Major vs. Minor

Rick417 · Mar 25, 2011

So what are your thoughts on the advantages of shooting major vs. minor? Me and a friend had a long discussion about this on the way to a match the other day.

I would say that in Limited, L10, and Open, it would be a no brainer to get the extra points.

But what about Single Stack? I'm thinking about a legal stage that has no more than 8 shots from a position. Some of these positions might be all paper targets. But other positions might have a star and/or poppers. Having 2 extra rounds in your mags is a pretty attractive "insurance" policy.

Maybe it all depends a lot on the shooters skill level?

redneck1861 · Mar 25, 2011

Me personally would rather stay in Major, I shoot a Glock 35, there is only a 2 round difference in the G34. I am also ordering some Dawson base pads, which will give me 20 rounds in a mag

Chris_Andersen · Mar 25, 2011

Results from 2010 Single Stack Nationals, Check out the ratio of Major to Minor...

http://www.1911ssc.org/Results/2010_Data/Pistol%20Finals%20%20Single%20Stack.txt

Airic · Mar 25, 2011

Depends on how competitive you want to be.

Those points make a big difference in what the hit factor comes out to...

redneck1861 · Mar 25, 2011

Chris_Andersen said:
Results from 2010 Single Stack Nationals, Check out the ratio of Major to Minor...

http://www.1911ssc.org/Results/2010_Data/Pistol%20Finals%20%20Single%20Stack.txt

By looking at that I would probably shoot minor, there are less people, so you would be able to score higher right?

Airic · Mar 25, 2011

No. Single stack is a division. Minor/Major only affects how many points you get per target. You would still be shooting against all those Major guns.

Chambers · Mar 25, 2011

Minor sucks.

Wall · Mar 25, 2011

Chambers said:
Minor sucks.

so says GT

redneck1861 · Mar 25, 2011

I didn't know what any of that even ment. I knew I wanted the long slide version, so I ended up the the G35, mainly because my G22 uses the same mags

Bubber · Mar 25, 2011

For me Shooting minor is not an issue as accuaracy is my strong suite and speed is my down fall. I shot Minor for many years and if I shot major the scoring would be about 2.5% higher. I am giving Major an honest try for a year to see if I can break into master scores on the classifiers. Time will tell. Oh yea I shoot Revo. later rdd

Jefpainthorse · Mar 25, 2011

Redneck1861 said:
I didn't know what any of that even ment. I knew I wanted the long slide version, so I ended up the the G35, mainly because my G22 uses the same mags

Major v minor

I don't "shoot" sanctioned matches, but those who do feel free add to or correct.

Major power factor scores higher on marginal hits ( mimics real life)
Minor caliber loads score lower than major loads on marginal hits

Minor loads have less recoil , can be fired faster than major loads (in comparable guns)
Shooters willing to compete with major loads get a little handicap in there favor, as the recoil should slow there shooting speed.

I guess you can load 9mm stout enough to make a major load of it.

Wall · Mar 25, 2011

Jeff said:
I guess you can load 9mm stout enough to make a major load of it.

Major PF is 165 & above.
For a 115gr bullet to make a PF of 165, it'd have to have a muzzle velocity of around 1450fps.
124grn would have to have about 1330fps.
147grn would have to have about 1125fps.

Can you stuff that much powder into a 9mm case?

Airic · Mar 25, 2011

Ya, I was running a Major 9 open glock for a while. Using HS-6 for 115's and 124's it was filling the case to about where the bottom of the bullet was seated but I dont think it was compressed.

Chris_Andersen · Mar 25, 2011

You cant make major in 9mm in anything other than open in USPSA. Anyplace major power factor is available in scoring, you want to shoot it. A's are 5 with both, but C's and D's are 4 and 2 points versus 3 and 1. Those points are huge, and the recoil is only minimally higher, and sometimes hardly noticable on the timer.

redneck1861 · Mar 25, 2011

Good to know

benjamin-benjamin · Mar 25, 2011

Yeah if you have a good .40 cal gun the recoil isn't that big of a difference...

redneck1861 · Mar 25, 2011

I need to find someone to let me shoot a G34 to compare to my G35

benjamin-benjamin · Mar 25, 2011

Redneck1861 said:
I need to find someone to let me shoot a G34 to compare to my G35

jesse has a sweet g34, that you could shoot, but the problem you will have is the fact his is so pimped out it will make the stock g35 look bad (or a stock g34 for that matter)

redneck1861 · Mar 25, 2011

benjamin-benjamin said:
jesse has a sweet g34, that you could shoot, but the problem you will have is the fact his is so pimped out it will make the stock g35 look bad (or a stock g34 for that matter)

Yeah he has a open G34 right?

redneck1861 · Mar 25, 2011

benjamin-benjamin said:
jesse has a sweet g34, that you could shoot, but the problem you will have is the fact his is so pimped out it will make the stock g35 look bad (or a stock g34 for that matter)

Mine isn't stock.

All I need is to wait on my magwell to get in, and then have cyrwus undercut the trigger guard