[Scorpiusdeus]

So I started out in USPSA shooting .40 S&W feeling that I should shoot what I carry.

Clearly I'm up against it as I'm dealing with a bit more than those shooting 9mm, but that really didn't bother me.

What is bothering me is the price of ammo. I wonder how many here started out with a .45 or a .40 S&W or .357 Sig, and changed to 9mm based on price alone?

[Luis Leon]

I've always shot the 9mm, and now that ammo prices are going through the roof, I reload it. Nobody seems to pick up the once-fired 9mm brass. So for me it allows me to shoot more at the same price.

At the current rate of rising ammo prices the antis won't have to do a thing as it will be too expensive for the common man to shoot. The ammo companies are pricing themselves out of their own market it seems.

regards,

Luis Leon

P.S. I no longer buy any factory ammo.

[jmorris]

If your not shooting open, 40 is still king in uspsa (non-production). In IDPA 9mm for ESP/SSP and .45 CDP is the rule.

[Scorpiusdeus]

Why is it the King?

[jmorris]

It qualifies (minimum .40 caliber unless your shooting open) your shots to be scored major and has a capacity advantage over .45, by having a smaller OD case. If you can have 20 in a magazine (limited) instead of 13 and be scored the same you’re going to be in better shape, not to mention it is much cheaper to reload (limited 10). If you wanted to dabble in both classes you can do so competitively with the same pistol (in 40). Also, a double stack 40 will be arguably faster to reload than a single stack 45. In production everything is scored minor so you might as well shoot 9mm. In open minimum caliber is .355, so once again you shoot a cartridge that has a smaller OD than .40 s&w so you have greater capacity.

[lmccrock]

Most Limited shooters in USPSA (around here) are shooting high end STI or similar guns. A few extra bucks for ammo does not phase them. And most will reload, if not for cost then to get exactly-major power factor and reliable functioning and better accuracy than factory loads. It is not unprecedented to reload 40 to minor PF for production.

I mostly shoot L10 with a 45, and I reload. It would certainly be expensive to buy factory ammo, but I would do it. It is kindof like asking if the cost of gasoline is too high to go to the range.

With a Dawson extension (140mm-legal in USPSA Ltd), I can get 17 in my P14-45 mags. Occasionally I shoot Ltd that way just because it is more fun, not to reload as much.

Oh, be careful picking up 9mm brass at a match. Open shooters are going to Major 9mm and that brass may had been shot a little hotter than normal.

Lee