When to make the minor to major switch

[CC3D]

I'm curious to see what advice is out there on this topic, and haven't been able to find any discussion on it. 

 

I've been shooting USPSA for about a year now in limited minor. I love the sport and have seen marketable improvements since I began. I'm happy with limited division and that's where I plan to stay, so I'm wondering when the appropriate time to make the switch to major PF is. 

 

not sure its important but:

- Usually place 1st or 2nd in limited division at my local matches out of 15-20 competitors (mostly U class, but a few Cs, Bs, and an M or two)

- Usually place in or near the top 10 out of 50 overall

- Just got initial classification last week (C class, womp womp), we'll see how those classifiers go in the next few months

[Sarge]

Next match just do a what if thing and rescore in MAJOR and see what the difference is. You should probably switch to MAJOR yesterday though.

[Cuz]

It depends on if your currently shooting 9mm minor or some other caliber. If 9mm, then you need to decide if it’s worth retooling for another caliber. New gun, possibly some gear, will you need to buy new reloading components that you don’t currently have??
mid your shooting 40 or 45, it’s pretty easy to bump up your ammo and give it a try without changing anything else. 

I think there “could” be more to it than just switching if you are currently shooting 9mm. 

[NoSteel]

Are you ready financially to make the switch but not have to skimp on the gear?  Big picture as noted is buying the new gear as well as the expense of the manufactured ammo or the change in reloading supplies (ex. 9mm to .40).  If your already running .40 but loading to minor,  not a big decision..  Load to major and go.  If  9mm to .40,  be prepared Spend some $$$….

[CC3D]

Heard. Currently fully set up for 9mm minor with a reloading press and the goodies. I could retool my press for .40 for about 50 bucks, but I would probably need to buy a chrono to make sure I'm hitting that major PF. Been slowly collecting .40 brass and have primers/ powder, so would realistically just need some .40 bullets as far as components go. The biggest investment would be the gun obviously, looking at a used TSO or something alike. I'd be looking at probably 1000 dollars to make the switch (if I sell my current gun), which I can do, but it wouldn't feel great bank account wise. I'm basically trying to weigh if the upgrade is worth doing now or not. Is there a time/ place skill wise that's a good time to make the upgrade? Should I wait until making a certain classification or something alike? Appreciate the feedback. 

[NoSteel]

This gets brought up quite often.  Here is a thread from 2020 that may give you some help,deciding.

 

 

[Old3GNR]

OP, If you are hitting the "A" zone consistently it's probably not worth shooting major.  The difference is the points scored shooting C's or D's.  Major scores 1 more point on those hits.

[Racinready300ex]

If you're shooting limited and want to do the best you can you should be shooting major. If you just playing around or just want to see how far you can go with a minor gun go for it. Depending on your area you can win matches with a minor gun. At some point you'll run into a guy that's at your level and major alone is going to give him the win. 

[Racinready300ex]

25 minutes ago, Old3GNR said:

OP, If you are hitting the "A" zone consistently it's probably not worth shooting major.  The difference is the points scored shooting C's or D's.  Major scores 1 more point on those hits.

 

Food for thought, it doesn't sound like a lot of points. But you loose twice as many points for a Charlie. So I could shoot twice as many Charlies as he does and just be a little faster and I'll beat him with Major. 

[Boomstick303]

On 9/11/2021 at 11:25 AM, CC3D said:

I'm happy with limited division and that's where I plan to stay, so I'm wondering when the appropriate time to make the switch to major PF is.

 

What are your Goals?  If your goal is to shoot for fun and not be results/classification oriented then stick with Minor.  The extra expense of Major is not worth the squeeze.  If you ever have the desire to truly crush it, make GM, etc., you most likely will not do it shooting minor in Limited.  The reason to shoot Major is due to the scoring difference and the speed at which you can obtain those points .  You can shoot a bit faster when shooting major in that you are only penalized 1 point when hitting a Charlie versus an Alpha.  Being that time is kind of a big deal in results, its something to consider.  It most likely depend on what you want to accomplish in the long term that will make the decision obvious.   

[Cuz]

You’d get to shoot more with all the money saved by staying minor. 
 

When I switched from Limited Major to Production back around 2003, I bought a new Glock 34. I saved more than the cost of the gun after 2 years shooting 9mm. Then a few years later my kids started shooting too, and it’s been all 9mm ever since. 

[Balakay]

4 hours ago, Old3GNR said:

OP, If you are hitting the "A" zone consistently it's probably not worth shooting major.  The difference is the points scored shooting C's or D's.  Major scores 1 more point on those hits.

This is really questionable advice, akin to "slow down and get your hits".  Major scoring allows you to eat charlies and shoot faster, on more challenging targets. 

If you take USPSA seriously, shoot Limited Major unless you have physical limitations

[twodownzero]

Limited minor is not competitive.  In Single Stack, it's a little more of a crapshoot and many have shown themselves to be competitive with the capacity advantage.  If this doesn't matter to you, continue shooting limited minor.   When you desire to win, or when you're in the running to win the match, then you can worry about it.  Until then, just focus on shooting As.

[CC3D]

23 hours ago, Boomstick303 said:

 

What are your Goals?  If your goal is to shoot for fun and not be results/classification oriented then stick with Minor.  The extra expense of Major is not worth the squeeze.  If you ever have the desire to truly crush it, make GM, etc., you most likely will not do it shooting minor in Limited.  The reason to shoot Major is due to the scoring difference and the speed at which you can obtain those points .  You can shoot a bit faster when shooting major in that you are only penalized 1 point when hitting a Charlie versus an Alpha.  Being that time is kind of a big deal in results, its something to consider.  It most likely depend on what you want to accomplish in the long term that will make the decision obvious.   

I'm currently a student and have set the goal of making M in limited by the time I graduate. Thats going to give me 4 years to get to that point, competing once per month and live/ dry fire practice as frequently as I can with my schedule (grad level student, not exactly flushed with free time). I'm reasonably confident that I can make master by then but my question is I guess, at what point along that journey is making the switch appropriate. I understand this is subjective so I'm really just listening for some different perspectives. 

 

I have not shot a major match yet, so I'm thinking maybe hold off until I shoot at least one major to see where I really fall skill wise? 

 

USPSA is my "thing" outside of school stuff so I'm in it for a little bit more than just shooting for fun, if that makes sense. 

[CC3D]

On 9/13/2021 at 9:40 AM, Racinready300ex said:

If you're shooting limited and want to do the best you can you should be shooting major. If you just playing around or just want to see how far you can go with a minor gun go for it. Depending on your area you can win matches with a minor gun. At some point you'll run into a guy that's at your level and major alone is going to give him the win. 

I'd like to be competitive in the sport, I'm not quitting my career any time soon to pursue USPSA but I'm in it for more than having a bit of fun. Right now at my local club there aren't many high level shooters shooting in limited, and only one or two shooting major. The high level guys at my club all shoot PCC and I don't think we have a single open shooter. With that in mind it is a bit difficult to gauge where I fall skill wise, if that makes sense? From what I'm hearing it doesn't sound like there's a "when you hit XYZ class you should make the switch" type of answer, the answer being pretty subjective. 

[Racinready300ex]

10 minutes ago, CC3D said:

I'd like to be competitive in the sport, I'm not quitting my career any time soon to pursue USPSA but I'm in it for more than having a bit of fun. Right now at my local club there aren't many high level shooters shooting in limited, and only one or two shooting major. The high level guys at my club all shoot PCC and I don't think we have a single open shooter. With that in mind it is a bit difficult to gauge where I fall skill wise, if that makes sense? From what I'm hearing it doesn't sound like there's a "when you hit XYZ class you should make the switch" type of answer, the answer being pretty subjective. 

 

I'd say not matter your skill level Major is likely to improve your finish by 5%. Unless you're built like a 12 year old, and just can't shoot major you'll likely benefit from it.

 

If you ever venture out to your Area Championship you'll likely get to see what good Limited shooters can do. The big thing now days is people are moving away from Limited to other divisions making it harder to find the heat to shoot against. Around here there's like one guy that comes to mind still really going after limited, and he'll be on the super squad this year. 

[Intheshaw1]

If you're planning to stay in limited, I'd move to major sooner than later if you want to be competitive.

 

I shoot limited minor/production with my 3gun rig and carry optics with another gun. I know I'm not competitive in limited minor, it's just practice and to have fun. I used to shoot limited with an XDm that I already had but switched to 9mm about 8 years ago to save on ammo costs as I only shot factory ammo. Now that I'm reloading I did pick up gear to load 40 so I'll likely dabble in major again but for me I can shoot way more 9mm than 40 for the same price.

[Racinready300ex]

2 hours ago, Intheshaw1 said:

If you're planning to stay in limited, I'd move to major sooner than later if you want to be competitive.

 

I shoot limited minor/production with my 3gun rig and carry optics with another gun. I know I'm not competitive in limited minor, it's just practice and to have fun. I used to shoot limited with an XDm that I already had but switched to 9mm about 8 years ago to save on ammo costs as I only shot factory ammo. Now that I'm reloading I did pick up gear to load 40 so I'll likely dabble in major again but for me I can shoot way more 9mm than 40 for the same price.

 

I've moved to minor divisions and have been enjoying the cheaper ammo to. Now I'm going to switch to 115's, hard to get cheaper than that. 

[Intheshaw1]

35 minutes ago, Racinready300ex said:

 

I've moved to minor divisions and have been enjoying the cheaper ammo to. Now I'm going to switch to 115's, hard to get cheaper than that. 

I'm getting coated 124s for around 5 cents a pop, hard to go lower than that. Reloading my 9mm for about 11 cents right now. It's not much more expensive if you don't shoot a lot but 2 cents more a bullet is nearly a 20% increase in costs for me.

[Racinready300ex]

10 minutes ago, Intheshaw1 said:

I'm getting coated 124s for around 5 cents a pop, hard to go lower than that. Reloading my 9mm for about 11 cents right now. It's not much more expensive if you don't shoot a lot but 2 cents more a bullet is nearly a 20% increase in costs for me.

 

Who's 124's do you get for 5 cents? I think I'm getting 115's at just under 6 cents shipped.

[Intheshaw1]

40 minutes ago, Racinready300ex said:

 

Who's 124's do you get for 5 cents? I think I'm getting 115's at just under 6 cents shipped.

I was getting them from summit city for 5.2 cents and ordered a case of 135s for 5.5 cents when they had a good sale this past summer. But it looks like they raised their prices 10-15% since then so it's closer to 6 cents now.

 

I was able to get a 10% mil discount and then use a 10% coupon code to get down that far. Glad I ordered more than I needed this past summer. I think lead prices are only going up so I try to but a case every month or so.

[scroadkill]

IMO when you start to ask the question you probably should have made the jump already.

 

[-JCN-]

On 9/11/2021 at 12:25 PM, CC3D said:

I'm curious to see what advice is out there on this topic, and haven't been able to find any discussion on it. 

 

I've been shooting USPSA for about a year now in "A fudgecicle nobody but a few crayon chewers and winder likkers want". I love the sport and have seen marketable improvements since I began. I'm happy with limited division and that's where I plan to stay, so I'm wondering when the appropriate time to make the switch to major PF is. 

 

not sure its important but:

- Usually place 1st or 2nd in limited division at my local matches out of 15-20 competitors (mostly U class, but a few Cs, Bs, and an M or two)

- Usually place in or near the top 10 out of 50 overall

- Just got initial classification last week (C class, womp womp), we'll see how those classifiers go in the next few months

I’m going to be the contrarian here and tell you to stick with minor until you can make A class classifiers on demand in practice using Production hit factors for comparison. 
 

If your goal is M in limited I’d make sure you have good fundamentals before caring too much about local finishing position. 
 

The real answer is to get a Carry Optics gun instead of a TSO, though. I have a couple limited TSOs gathering dust on the shelf. 

[CC3D]

On 10/29/2021 at 7:56 PM, -JCN- said:

I’m going to be the contrarian here and tell you to stick with minor until you can make A class classifiers on demand in practice using Production hit factors for comparison. 
 

If your goal is M in limited I’d make sure you have good fundamentals before caring too much about local finishing position. 
 

The real answer is to get a Carry Optics gun instead of a TSO, though. I have a couple limited TSOs gathering dust on the shelf. 

I appreciate the advice, unfortunately it came about a week too late. Found a .40 TSO for a steal and went for it. Shooting my first match in limited major this weekend, will come back here and give an update on how it went. 

[Intheshaw1]

6 hours ago, CC3D said:

I appreciate the advice, unfortunately it came about a week too late. Found a .40 TSO for a steal and went for it. Shooting my first match in limited major this weekend, will come back here and give an update on how it went. 

Hey, if the price is right the price is right. I was really close to buying a TSO this past year and opted for a dot instead but I'd I came across one at a price too good to pass up I'd pick one up.