornady 115 HAPs. I still run the stock recoil master setup but my Gunsmith added two 1/8" holes in a V pattern just inside the front-most Steelmaster slide cuts. The holes made it much less flippy and also much louder. Interestingly it did not seem to reduce velocity by any measurable amount. So, if a Steelmaster is what you have, I say develop a safe load and run it as it sits then thunk about barrel holes. Apart from any major power concerns I recommend an improved extractor if you are still on the stock extractor since the stock ones seem to fail in about 3K rounds for many Steelmaster owners. Happy shooting!

[Desmo412]

I agree with Johnny's post. I have always wondered why the first thought was "change recoil springs to shoot major". I would be willing to bet most open shooters using 2011s are running 8-10lb springs for major....some probably even lighter than 8!. I changed my FGW open gun from a 10lb to an 8lb recoil spring and it made a surprising difference in the dot tracking.

I also like the idea of adding (2) 1/8" poppel holes in the existing slide cuts. I added the same size holes to my open gun and the velocity changed an average of 10fps. For me, the holes made a big difference in the speed at which the dot returned to center.