.40 cal Major Open

[Piracy85]

Anyone have experience with a .40 cal Major open gun? Seems like a cheaper way to get into open with the risk of 9mm Major.

[Maximis228]

Risk? What is the risk of 9 Major?

[Glk21C]

23 minutes ago, Piracy85 said:

Anyone have experience with a .40 cal Major open gun? Seems like a cheaper way to get into open with the risk of 9mm Major.

Do a search on the subject, you'll find lots of info

[ChuckS]

 

 

[Piracy85]

Thanks guys, ill do a search. should of thought of that to begin with. I meant to add 2011 .40 open. ive seen lots of open glocks, not a fan.

[Don_B]

I think the only risk of 9 major is too many people that have never used it talking about how dangerous it is. 

 

One of the big downsides of 40 in an open pistol is it has less magazine capacity. That can really make a big difference depending on stage design. 

[aandabooks]

I have a .40 open topend for my CZ TS.  I don't run it too often as I like the capacity that the 9mm gives me.  The recoil between .40 and 9mm is significantly different.  Loading 9mm to major is nowhere near as bad as people who don't do it make it seem.  

[HCH]

The only reason to shoot .40 in Open is if you already have a .40 ang just want to throw a barrel, comp, and sight on it to try out Open. 

[Rudukai13]

9 hours ago, HCH said:

The only reason to shoot .40 in Open is if you already have a .40 ang just want to throw a barrel, comp, and sight on it to try out Open. 

 

For the record, "because I want to and the rules don't forbid it" is reason enough for a shooter to run/try ANYTHING in Open division. It's their gun, their money, their time - What they do or don't do isn't going to effect your score, so why does it matter?

[kneelingatlas]

12 hours ago, Don_B said:

I think the only risk of 9 major is too many people that have never used it talking about how dangerous it is.

 

[HCH]

2 hours ago, Rudukai13 said:

 

For the record, "because I want to and the rules don't forbid it" is reason enough for a shooter to run/try ANYTHING in Open division. It's their gun, their money, their time - What they do or don't do isn't going to effect your score, so why does it matter?

Calm down Francis.

 

I’ve had two open guns in .40. I speak from my experience only. 

[SWprotected]

Never tried it. The only way I would is if I found a deal on a 40 I couldn't pass on. I would never build one, I think you would take a big hit on resale.

 

[HotrodMachinegun]

I just started running a cz75 ipsc m in open this year. My mag capacity is 20 rounds since it shares 140's with my TS. I've only shot it at one match so far but I had no trouble keeping up with 9 major and 38 sc guns. Load development was definitely more problematic though.

I chose to go with .40 because the gun uses all the same equipment as my TS so I can shoot limited then swap guns and shoot open. I really like it but unless you got a screamin' deal on a .40 open blaster I wouldn't go out of my way to find one.

[Knguyen1904]

Nothing risky about 9 Major assuming your running a gun with good chamber support . I Have shot thousands upon thousands of 9 major and I’m still here 

[zzt]

I shoot 40 Open and love it.  I originally tried it because I shot 40 for Limited and didn't have a 9mm pistol.  So I bought a used 40 Open gun.  Then I bought a used 40 Open as a backup (which I have never had to use).  There are advantages to shooting 40 Open.  The case is straight sided and does not pose the ejection problems of 9mm.  Mine runs with a centered, frame mounted Slideride, and the brass doesn't come anywhere near hitting the mount.  Another is you can make major while staying under SAAMI pressure.  

 

There are two disadvantages to 40 Open.  One is bullet cost.  135 or 155 40 bullets cost between .5 and 1 cent more than 115 or 124 9mm bullets.  Everything else is the same.  Powder drops for 135 and 155 40 track exactly with the loads for 115 and 124.  The second potential disadvantage is mag capacity.  You can fit 3 more rounds of 9mm in 140 and 170 mags compared to 40.  At the clubs i shoot at space only permits 6 stages.  So they tend to be complicated, technical and long.  Even the 9mm major shooters have to reload.  There is always a place to do so without costing time.  So it isn't a problem for me.  However, I can see where the additional 3 rounds could help if stage design and your plan let you get through it without a mag change.

 

I'm in the process of building two 9mm Open guns.  One will be dedicated to Steel Challenge.  The other will be for USPSA major.  It will be interesting to see what the differences are.  I've got 3000 115gr HAPs and 12 lbs. of 3N38 just waiting for the gun to be done.

[Hi-Power Jack]

On ‎3‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 11:28 AM, Piracy85 said:

Anyone have experience with a .40 cal Major open gun? Seems like a cheaper way to get into open with the risk of 9mm Major.

 

I've been shooting 9mm Major for about 11 years - no problems with it.

 

I keep hearing about .40 Major's going kaboom  -  have a feeling that

.40 Major is more risky than 9mm Major.    

 

WHY?   You cannot get bullet setback with a 9mm Major (there's too

               much powder in the case for the bullet to setback. 

               The .40 Major, on the other hand, can and will setback IFF the sizing

               die doesn't do a tight enough job.  (Nothing to do with "crimp".  

 

Out of fairness, I guess that .40 Major loads in a non-compensated barrel

will usually be heavy bullets and fast powders (and they can cause problems

with bullet setback).  

 

Whereas .40 Major loads in compensated barrels

will be lighter bullets and slower powders - so probably much less risk than

a .40 Major load in a Limited gun.

 

BUT, not a lot of risk in 9mm Major    

[zzt]

40 major kabooms are an old wives tale.  I loaded 40 major for Limited using 180gr bullets and 3.7gr e3 powder at 1.126".  That's right up there near or a max pressure.  After 12,000+, no kaboom.  Most 2011 shooters load way longer, so there is even more margin.

 

My 40 Open load is 7.3gr Silhouette or 7.2gr WAC under a 155gr bullet loaded to 1.180".  If I load to 1.126" I drop 0.1gr in powder weight.  That isn't close to max pressure.  I'd have to go up to 182PF to reach the max load in the data.

 

9mm major, on the other hand, always exceeds max SAAMI pressures, even using 3N38 or SP2.  So while about a billion 9mm makor rounds are shot each year without incident, you really cannot suggest 9mm major is safer than 40 major.

[Hi-Power Jack]

1 hour ago, zzt said:

 you really cannot suggest 9mm major is safer than 40 major.

 

Only IFF you get bullet setback with a heavy .40 bullet and fast powder.

 

BUT, 9mm Major is much safer than you would think.  Most European

9mm Minor ammo is pretty close to 9mm Major ammo here in the US    

[191138sc]

1 hour ago, zzt said:

My 40 Open load is 7.3gr Silhouette or 7.2gr WAC under a 155gr bullet loaded to 1.180

Hey zzt, while I don't use Silhouette in my 40 Open, I also load a 155 gr with 9.5 gr of AA7. This gives me a 169PF. Great dot stability with this powder and very accurate. Been shooting this combo for a long time. I do check for setback about every 250 rounds just to be safe.

[zzt]

3 hours ago, 191138sc said:

I also load a 155 gr with 9.5 gr of AA7. This gives me a 169PF. Great dot stability with this powder and very accurate. 

 

I was warned off AA7 because it was dirty and the debris was abrasive.  Have you found any of that?

[191138sc]

On 4/27/2018 at 3:01 PM, zzt said:

I was warned off AA7 because it was dirty and the debris was abrasive.  Have you found any of that?

Hi zzt, At one time back about 15 years ago, Accurate Arms produced one (1) abrasive batch of AA7 and it was abrasive, dirty and generally bad news for barels. Since then, the production problem was identified and fixed so today AA7 is no more abrasive or dirty than any other powder. I have over 40K rounds thru my .40 and another 57K rounds thru my 38 Super. All have been shot with AA7. This is a double based powder so it is loud and blasty but, it is the most accurate power I have used and my CMore dot moves in a predictable up and down movement.

[zzt]

Thanks.

[alsipd]

Anyone have experience with a .40 cal Major open gun? Seems like a cheaper way to get into open with the risk of 9mm Major.

I ran 40 open last year and could not get the right combination of bullet and powder to work the comp effectively. I moved to 9 major at the suggestion of other guys I shoot with and I am very happy so far. Still need to work on my loading to get the comp to be it’s most effective but I like the science behind it all. I have some great guys to ask questions when I need help.


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[alsipd]

On 6/13/2018 at 9:43 PM, alsipd said:

 

I ran 40 open last year and could not get the right combination of bullet and powder to work the comp effectively. I moved to 9 major at the suggestion of other guys I shoot with and I am very happy so far. Still need to work on my loading to get the comp to be it’s most effective but I like the science behind it all. I have some great guys to ask questions when I need help.


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Here is the 40 open setup I had been running. My handicaps were Slide mounted optic, too many ports in the comp and no thumb-rest to help with recoil and grip placement. It has a reliable 1lb 11oz trigger pull using the Apex short reset flat trigger, competition spring kit.  

[Nalle2491]

.40 in an open gun is a huge disadvantage. Less mag capacity and usually more recoil. No thanks I’ll pass!