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9mm Major Vs. .38 Super Comp


JRD83

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I find this thread pretty interesting hence my post to keep abreast of it. I come from the 9mm Major camp without an axe to gring on 38 Super or 38SC. I think Alans post above pretty much hits the nail on the head and I have had similar expierences. 9mm Major at somewhere around 170-172PF which seems to be the sweet spot isn't excessive. I use 8.3gr HS6, 125gr JHP Zero, Winchester primers, once fired brass and an OAL of 1.170".

My only issue is HS6 is relatively dirty but it's economical and doesn't justify the benefit of switching to something 50% more expensive without a 50% better benefit. Changing powders and working up a new load isn't the end of the world and might be something I look into down the road.

It's been covered earlier in the thread but for me it was economical brass that made me lean towards the 9mm and I have no regrets. There are plenty of well known and not so well known gunsmiths out there that can make a 9mm Major gun run.

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I built mine in 9 Major primarily because of cost. At the clubs I shoot at you are lucky to get half your brass back due to range conditions. A third of it back is more realistic. With Super or SC that would get really expensive shooting 3 or 4 matches per month, plus all of the bigger shoots are lost brass matches. If I shoot my open gun in a class this year I will need a couple thousand rounds for that as well, we are now into a good bit of money just in brass costs. For the cost of a couple hundred rounds of Super brass I got a 5 gallon bucket of 9mm from a police range, once fired and clean.

I built in 9mm knowing I might not be able to use a couple powders that the Super crowd can use, but so far it just hasn't been an issue. I am shooting 115's in my 9 with no pressure signs and plenty of powders to choose from that work the comp well.

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what are the advantages of 9mm besides cost?

Leo- It's cost and laziness. I hate picking up brass at a match.

For steel matches my 9major will run WWB all day long. It makes 136pf and works almost as well as my NN340 steel load. For practice it's great and I get a pile of once fired brass when I'm done. HSMITH has the same story as I do.

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what are the advantages of 9mm besides cost?

Leo- It's cost and laziness. I hate picking up brass at a match.

For steel matches my 9major will run WWB all day long. It makes 136pf and works almost as well as my NN340 steel load. For practice it's great and I get a pile of once fired brass when I'm done. HSMITH has the same story as I do.

That's pretty cool. I've never tried WWB in my gun. I'll have to try it out. I run a 9lb recoil spring so that may have to be changed out or install a well used 9 pounder. I have run stock .40S&W in my limited gun just fine, just never tried factory with the open however.

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what are the advantages of 9mm besides cost?

For steel matches my 9major will run WWB all day long. It makes 136pf and works almost as well as my NN340 steel load. For practice it's great and I get a pile of once fired brass when I'm done. HSMITH has the same story as I do.

+1

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Just today I made a teeny little error and shot some 200 pf loads 1600fps :o

The primers were a little flat :blink:

No case damage

Only 5 got to chrono was loading 5 at a time.

Error in zero powder scale :unsure:

Now I am back to a comfy 170pf

Jim

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I think a lot of it comes down to your barrel & where you get "once-fired" brass.

My barrel was a KKM 9-Major Glock barrel designed [mostly] by Jon Nagel of SJC. I saw zero brass problems with loads over 171pf and sometimes 5 firings on the cases. Held up better than 40 brass with the *fast* powders used in Limited.

My brass came off the floor of the police range where I shoot, right after the cops shot it out of their factory ammo boxes. Once-fired, nickel-plated RP and Fed cases. $9/1000.

You MAY have more problems if your barrel isn't as supported or if your brass isn't as good.

It's not that difficult to get a match load if you use HS6 & just ignore the other powders. Don't go looking for more soft, more clean, more whatever. Just load HS6 & chrono.

If you're too slow, dial up - won't blow up the gun. If your too fast, dial it down - you won't have problems with unburned powder. Zero 124 & 115 JHPs @ .355 work really nice. My $.02

Edited by eric nielsen
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I run a 9lb recoil spring so that may have to be changed out or install a well used 9 pounder.

I run a 9# for Major and a 7# for minor.

Thanks for the spring info. What weight bullet do you use for major and will you share your load data? I'm down to my last couple pounds of HS6 and may try Vit.

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Dusty, the problem with military brass is that the primers are crimped in, you need to ream or swage the pockets. Case capacity is a little lower, so pressures for a given load will be a little higher.

Commercial 9mm cases are as strong as you will ever need with a good load, so I don't use the 9mm military brass just due to the hassle of processing it. If I had a 1050 that took care of the pockets with no extra work I would buy a couple hundred pounds of the brass, it is good brass and cheap on some of the surplus sites.

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Chimin in... I have 3ea. 38 super open guns sitting in the safe.... made the switch to 9mm major about a year ago.... Happy camper!!! Hardly ever get any brass back.... Who cares, it's 9mm ??? True the powder selections are smaller, but they are MORE than needed to get the job done. I load extra long(1.200) round nose's, using only either MT Gold 124's or Amscor 124 r noses.(the only profiles that do not hit my lands/starting area at that length w/my Trubor set-up). I feel that the EGW "U" die is a must have at this OAL. I have no trouble w/loose bullets. SV mags, no spacers,Grams springs. 8# recoil spring...... HANG ON.... I use a SPRINCO recoil guide! Works for me!!!, been a near flawless set-up so far. If you go to a high round count "loss brass" match, the 9mm makes lots of sense, I usually go home with more brass than I've shot.

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My current Viper is setup for .38 Super. I like it as brass is cheap(er) and is always able to be found. The best part is that having recently PCS'ed to Bragg, I didn't have a means of getting my reloading equipment out to the east coast and Atlanta Arms loads major PF ammo for it (they load the ammo for the USAMU). So before deploying I was able to do some shooting with it.

I am considering switching to 38 SC though. Not for reliability or one extra round (which may or may not be true). Simply for convenience of reloading. I shoot a lot of 3-Gun and reload all my 223 ammo. They use the same shellplate and so with the switch I can load 223 on my 1050 setup for 38 Super easily (I load it on a 650 now).

Brass isn't a big deal. I usually order 1-2k every month whether I need it or not. Just makes for always having it on hand. Plus using Super vs. SC I can always get my brass back from everyone else using SC. When they don't pick up theres, I just pick up everything and then sort it out....usually selling it back to shooters for lunch at the match. ;)

As for safety with the number of reloads, I have a Casepro and it takes out any imperfections that may or may not be present. I like it as it just ensures that much more reliability. Some say I'm working the brass too much. I say I won't have the brass long enough to matter. Reality is that no matter how hard you try to pick up your brass, you're going to lose it around the 5-6 load mark.

Rich

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