Practice with 9mm - Compete with 45

[BASE772]

Any of you single stack shooters practice with a 9mm 1911 but shoot Major in competition? Not saying only practice with a 9mm, but times when your putting 500-1000 rounds a week down range.

Debating if buying a 9mm is worth it over the long haul. Load up some 115's or 124's with a slower powder for a little more recoil impulse. Not 147's with a fast powder.

Thoughts?

[Agent #1911]

Practice what you compete with. Practice with quality not quantity

Edited July 27, 2015 by Agent #1911

[BASE772]

Practice what you compete with. Practice with quality not quantity

This is actually what my thought is myself.

But was thinking for draw and transition practice (With live rounds, not dry fire) it wouldn't matter as the weight of the pistol is almost the same.

[Hi-Power Jack]

Not worth it to me. I'd stick with the .45.

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: Once you shoot a 9mm 1911 you will want to shoot it all the time. They are just fun to shoot. If you are looking at 1911's and you reload why not get one in 40. That way you can shoot major and minor. Use light bullets for minor and heavy bullets for major. Thanks, Eric

[ambluemax]

They are really fun if you want one as an enthusiast or a collector. I would not buy one for the express purpose of practicing to shoot 45. The time and money you will invest in buying a new gun would go a long way toward practicing with the gun you already have. They are really fun and if you WANT one buy one...but it doesn't make sense from this angle. Truth be told, I don't shoot mine very much.

[ivan]

I use my 9mm 1911 extensively in practice and shoot 40 (Major) 1911 in matches.

I find a great deal of my 1911 practice is in reloads (for the non SS shooters out there, try stuffing another mag in every 8 rounds :-)

Sure I could probably do almost as much good dry firing, but I just like live firing too much.

I probably split my practice 80/20 between 9mm minor and 40 Major.

-ivan-

[GunBugBit]

I'm sticking with .45 but I'm open to switching to 9mm at some point. My days of being able to close a #2 CoC gripper with either hand will end soon (I'm 56).

[RIIID]

I used to shoot a 45 top end for practice and matches leading up to the SSC(4 to 6K rounds). A week before the SSC I would put the 40 top end on, practice a few days and a match then go shoot the SSC. Switching to the 40 felt like shooting minor compared to the 45.

Rich

[racknrider]

And you can always try actually shooting SS minor. You might like it.

[mach1soldier]

I shoot .40 and don't think the cost is enough to justify. The recoil impulse between 9mm and my .40 or .45 are very different. Hence I don't shoot my 9mm for practice anymore unless that's what I plan on using

[RangerTrace]

Personally, I don't see a problem with it. Lot's of people used to shoot .22 when the ammo was easy to find. Obviously there is a big difference in recoil impulse, but if that was a deal breaker then we probably shouldn't be practicing with zero recoil in dry fire.

Is it cost effective, IDK for sure but probably. Less powder, cheaper bullets and an excuse to buy another guy that will be a hoot to shoot.....

[GeorgeD]

I have a 9 and 40 limited top end, I spent a good portion of last season shooting 9mm in practice. I don't think their were many negatives, softer recoil made practice more enjoyable and I don't care about losing 9 brass.

see your sights, let the gun work, I think it's a great idea. Give it a try, rounds down range will not make you worse .

[MAC702]

I'm about to be forced into this situation. I've been shooting a .45 SS Major since we were shooting in Limited. Now, I've picked up an ammo sponsor (Battle Born Munitions) that primarily deals in 9mm, .223, and .308. That, combined with Minor being preferred for Steel Challenge led me to finally get my first 9mm 1911 last week. I'll be able to practice a LOT more with provided 9mm ammo, instead of all that reloading I had to do for .45

I'll definitely be using the 9mm for Steel Challenge anyway, and because I'm a slower shooter with a good percentage of A-zone hits anyway, I'm also going to try shooting Minor for SS.

But I'm still going to be using the .45 for my daily carry, and the the Multigun matches because I'm shooting Heavy Metal Limited.

[MGMorden]

Not worth it IMHO. Not only will the recoil be different but so will the feel unless you get the triggers setup EXACTLY the same. IMHO most people with a "practice" gun end up shooting a lot better with that gun than with their "Match" gun.

Personally, if ammo cost is an issue, I'd say sell the .45 and buy a 1911 in .40S&W.

[EDA]

I practice and shoot with my 1911 .40 (but then again, I don't have a 9mm either). Great thing about my .40 is that it will shoot factory ammo so if I don't have time/energy to reload, I can grab a box of 180 gr whatever and it cycles every time!

[zzt]

If you want another gun, go ahead and buy it. hat you are considering just does not work for me.In 45 my Major load runs between 172 and 175PF, depending. My bullseye load runs between 158 and 160PF depending on temp. I always have thousands of bullseye loads loaded, so I often practice with them. It's okay for practicing trigger control, but not much else. The recoil is d

different and the gun does not come back to the same place with each load. I've learned the hard way. If I want to do well with Major in a match, I have to practice with it until it becomes second nature again. That is true whether I'm using iron sights or a red dot.

The same is true in Limited with 40. I've given up loading two loads, except for experimentation. Now I just load 180s to 172-175PF and done with it. My scores are much better now. Maybe it will work better for you.

[BASE772]

Thanks for the replys guys. It's still just a thought.

Until recently I've always been one of those guys who would never even consider owning a 1911 that wasn't a .45. I've shot friends .40 1911's and I don't see any advantage in it over .45. I like the recoil impulse of the .45 better than .40 anyway.

[Sarge]

Practice what you shoot In matches should yield the most effective results.

[GB3]

If you shoot a lot of bigger stages designed by/for Open and Limited shooters, there's something to be said for the two extra rounds in the mag. Maybe having a Minor SS gun around could be beneficial at matches as well as practice.

[JayDee]

I have 1911s in 9mm and .40. Started out with the 9mm since I was used to production and 10 rounds in the mag. Eventually got a .40 since major scoring was quite beneficial to my match scores. Now I practice with the 9mm and take the .40 to matches. Recoils is only subtly different, and the triggers and controls are setup up nearly identically. Practice 9mm ammo is a lot cheaper. When I shot steel challenge, the 9 gives a slight advantage.

[steviesterno]

I went through the same thought process, and ended up going with a 22 for a lot of my practice. sure, there's not as much recoil as the 45 major, but transitions were identical, trigger was close enough, the magwell was the same size, and I was able to put out thousands of rounds for a $200 gun. 22 ammo is still up for grabs, smaller doses, but still there. Almost all steel matches let me shoot that as a warm up gun and then the 45 for real.

I really think a 22 or even good airsoft will be a lot cheaper and provide you with good practice and training. just make sure you run the same drills at the end of practice with the 45 and exclusively right before a match to get the feel back.

[Postal Bob]

Stick with what you'll be shooting at matches. I have a 9mm and a 45 1911, set up almost identical as far as grips, trigger pull, etc. But the big difference is the recoil. I shoot both in matches. But if I've been shooting the 9mm for a few matches, then take out the .45, it feels like I'm shooting a magnum gun until I re-acclimate to the heavier recoil of the .45. By the reverse token, if I'm shooting the .45 for a while, then switch to the 9mm, it feels like I'm shooting a 22. And sometimes I'm pulling the trigger faster than my sights get on target.

So, shoot and practice with what you'll use at a match.

[Dranoel]

I run 155gr LSWCs in my .45 both with comp and uncomped barrels. Not much different than shooting 9mm as far as feel.

[Peplow530]

I would think practice with a .45 and a 5# trigger, then compete with a 9mm with a 2.5 # trigger. Unless of course you are shooting a n major.