9mm & 40 S&W minor & major or both

[kmaultsby]

Hello, all I am shooting my first USPSA match tomorrow shooting my Springfield XD9 Tactical in production.  I have question best economical solution for reloading.  Let give some background. I have been shooting IDPA on and off for the past few years. My division Sharp Shoot in SSP and marksmen in ESP.  I also own an XD-40 tactical and an XDM 5.25 which I am going to use for Limited.  I have been using my  XDM in SSP loading 40 minor and my XD 40 in ESP.  My XD 40 has a magwell legal for ESP and I could use it in limited 10.  Anyway, I was wondering because I going to start shooting USPSA would be smarter to just reload 40 minor and major or should I just keep reloading 9mm and 40 separately? I was thinking of changing from 40 minor from 180gr to 155gr bullet. I would love to hear from others good or bad.

[zzt]

I have come to prefer lighter bullets for the snappier response.  I started with 180s for Limited major, but decided I liked 165s better.  I loaded 135s at 109PF for steel challenge.  Now I use 155s for everything.  I load to 128PF for minor and steel and 172PF for major.

 

If I was shooting 9mm in Production, I'd buy instead of reloading.

[glassblower]

If you are going to shoot USPSA limited in 40, I recommend loading for major, considering points gained using major. If you want minor, load 9 and gain mag capacity, but fewer points for anything other than an “A”. That is, 40 mags load 20/21, 9 mags load 23+. If you’re shooting limited 10, mag capacity will be the same regardless of caliber, major will score higher than minor. While 9/40 minor may have slightly less recoil than 40 major, I think very few folks experience a significant gain because of minor. 

 

i shot limited in 9 minor due to an injury and got my butt handed to me by the folks shooting major.

[kmaultsby]

4 hours ago, glassblower said:

If you are going to shoot USPSA limited in 40, I recommend loading for major, considering points gained using major. If you want minor, load 9 and gain mag capacity, but fewer points for anything other than an “A”. That is, 40 mags load 20/21, 9 mags load 23+. If you’re shooting limited 10, mag capacity will be the same regardless of caliber, major will score higher than minor. While 9/40 minor may have slightly less recoil than 40 major, I think very few folks experience a significant gain because of minor. 

 

i shot limited in 9 minor due to an injury and got my butt handed to me by the folks shooting major.

I got a question about production.   If all is shooting production minor are they competing against each other, not in limited 10 or limited correct?

[zzt]

You compete within your division.

[glassblower]

12 hours ago, zzt said:

You compete within your division.

 

As zzt says, you compete within class/division in a match, but for overall in a match, you're scored against everyone. Everyone in production class is minor regardless of caliber, mag cap in prod is 10 rounds.

[kmaultsby]

I guess my question kind of got lost.  I also shoot IDPA which mostly everyone shoots 9mm where I have used my XD and load minor to around 135PF.  Would it smart to just load 40 for everything or use 9mm for production in USPSA and IDPA?

[zzt]

It comes down to a matter of convenience.  You already reload 9mm minor, so you are good to go for Production and IDPA.   Personally, I prefer 40 minor over 9mm minor, so I do what I mentioned above, I shoot 40 for both.  At 6000 40sw rounds per year in various competitions, plus more for practice, it is easier to leave the press set up for 40.  Then all I have to do to switch from major to minor is reduce the powder drop.  Reconfiguring the press and the case and bullet feeders for another caliber is tedious, and I don't like to do it on a routine basis.

[Hi-Power Jack]

7 hours ago, kmaultsby said:

 Would it smart to load 40 for everything or use 9mm for production in USPSA and IDPA?

 

Purely personal choice.    

 

Using all .40's costs a bit more but is easier, and is

probably a little better for plates.

 

Loading both 9mm Minor and .40 Major will get you

more points for a little less money, but less convenient.

 

A third option, is to shoot 9mm Minor for all of your shooting -

I shot 9mm Minor for Limited USPSA for many years - I

never had a chance at winning, so for me the convenience

and cost savings won the day.    

[kmaultsby]

Thanks to all of the replies.  I going to do some testing using 140gr 40 S&W for minor and 180gr for major using the same powder. 

Edited June 27, 2018 by kmaultsby

[JayDee]

One trick that worked for me loading 40 major and 40 minor, was to keep the powder charge the same and simply switch to a much lighter bullet for minor. In my case, I use VV N320 and 180s for major. Simply loading 155s while keeping everything else on the press the same results in a pleasant minor load,  about 139PF, which is plenty soft in 40. 

[kmaultsby]

1 hour ago, JayDee said:

One trick that worked for me loading 40 major and 40 minor, was to keep the powder charge the same and simply switch to a much lighter bullet for minor. In my case, I use VV N320 and 180s for major. Simply loading 155s while keeping everything else on the press the same results in a pleasant minor load,  about 139PF, which is plenty soft in 40. 

I just did the same thing today.  SNS coated bullets powder WST 4.6gr major 180gr at 169380 fps and 140gr bullet at 142660 fps minor.  The minor load worked great wasn't snappy.

Edited June 30, 2018 by kmaultsby

[Hi-Power Jack]

4 hours ago, kmaultsby said:

 180gr at 169380 fps and 140gr bullet at 142660 fps minor.  The minor load worked great wasn't snappy.

 

Probably   169.38 PF,   and   142.60 PF     

 

BOYS AND GIRLS, it never pays to type large numbers at 2:30 A. M.   

[Steve RA]

142.66 - not - 142.60.  Your advice is absolutely correct !!!    

[kmaultsby]

11 hours ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

 

Probably   169.38 PF,   and   142.60 PF     

 

BOYS AND GIRLS, it never pays to type large numbers at 2:30 A. M.   

Yep

You are right.  I had my video editing software open and was thinking frames per second. 

Edited June 30, 2018 by kmaultsby

[Hi-Power Jack]

169,380 frames/second ?

 

One advantage of being OLD is that you don't fall for those kinds of excuses