38 super VS. 9mm Major VS. 9x23 please help!

T

travelerBT

New member
I am just getting into the IPSC shooting world and I am ADDICTED! :)

I just want to know a few things:

1. I want to stay in the "Major" realm... is it a good idea to be shooting 9mm Major?
2. 38 super can be loaded hot to get to "major" standing. Is there anyone who I can send my brass to to get it reloaded the way i want it done? I HATE reloading... so boring!
3. What the heck is a 9x23? Is that the same as a 38 super? I am confused...
4. Why are SVI guns so much more expensive then the STI? Are they THAT much better?

Thanks everyone!
 
1. I have not done it, but many have. Brian Enos Open Gun forum and Brian Enos 9 major reloading thread

2. According to STI:
Q. I do not reload but want to shoot major power loads in your pistols. Where can I purchase 9mm and 38 super major loaded ammunition?
A. Atlanta Arms & Ammo. produces high quality ammunition for use in competition pistols. Their information is as follows. Atlanta Arms & Ammo. 721 Vine Cr. Social Circle, GA 30025 Phone:770-464-2203
Click to expand...
And Atlanta Arms got their own headstamp ".355 super" to make it harder to accidently stuff a 9 major into a gun not designed for it.

3. 9x23 is 9x23 Winchester. It is closer to 9x19 but stretched an extra 4mm. By the way, there is also "38 super comp" which I believe is 38 super but fully rimless.

4. The STI factory guns' SRP is $2700-3400, although used ones can be found in the market for less. Not sure how much an SVI is, brand new.

Lee
 
Most everyone I know who has had an Open gun built in the last year, has had it chambered in 9mmP. The sole reason appears to be "cheap brass".
9x23 is a strengthened, lengthened 9mmP derivative, loaded to higher pressures than 9mmP or .38 Super. It was never really poplular in IPSC, and has all but disappeared from use (though I would much prefer it to any other .36" cartridge in a single stack 1911, if I had a need for terminal effect).
 
As an FYI, according to the USPSA rules, the only division in which you can use 9mm Major loads and actually qualify as major is Open - if you want to shoot Limited or Limited-10 and make Major, you have to use a .40 or bigger due to caliber restrictions.

But if you're shooting open, go ahead and load up some hot 9mm Major loads.
 
40 is not really competitive in open because of decrease in magazine capacity. You would have 25 rounds of 40 as opposed to 29 or 30 in 9 major or 38 super/supercomp.

Secondly it is just easier to get a 9mm/38 round to get to major speeds and have enough gas to power the compensator. You can do it in 40 or 45 but it doesn't generate as much gas and pressure unless you really load it hotter than you need.

These are generalizations as you could always make some combination of ammo, barrel, and comp to be efficient but it's just a lot more work.
 
9mm Major (355 Super)

Is very reasonable from Atlanta arms. I just spoke to them, and it was around 16.50 a box... not bad for custom loaded ammo!

I am going to go with one of these.

thanks for all the comments everyone... very informative!
 
I just searched for my reply only to find it appears to be missing. I recommended AA ".355 major" as you don't want to reload. If your not going to reload, I hope you have a lot of money because your going to go through a ton of $$$ on match ammo during live fire practice/matches. 9 major is now uspsa legal for open division only. The benefits to 9x19 is that brass is really cheap. There are approx. 25% of open divisions super squad now shoot 9 major. .38 super auto or it's variants 9x21 or 9x23 is expensive but can be reloaded upwards of 20x. That brass is thicker & tapered.(lapua, TJ, Supercomp are even thicker) Production is scored minor, so many reload mousefart loads. Limited and L-10 are scored major And .40 gives us more capacity is much grater than .45, though .45 is great for single stack and lim 10. To shave those precious 10s of thousanths of our times, capacity is everything. That's why use Bolen followers and flat wound springs with a Dawson SNL basepads with tubes, springs n followers are are tuned, polished. To a mirror like finish by Howard Smith available through shootersconnection.com they are also laser etched and rd. Indicator so you don't run the gun empty.

The big difference in STI and SV is that Sti has a bunch of "production" custom racers utilizing the 2011 hi cap frame as Sti makes them for SV as well as (strayer-Tripp international. Sandy strayer went solo and and builds 100% custom gns using their t-7 or 7075 barstock billet components. Sv will not sell frame kits, but STI sells them so you can build your own or have a total ccustom gun build.
 
Thanks. I thought it might be a caliber I was unfamiliar with as I hadn't seen it put that way before.

I always thought the .38 Super could be made to significantly out perform the standard 9mmP. Has that changed? Same for the 9x23, It too was touted as the new Wonder 9 but it seemed to die quickly as well.

I can only push my 9mm Win Mag (9x29) to around 1,500 with a 126gr projectile.
 
Thanks for the good information!

"Production is scored minor, so many reload mousefart loads. Limited and L-10 are scored major, and .40 gives us more capacity is much greater than .45, though .45 is great for single stack and Lim 10. To shave those precious 10s of thousanths off our times, capacity is everything. That's why I use Bolen followers and flat wound springs with a Dawson SNL basepads with tubes, springs and followers are tuned, polished to a mirror-like finish by Howard Smith, available through ShootersConnection.com; they are also laser etched and round indicator so you don't run the gun empty."
 
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