Minor or Major? Pros & Cons - Limited Minor

[S&W627shooter]

It is not a disadvantage if you shoot the A zone!

Edited April 29, 2009 by S&W627shooter

[uscbigdawg]

It is not a disadvantage if you shoot the A zone!

That's all you need to know. Is it possible to do well, shooting minor. Yep. Saw it this weekend in Open. Depending on the stage design, you CAN have advantage shooting Limited minor. I say anything's possible. Just a matter of how much we want to succeed at it.

Rich

[little_kahuna]

With my very limited experience, I cannot fathom a reason to shoot 9mm minor in limited division other than cost-effectiveness. Depending on what you are shooting (I shoot a Benny Hill 6") you may not notice any difference in speed. Having tried minor vs. major, I hardly even felt a difference. If someone practices valuable skills, and is just fast, then they'll be fast with everything. It's almost similar to thinking that going from revo to open will completely change they way you shoot... it wont make you better, you just get better with whatever you are using when you use it more. With the time you feel like you'll be saving, you'll have to use that extra time to ensure +90% alphas, so you wont have gained anything anyway. I cannot bring my self to throw away a big chunk of points for a few extra rounds. With the right equiptment, you wont notice a difference in speed. I just reviewed some video of my match this past weekend at the golden bullet, and i'd have swore i was shooting minor, but i chrono'd 172 pf first thing in the morning at like 55-65 degrees.

If you have the gear, then go for it, because shooting is fun no matter what, but if you are wondering about building a future gun, i dont think Limited guns should be in anything but .40 S&W Major.

IMHO, because I have such extensive knowledge at the grand age of 17

[-JQ-]

You could take only head shots...

[little_kahuna]

You could take only head shots...

If i was a real man, i'd take only headshots with my sister's ruger 22/45

oh yeah, and i'd throw rocks at all the steel

hehehe

Assassin division: .22/rimfire calibers only, mandatory iron sights and suppressors. must wear black ski-mask and gloves while shooting.

[VegasOPM]

I shot Limited Minor a lot this year with my GLOCK 17. The added points down hurt, but it really helped me focus on shooting "A's". I switched back to major for a few matches, but my overall finishes were about the same. I focus on 85% of available points while shooting Minor- switching to major pushes that over 90% but my times are a bit slower.

[sperman]

I shot Limited Minor a lot this year with my GLOCK 17. The added points down hurt, but it really helped me focus on shooting "A's". I switched back to major for a few matches, but my overall finishes were about the same. I focus on 85% of available points while shooting Minor- switching to major pushes that over 90% but my times are a bit slower.

Slight thread drift.

I've wondered why some of the top notch shooters don't shoot minor in SS. They shoot mostly A's, and 10 vs. 8 could save a reload or two depending on the stage. I'm not sure they could shoot enough faster to justify it, but the reloads might make it worth while.

Thread drift off.

[ebg3]

I think you will see more of an advantage with the higher mag capacity than with the lower power factor. I think it's possible to make it work and to excel with it but it would be a lot of work. You would HAVE to shoot over 90% A's (more like 95%) to really be competitive.

I've thought about shooting 9mm in a SV or STI on the local level just because it's cheaper than 40, but I'd have to buy a gun and that $$ could go a long way towards .40 componants.

EG

[eerw]

it is a disadvantage..as most people can shoot a gun at major as fast as they can a gun shooting minor. the advantage/disadvantage is when you shoot Cs.

one your down only 1 point, minor you are down 2. shoot 5 of them..it's 5 point vs 10points down. you can't shoot fast enough to make up that difference.

I don't see that as a reason not to do it, as long as you know the challenge you are in for.

[Shay1911]

I think it depends one the shooter. If you are the type that shoots 95% of points anyway, then the switch wont hurt much at all, but may help you go faster.

On a 16 paper target stage, to get 95% of points, you can afford 8 charlies with major and only 4 charlies with minor, the rest have to be alphas. Can you shoot 4 less charlies faster with minor pf?

Steel makes it easier...

[cdrissel]

I've been shooting minor open for about a year now. I made B class after winning C class, shooting minor at Mile-Hi (Co State). I do drop points in matches and it hurts but I have been working on my accuracy.

9mm minor is cheaper and doesn't beat the snot out of my STI Steel Master. I shoot more Steel Challenge in the summer than USPSA.

Plus its always fun to hear someone say "you should be shooting Major" and beat them on a stage or two.

[jasmap]

Matt Burkett had this same theory a few years ago and he tested it out......he went back to major.

[Audifn]

It is not a disadvantage if you shoot the A zone!

That's all you need to know. Is it possible to do well, shooting minor. Yep. Saw it this weekend in Open. Depending on the stage design, you CAN have advantage shooting Limited minor. I say anything's possible. Just a matter of how much we want to succeed at it.

Rich

Not to say I'm not happy with the results, and although I did do well shooting minor, its not something I plan to do again. I certainly noticed an increase in my stage times when I only settled for a "Perfect sight picture" each shot rather than the usually effective "acceptable sight picture".

In the case of this match the difference between Minor PF scores and Major PF scores on the scoreboard was 5 places

[Graham Smith]

Just take your current production scores and compare them to the scores of the L10 shooters - that should give you a rough idea of the difference. If you are beating any of their scores, then you might want to try shooting a few limited matches using just what you have now.

I'm currently shooting .40 minor in production using my own loads, and I have spend some time at the range shooting a mix of minor and major loads and the difference is not as great as I expected. In fact, I'm going to start gradually increasing the PF of my practice loads to get used to the difference as I want to switch to Limited by the end of the year.

[gino_aki]

I'm shooting L-10 minor now just because it's more fun for me. 6" fairly heavyweight Para in .38 SC...built 'cause that's what I had on hand to throw together. My speed has picked up a little on some things, the points down usually more than negates that, but I enjoy the lesser recoil and the occasional placing above my fellow L-10 Major buds.

[Bear23]

I shot a few matches in limited major and minor, local matches to clarify. I wasn't any faster with the minor gun and the points down hurt and negate any speed. If you figure you will have a swinger, headshot only, or difficult shots, i.e. no shoot covering the a zone at a good distance, or hard cover shots, your points down will hurt you.

[photog]

Get out your timer and time your "A hit" split times. In theory that's the BIGGEST (some might say only) advantage to shooting minor. Either gun is going to be as fast getting to the target, getting the sight picture, getting the first shot off. I'm a "C" shooter in Limited and my EAA Elite Limited will get a "TWO ALPHA" with a .15 sec split time at 7-10 yards (my max speed not in a match). Most Limited guns will hold 17+ rounds, so its not really a capacity issue either. So, is your split going to be .09 or better? To save a second on a stage you would have to be .1 sec faster on 10 targets AND GET ALL A'S. Is your 9mm THAT much more accurate (mechanical accuracy, like benchrest groups) than your .40? I'd bet not. I don't see the real advantage to going minor (other than $.02 per round cost) in USPSA competition.

On a side note, I took out a newbie to show him what USPSA is all about. He had just bought a Glock 9mm with the 5" barrel (sorry I don't speak Glockese) and that had much higher recoil with WWB than my Limited with my 180gr max load (American Select)1100fps load. It recoils higher and for me had a harder time getting back on target, I think due to the lighter weight of the Glock. But my Ruger P89 Production setup (I know it sucks) felt easier to handle.

Point is, its all perception. I thought my Limited wasn't accurate at long shots, that was my perception. Then I practiced at it, and my 50yard groups suddenly got better. I perceived that my split times were slow and so I sped up, but then I realized that the extra .1 sec would really have very little on my score (figure 12 splits on a 12 paper target course for a total of 1.2 sec) compared to a Mike! So I'm slowing down my split till I SEE the sights back on target.

[tk2]

Thanks for the replies. I know it is definitely a disavantage to shoot minor, but I thought maybe it wouldn't be that much. I can definitly shoot as good or better hits faster with a minor load, so the speed will cancel out some of the extra points I drop, but I'm sure you guys are right, the speed difference just won't be near enough to make up for the lost points. Maybe I will try and shoot some matches major and reshoot them minor and see what percentage difference there is in my scores.

The only reason I asked is because I shoot alot more steel than IPSC, and it would be easier just to shoot the same load in both.

[jasmap]

Thanks for the replies. I know it is definitely a disavantage to shoot minor, but I thought maybe it wouldn't be that much. I can definitly shoot as good or better hits faster with a minor load, so the speed will cancel out some of the extra points I drop, but I'm sure you guys are right, the speed difference just won't be near enough to make up for the lost points. Maybe I will try and shoot some matches major and reshoot them minor and see what percentage difference there is in my scores.

The only reason I asked is because I shoot alot more steel than IPSC, and it would be easier just to shoot the same load in both.

Try it one time at the Nationals and you'll NEVER do it again except for fun. But then again we do this for fun anyway. I say shoot whatever you want and enjoy.

[Ross Carter]

It's a big advantage if you claim major and don't get caught or moved to minor, of course that has never happened in UPSA history. LOL

Limited guns and their drivers are so good now I don't think you can shoot faster on any give field course with minor over major. I think other factors are limiting.

[Beretta Lover]

FWIW I used to shoot minor in SS so I woulnt have to change loads between IDPA and USPSA (IDPA PF is 125,000 in the ESP division)

I only shoot major loads when I shoot USPSA now

[eerw]

BJ shot minor at SS Nationals.

here are his thoughts on it.

http://bjnorris.wordpress.com/

the difference here is SS minor vs SS major vs Limited minor vs. Limited major

[bkeeler]

Great now I have to buy A 9mm for limited.

BK

[Flexmoney]

Note: I merged a number of threads on this topic. All found using the SEARCH page.

These too: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...ghlite=%2Bminor

- Admin

[CocoBolo]

I load 4.7gr of WST in my 40 to make major and I load 4.7 gr of WST in my 9 mm to make minor. The recoil of 4.7gr in Minor with the 9 mm slows me down more than the soft shooting 40.

The basic theory of this sport is points per second and to be good you have to hit 85% A's, if you are hitting more than that you are shooting too slow, that is what they tell me. With monor you have to hit more A's so you are going to have to slow down to do that.

Saving money, well you could possibly save $3.00 per match with a 9 mm over a 40, I choose just to skip the pie on the meal after the match. I know a guy that could save more than that by quitting the Lottaaee's on the way to the match.

Shoot what you got, and have fun.