PCC “Minimum” Capacity for USPSA

[DKorn]

USPSA PCC Shooters- we all know that one of the biggest advantages in shooting PCC division is the ability to run extended magazines that avoid having to reload on field courses. 

 

Not having enough capacity obviously gives up a lot to your competitors since you’ll have to reload and they won’t. 

 

In your experience and opinion, what capacity is enough to avoid having to reload on 32 round stages, and avoid having to shoot more conservatively to avoid reloads?

 

35? 40? 45? 50? More?

[HoMiE]

I usually only load 37-38 rounds with a +10 extension.

 

If I need more rounds than that, I need to go practice. 

[AHI]

more is always better   have used 36 ,40, 47,and 50

most USPSA matches can be done with 36

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2019 by AHI

[longbeard]

24 minutes ago, DKorn said:

USPSA PCC Shooters- we all know that one of the biggest advantages in shooting PCC division is the ability to run extended magazines that avoid having to reload on field courses. 

 

Not having enough capacity obviously gives up a lot to your competitors since you’ll have to reload and they won’t. 

 

In your experience and opinion, what capacity is enough to avoid having to reload on 32 round stages, and avoid having to shoot more conservatively to avoid reloads?

 

35? 40? 45? 50? More?

 

It's not uncommon to show up and see 36-40 round stages at a local match so you want to be able to handle that.

 

I have a +10 I use almost exclusively, and I carry a +5 big stick on my belt as a back-up.  I carry two +5 standard mags for use on classifiers.

 

 

[DKorn]

9 minutes ago, longbeard said:

 

It's not uncommon to show up and see 36-40 round stages at a local match so you want to be able to handle that.

 

I have a +10 I use almost exclusively, and I carry a +5 big stick on my belt as a back-up.  I carry two +5 standard mags for use on classifiers.

 

 

 

Maybe that’s not uncommon in some areas. Locally to me, the USPSA matches all limit themselves to 32 rounds except for a couple of specific “monster” matches at the end of the year. 

 

When you say +5/+10, etc. what magazines are you referring to? 33+10/5 and 17+5 round glock mags? Personally I shoot a Scorpion so my stock mags are 20 or 30 rounds before I add extensions or splices. 

[longbeard]

1 minute ago, DKorn said:

 

Maybe that’s not uncommon in some areas. Locally to me, the USPSA matches all limit themselves to 32 rounds except for a couple of specific “monster” matches at the end of the year. 

 

When you say +5/+10, etc. what magazines are you referring to? 33+10/5 and 17+5 round glock mags? Personally I shoot a Scorpion so my stock mags are 20 or 30 rounds before I add extensions or splices. 

 

31 +10

31 +5

 

17 +5 for classifiers and such

 

I would go with a +10 big stick.  It'll get you through most things, but one day you might hit a 38 round stage, take a few make-ups and run out.  You don't want to run out of ammo with PCC.  People will make fun of you to no end (sarcasm).

[DKorn]

Just now, longbeard said:

 

31 +10

31 +5

 

17 +5 for classifiers and such

 

I would go with a +10 big stick.  It'll get you through most things, but one day you might hit a 38 round stage, take a few make-ups and run out.  You don't want to run out of ammo with PCC.  People will make fun of you to no end (sarcasm).

 

So far I’m running a 30+20 spliced mag. If I can get it to be reliable with 45 rounds or more I’ll be happy. If I can get at least 40 I’ll be satisfied with using it.

 

I need to do more dry fire before I decide whether I’m more comfortable reloading to a 20 or 30 round stock mag for classifiers. Since I’m using a scorpion the different shape of the mags (vs glock/colt mags) has me thinking I might actually like the 30 better than the 20. I’m not too concerned with classifiers anyway (or I wouldn’t be running a scorpion...) so it’s not a huge deal. 

[BartCarter]

I run 32 rounds in my Colt or Glock mags.  20 rounders as backups or for "special" conditions.  I'm not good enough to worry about running out, I just drop and insert. 

[balmo]

I have never ran dry on a 32rd stage using 31+10. Sometimes, local matches spill to the 34-36rds and I still never run dry. 

 

I run TF's 17+12 on my belt and I like plain-Jane 17 for classifiers. 

 

Any outlaw, UML, or PCC only matches, that's where I bust out the 57 Mega, then 31+10 on the belt...

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: On a 32 round USPSA pistol match I run 36-38 rounds in my mags. If I need more than that I am in trouble. If it is a 34-36 round stage I push it up to 40 rounds. I don't like using super long magazines and I try to be accurate with the rounds I do have. Thanks, Eric

[ABQautoxer]

I'm not good enough to know what my ideal load out is yet. I have a 52 round mag but download it to about 40 for the 32 round stages I've done. Like others said, I figure if I need a reload at that point, things have gone pretty pear shaped at that point.

[Dirty_J]

A +10  should take care of any standard USPSA CoF. 

 

The main time I like a mega/+20 is for unloaded starts on 32rd stages. Allows you to download to reduce the spring tension and still have some rounds to spare should you need a couple of makeup shots 

Edited February 14, 2019 by Dirty_J

[AHI]

Taylor Freelance makes +10 extensions for the scorpion.

I See at least one in your future.  2 would be better.

[DavidSeavey]

for my MPX my primary uspsa pcc mag is a 30+11, with a backup 30 on my belt and for classifiers.  i have a pair of coupled mags that'll take 57 for pcc only matches but usually load them to 50ish stage depending. 

[XD Niner]

I use a TF 31+10 for almost all 32-round field course stages.  I load it to capacity (2 down for an unloaded start) because I can.  No one ever screwed up a stage by having too much ammo. 

 

I have a MBX 31+16 Mini that I use for stages with 38+ minimum round counts.  We frequently have one of those at our local monthly and weekly matches.

 

For the Monster Match 50-round stages, I can always find a place to make a moving reload.  If I had a MBX maxi with its 57 rounds, I'd use it but I don't see these very high round counts often enough to make buying one a priority.

[zzt]

I don't shoot PCC, but I do RO USPSA matches.  The people who do better are mostly running the shorter mags.  Several shooters run big mags and they have more problems turning corners and such.  So I'd suggest running the shortest mag you are comfortable with capacity wise.  I've never seen a PCC reload at anything other than a Monster Match.  Even a 66 round mag is not enough for a 64 shot steel stage with two Texas Stars, unless you never miss.

[Dirty_J]

Lol. That's funny. 

 

Shorter mags = GM. Who knew?? 

 

Sounds like you've just got some fair to poor PCC shooters at your match! 

[DKorn]

1 hour ago, Dirty_J said:

Lol. That's funny. 

 

Shorter mags = GM. Who knew?? 

 

Sounds like you've just got some fair to poor PCC shooters at your match! 

 

Yeah, I don’t get that either. I could see how an excessively long mag (like more than 50 rounds) could be heavy or unwieldy and potentially get in the way, but I don’t see it being a big issue on most stages. 

 

Maybe the reason he’s seeing better shooters using shorter mags is because the better shooters don’t need the extra rounds?

[zzt]

Speed is the most important element in USPSA.   Lighter and less bulky is faster.  That's why people like MBX make different size extensions.  Three different sizes and two sizes of mags gives you just about any combination you want.   The better shooters breeze through COFs, and none of them are using big mags.  The big mag guys, especially the guy running twin 33 round Glock plastic mags spliced together are a different story.  For the life of me I can find no reason to run a USPSA COF with a 55/57/66 round mag.  It makes zero sense.

 

BTW, I wrote earlier that I had never seen a PCC mag change on a COF other than for a Classifier or at a monster match.  So no one is running out of ammo, even the shorter mag guys.

[RAINY0DAYS]

Speed is the most important element in USPSA.   Lighter and less bulky is faster.  That's why people like MBX make different size extensions.  Three different sizes and two sizes of mags gives you just about any combination you want.   The better shooters breeze through COFs, and none of them are using big mags.  The big mag guys, especially the guy running twin 33 round Glock plastic mags spliced together are a different story.  For the life of me I can find no reason to run a USPSA COF with a 55/57/66 round mag.  It makes zero sense.
 
BTW, I wrote earlier that I had never seen a PCC mag change on a COF other than for a Classifier or at a monster match.  So no one is running out of ammo, even the shorter mag guys.

I hate short mags personally, including if I have to reload for a classifier. I run 30s for just about everything, and an mbx mega on the rare 30rd+ stage that has a bunch of steel. The most I ever load to in USPSA is maybe ~45, so I may get a mini or tf extension in the future.

Only time a short mag has ever came in handy was on a classifier that required a reload off a table that was pretty tall. I'm vertically challenged, so the shorter mag dropped free a little easier with less space.

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[barrysuperhawk]

Shorter mags were faster to reload until I practiced more.  What got me started is I left my short mags in my pistol bag one classifier night, and only had the 30 rounders with me.  I fumbled through it, but I made up my mind to practice more, and I am now fairly decent loading 30's off my belt.  I still only have 1 "big stick" (ETS 30 with a TF +10 and a Taccom spring).  I agree that if I am on a big enough stage to require a reload after 40 rounds, that reload is probably not going to be the margin of victory...

 

I just wish ETS would make a 40 or 45 round 9mm glock mag...

[zzt]

Barry, what you are calling a 'big stick' is pretty standard at the matches I shoot.  32/32+10 (or so) is 'normal'.  Why were you reloading 30s when you had a 40?

[MemphisMechanic]

It comes down to whether you:

 

1) still roll the gun from your shoulder, angle the magwell like a pistol, and feed the magazine with index finger down spine of it. Treating it like a pistol.

 

or

 

2) load it like an actual rifle shooter. Grip the long mag in a beer can grip and feed it into the magwell without breaking the gun from your shoulder. This method works best with a 33rd Glock mag, or longer. You aren’t to feed a shorter mag this way because your fist will hit the magwell.

 

The PCC national champ loading like mad:

 

 

Edited February 16, 2019 by MemphisMechanic

[DKorn]

49 minutes ago, MemphisMechanic said:

It comes down to whether you:

 

1) still roll the gun from your shoulder, angle the magwell like a pistol, and feed the magazine with index finger down spine of it. Treating it like a pistol.

 

or

 

2) load it like an actual rifle shooter. Grip the long mag in a beer can grip and feed it into the magwell without breaking the gun from your shoulder. This method works best with a 33rd Glock mag, or longer. You aren’t to feed a shorter mag this way because your fist will hit the magwell.

 

I think this is why I prefer the 30 round Scorpion mags over the 20s for classifiers.

[RAINY0DAYS]

Since we're on the subject, anyone have a preference on +10ish extensions? I see TTI has one for 38, and TF has one for 59. I'm liking my mbx mega, but wouldn't mind trying something else to try out for an intermediate size.

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