Who's Re-Loading 9mm Major?

[ikeo1]

And implying a 8k gun (prob more in CA) is not that expensive is pretty silly.

In the world of open it's not, it's an expensive firearm but I'm not the one saying it's expensive.

The inquisition as you call it is, he's calling it expensive and likes to party which is fine. I've said that multiple times. I just don't agree with the major boost in points. The implication the gun is made for open / major PF and trying to use the video as justification.

If you notice, the people who compete are chiming in...

The purpose is clarifying that the SV isn't really an open gun that's supposed to be used major PF by default. You can see that over the life of the thread, that came out and it isn't about the money or how nice it is. It's more about the competition aspect, wear, replacement parts, breakage, maintenance.

What’s the worst that could happen, he learns a $8k lesson when the frame gives up and hits his medical insurance deductible from the hand surgery.

Wouldn't be the first time, but you're right... None of my business. Just trying to help a dude who seems new, not get injured or put himself unnecessarily at risk by suggesting the proper equipment, like same head stamp brass, shell shock cases, etc. I definitely have other things to do...

It's not that it's expensive. In the grand scheme of things, its affordable when you get to open class

 

[Brandon Breeze]

I think we’re mostly on the same page at this point, even if we disagree on some aspects of the practicality side.

I don’t view, nor did I before this post, the SV as a purpose-built Open Major gun on the level of an Infinity or other dedicated race setup, and I fully understand the increased wear/maintenance concerns that come with 9 Major.

My interest was simply whether Major PF could be reasonably experimented with in a platform I already enjoy shooting in Open, while accepting the associated tradeoffs.

The part that made me curious in the first place is that both TTI’s website and Taran himself explicitly state the gun can run Major/Magnum or “any” factory/reloaded 9mm ammunition. They do not qualify those statements with any disclaimers, which is extremely odd for a firearms manufacturer, especially with something like Major which can be well beyond SAAMI specs. Naturally that raises the question of where they expect the practical durability limits to realistically be.

My goal here was simply to learn more about the build up to major and associated tips and tricks from the folks that have actually done it.

 

[ikeo1]

I think we’re mostly on the same page at this point, even if we disagree on some aspects of the practicality side.

I don’t view, nor did I before this post, the SV as a purpose-built Open Major gun on the level of an Infinity or other dedicated race setup, and I fully understand the increased wear/maintenance concerns that come with 9 Major.

My interest was simply whether Major PF could be reasonably experimented with in a platform I already enjoy shooting in Open, while accepting the associated tradeoffs.

The part that made me curious in the first place is that both TTI’s website and Taran himself explicitly state the gun can run Major/Magnum or “any” factory/reloaded 9mm ammunition. They do not qualify those statements with any disclaimers, which is extremely odd for a firearms manufacturer, especially with something like Major which can be well beyond SAAMI specs. Naturally that raises the question of where they expect the practical durability limits to realistically be.

My goal here was simply to learn more about the build up to major and associated tips and tricks from the folks that have actually done it.

I got nothing against you. You can totally do it and it looks like you shoot local. I’ll tell ya what, I’ll give you some shell shock cases I picked up if you ever come to shoot at Richmond and I’m there. I have approx 500 cases. They are lighter and better for the extra pressure.

 

[Brandon Breeze]

I got nothing against you. You can totally do it and it looks like you shoot local. I’ll tell ya what, I’ll give you some shell shock cases I picked up if you ever come to shoot at Richmond and I’m there. I have approx 500 cases. They are lighter and better for the extra pressure.

I definitely plan on shooting there at some point in the future. Fortunately between Yolo, El Dorado & Sac Valley I've been able to already go to 5 matches in addition to my intro class in mid March, so I haven't been able to head down that way yet.

 

[weaverftw]

I’ll be there for the Mason Lane class 5/28-5/29 if you want me to shuttle the brass back. If you have major loaded when you let me shoot the SV I’ll feel better if you aren’t using mixed range brass LOL

 

[ikeo1]

I’ll be there for the Mason Lane class 5/28-5/29 if you want me to shuttle the brass back. If you have major loaded when you let me shoot the SV I’ll feel better if you aren’t using mixed range brass LOL

I can give it to you.. I'm the RO for the classes and I would feel more comfortable too man. Just looking out for my members man!

 

[Hit Factor]

I’ll be there for the Mason Lane class 5/28-5/29 if you want me to shuttle the brass back. If you have major loaded when you let me shoot the SV I’ll feel better if you aren’t using mixed range brass LOL

When you get back, let us know how many guys in the class were shooting 9 major out of single port compensator guns.

 

[weaverftw]

When you get back, let us know how many guys in the class were shooting 9 major out of single port compensator guns.

Oh I’m sure it’s zero and that you guys are giving the correct advice. I for one will not be attempting any 9mm major loads on my guns, but then that’s why I’m shooting production and waiting until I get my DWX milled so I can shoot it in LO before I compete with it. I suppose if I had one gun I REALLY wanted to shoot and it was restricted to Open I might be tempted to try to load major but would probably still be too scared I’d blow my slide into my forehead to do it.

 

[Deleted member 16735]

Fair points on maintenance and long-term wear. I definitely don’t disagree that dedicated Open guns are purpose-built around Major PF in a way the Sand Viper isn’t even though it doesn't change me wanting to shoot it in competition. Maybe I'll be able to figure out a comp block and use it in LO instead, who knows.

I also completely understand why serious Open shooters keep spare guns/parts on hand once round counts get high enough. I have mountains of parts for all of my pews.

I think where we differ is that I’m not necessarily trying to turn the SV into the “ultimate” Open gun or optimize for national-level competition. I’m mostly interested in exploring whether Major PF is reasonably viable in the platform I already own and enjoy shooting.

If the answer ends up being:



Then that’s still useful information and I’ll probably just go back to Minor.

But if it turns out the gun handles it reasonably well with sensible loads and maintenance intervals, then it could still be a fun experiment and a worthwhile scoring advantage while I continue improving the fundamentals side of the game.

Approaching 2k rounds with Minor and there is very little wear on the internals.

Either way, I appreciate the discussion and the insight from people who have more long-term Open experience than I do, or in some cases simply more exposure to the Open division.

So there is a relatively easy path to fitting a sight block barrel, D2 customs makes sight block blanks and comps that are threaded and Jarvis will make a barrel that fits it, so will KKM but they currently have their 1911 barrels books closed for some reason. You can even order the barrel drop in fit, I can't speak to how well it fits but I just ordered one for my own build so we will see. And they do currently still ship to CA. You would have to have the barrel and comp pinned and welded for legal reasons but the rest of the fitting could be done by you fairly easily. matching the block to the slide could be tricky but they do sell a tri top slight block which at least should be close-ish to the TTI

 

[FriedChickies]

Good luck dude. I’m interested in how this goes

 

[FriedChickies]

I think we’re mostly on the same page at this point, even if we disagree on some aspects of the practicality side.

I don’t view, nor did I before this post, the SV as a purpose-built Open Major gun on the level of an Infinity or other dedicated race setup, and I fully understand the increased wear/maintenance concerns that come with 9 Major.

My interest was simply whether Major PF could be reasonably experimented with in a platform I already enjoy shooting in Open, while accepting the associated tradeoffs.

The part that made me curious in the first place is that both TTI’s website and Taran himself explicitly state the gun can run Major/Magnum or “any” factory/reloaded 9mm ammunition. They do not qualify those statements with any disclaimers, which is extremely odd for a firearms manufacturer, especially with something like Major which can be well beyond SAAMI specs. Naturally that raises the question of where they expect the practical durability limits to realistically be.

My goal here was simply to learn more about the build up to major and associated tips and tricks from the folks that have actually done it.

Might just be me but I also feel like you should let people in your squad and the RO know as well what you’re shooting. That way people can make the decision whether or not to give you extra distance lol

 

[Dooder]

OP just do it. Your mind is already made. You asked for opinons, people chimed in and you're arguing everyone because you've already made your decision. Be secure with your choice that you fell for the marketing of TTI. I'm not saying it's not a good gun, I'm saying that it's not the gun you want it to be. The youtube you posted of Taran advertising the Sand Viper as the "ultimate 2gun and 3gun pistol" are all games that don't have major power factor scoring. You bought a gun that was made for a movie, not an open gun. A gun that shoots minor great and may handle major ammo. You didn't buy an open gun that was made to digest major ammo and won't run minor ammo. The only way to find out if your game plan is going to work is if you run the experiment. Blaze your own trail dude. Let us know how it goes!

 

[Brandon Breeze]

OP just do it. Your mind is already made. You asked for opinons, people chimed in and you're arguing everyone because you've already made your decision. Be secure with your choice that you fell for the marketing of TTI. I'm not saying it's not a good gun, I'm saying that it's not the gun you want it to be. The youtube you posted of Taran advertising the Sand Viper as the "ultimate 2gun and 3gun pistol" are all games that don't have major power factor scoring. You bought a gun that was made for a movie, not an open gun. A gun that shoots minor great and may handle major ammo. You didn't buy an open gun that was made to digest major ammo and won't run minor ammo. The only way to find out if your game plan is going to work is if you run the experiment. Blaze your own trail dude. Let us know how it goes!

You’re not wrong that I already made the decision to at least experiment with 9 Major prior to this post. The original purpose of the thread was mainly to hear from people who had firsthand experience loading and running 9 Major, especially with AutoComp powder.

I also never viewed the Sand Viper as a purpose-built Open gun on the level of an Infinity or other dedicated Major race setup. I bought it because I like it, and since the gun already puts me in Open, might as well take advantage of the Major PF Scoring.

If the experiment turns out to be excessively hard on the gun long-term, then I’ll just move back to Minor. That’s not a huge deal to me.

As for TTI marketing, I agree the gun was clearly designed more around 2-Gun/3-Gun style use than dedicated USPSA Open Major competition. But at the same time, TTI and Taran themselves explicitly state the gun can run Major/Magnum ammunition, which naturally raises curiosity about where the realistic durability limits actually are.

From a load-development standpoint, I’m probably more interested in heavier projectiles like 135gr or 147gr since they can make Major PF at more reasonable velocities (and pressures) compared to lighter bullets. The balancing act will likely be finding enough gas volume to run the comp effectively without pushing pressures into absurd territory.

Either way, I’m treating it as an experiment, not gospel. If it works reasonably well, great. If it turns out to be impractical or excessively abusive to the gun, then that’s useful information too.

 

[Dooder]

All good man, you do you. Run it! So running heavier projos may be better in this situation. These single chump ported guns can't handle all the gas that the open guns are designed for. Heavier bullet, less gas, and faster powder are all good things for the current trend of shorter barreled/single ported guns. The rules are the same, the 147 will make the muzzle rise more but will feel softer. I tried 124 and Autocomp in a chump ported project and it was ridiculous, not in a good way. But that's just my experience. Loading for ports vs comps is different. In my personal experience faster powders for ports and slow powders for comps. I'd try out the faster stuff first.