The right tool for shooting steel

[Remy]

I’m interested in Steel Challenge 120 power factor type shooting. Is there any thing that can be achieved with a single stack 9x19 that can’t be done as well with a wide body .38 super? The reason I ask is that if there is no performance difference I might as well spend my hard earned cash on something I could also use shooting 165 pf USPSA open class. I like the idea of cheaper 9x19 brass. Which brings up another question. What about .40 S&W? Would .40 feel slow and sluggish at 120 pf? What do the pros use and why? There doesn’t seem to be much info about steel guns on the internet.

(Edited by Remy at 5:04 pm on Dec. 14, 2002)

[Flexmoney]

Remy,

The dedicated Steel Challenge guns are often lightened up quite a bit.  They look like skeletons.  I would think that these guns would eventually crack if ran at Major power factory for IPSC shooting.

You'd probably need to be near the top of the heap for it to make much difference though.

I'd build the USPSA Open gun, then run it in the Steel Challenge.  (BTW, you can build 9x19 in Open and make Major now.)

[warpspeed]

Remy,

I started out shooting the SC with a borrowed 9x19 single stack. It was the first "competition" I participated in and was hooked ever since. When I got to the point where I was going to buy my own, I  bought an STI.

The nice thing about using a S_I based gun for a Steel Challenge gun is that if you shoot IPSC, the platform is the same. Same grip, trigger, safeties, etc.  

I decided to shoot a STI in 9x19 for SC just to keep all the equipment the same as  my shooting buddy. He is quite good so I tend to listen to his recomendations.  It is an open gun.   FYI, I also have a STI in 38 super for IPSC open. I also have a STI Edge in  40 S&W that I use for IPSC Ltd and for the Steel Challenge Ltd division when I feel like it.

Flex is correct in that all the big dogs use purpose built guns that look like swiss cheese for  the SC.

The only question to answer is how much money do you want to spend?  By having a differnt gun for each discipline you can really tailor the gun to the application. If money is an issue, an IPSC open gun will work just fine.