9x23 - why haven't you bought one???

[Lone_Gunman]

If "need" is irrelevant, and the gun is strictly for fun, then by all means get one and have a good time. Lord knows I have done the same thing from time to time.

Just remember though, in six months it will be in the back of the safe, forgotten, and dusty, and you will be trying to remember what you did with the mags for it.

 

[pangris]

Gunman, I'll take that bet... I'm fitting a 9x19 Nowlin to it and my 16 yr old brother will be shooting it in USPSA... I would say in 6 months the slide will have bounced back and forth about 2000 times

Now as a 9x23 it will see limited use, but it I wouldn't hesitate to put it on my nightstand, in my car, or in the IWB as a 9x23 once it is to my specs, i.e. match bushing, beavertail, new safety, and tool steel sear/hammer...

How quickly $500 guns become $1500 guns... !!!

Paul

 

[eerw]

Great cartridge..have had several 9x23s...from USPSA open division competition guns, to 5" carry on STI frame..to a couple of springfield single stack guns...

all have been fun, accurate and reliable...

got me a stock of brass, and couple of cases of white box and silvertip ammo.

 

[ClarkEMyers]

I bought one

I don't count on finding ammunition at Wal-Mart nor can I buy once fired brass cheap but I can buy ammunition a case at a time. I've found the ammunition stocked at Sportsman's Warehouse and other such as well as buying over the web.

I consider the 9x23 in a 5" 1911 a great combination. The more powerful 9x25 and 10mm strike me as edging toward hunting - 10mm in a longslide and 9x25 in a ported pistol may be delightful but not my choice for a carry piece.

I suspect there may be better magazines in the future - I've used Wilson, Colt and McCormick - nothing failed but nothing delighted me either.

I wish I could find more hard loading data from powder and bullet makers. I do have a stock of WAP from Winchester and SP2 as well for loads off the web or from Brian Enos board or what have you.

 

[pangris]

Clark,

I've had great luck with the CMC power magsfor the 38 super, 10 round capacity.

If Tripp Research makes mags in 9mm, I'm willing to bet they will blow away everything else on the market... I'd invest in some for carry...

Paul

 

[faustulus]

What are you going to do with it that could not be done with a 45?

More ammo, more speed.

 

[pangris]

More ammo and more speed... both beautiful things.

 

[Bergeron]

Hey pangris, when September rolls around, you really need to head down to Barney's in Lafayette. They have a bowling pin league that shoots on the first Thursday of the month, and I'd love to see how a 1911 9x23 would do on pins.

.357 does very well, and I imagine that the ballistics of that round combined with a 1911's ergonomics would be an excellent combo on the pins.

 

[pangris]

I'm all for killing pins

 

[ClarkEMyers]

I can't do it with a .45 - others can but I can't so...

What are you going to do with it that could not be done with a 45?

Things I can't do with a .45 - others can but I can't so it's 9X23 for me.

I'd still like to buy a Global Hunter or a longslide 10mm on a Caspian or what have you.

For the present I'll hunt with a model 57 - currently loaded with 240 grain Winchester Platinum tipped (has Bosch noticed somebody else using their trademarks?) which are someplace between reassuring and annoying to shoot - I know my splits can be measured with a calendar.

The 9X23 is purely reassuring - there is a saying (Clint Smith?) that a carry gun should be comforting before comfortable but I'm happy to have both.

 

[Bergeron]

I'm all for killing pins

Great! You bring the 9x23, I'll bring my Delta. We should really have some fun.

 

[GunGoBoom]

dumb question - 9x23 is same thing as 9x23 winchester?

 

[brickboy240]

The 9x23 will not see huge popularity for the same reason the 45GAP will never take over the 45ACP - most people that shoot these types of rounds are used to and heavily invested with the 45ACP or 38 Super.

Also, most people that i know that shoot 1911s are pretty stubborn traditionalists and like what they like and don't like changing, simply because something new comes out.

I also can buy 38 Super or 45ACP ammo at Wal Mart...9x23? Nope...and its more expensive.

-Brickboy240

 

[pangris]

I don't think the round has to "take over" to be a success. Nor does it have to be sold at Wal Mart... but I'll note 38 Super is a very recent addition there as well...

The effort that Winchester isn't making as the "proprietor" is a push to inform. The made the effort to, ahem, claim the round and manufacture it but they don't do anything with it as far as marketing. And it is a marketing dream - you can legitimately use the words "magnum performance" without anyone claiming you are BS'ing.

As a long time shooter, heavily invested in .45 and 9mm guns, now that I have seen the light I am very willing to get some new gear to accomodate what I believe may be the best round ever designed for the best platform.

 

[pangris]

dumb question - 9x23 is same thing as 9x23 winchester?

Not dumb - Yes, 9x23 is the same as 9x23 Win. There are a slew of 9mm wildcats, although I think the 9x23 after almost 100 years and finally adoption by a major manufacturer isn't a wildcat anymore...

Just a round looking for the right venue to be appreciated. I am a little suprised Cooper didn't get it off the ground

Paul

 

[Otherguy Overby]

Misconceptions

I heard about another gunstore in the area and went by there for a perusal of firearms. Communing with artful inanimate objects, doncha know.

I was interested in looking at a Kahr K9 because it's the same size and fits the same holster as my primary carry weapon. Anyway, good talk happened, I got to see that a Kahr actually does fit one of my holsters. So, I soon find out the gun store guy is a neighbor. He invites me over to check out his new .17 rifle.

Later, I ride the ATV over there and take the 9x23 2011 I've got. I'd mentioned 9x23 in our store conversation, BTW. Anyway, after shooting it, the response was something close to holy $$$T, I had no idea! IOW, though I'd mentioned it was 357 magnum performance, he'd thought I was exaggerating.

Results: One additional believer. Everyone who's tried it LIKES it. Hey Mikey!

 

[caz223]

The biggest reason I haven't tried it is 10mm.

 

[perception]

You ask why I do not own 9x23. The true answer to that is because I have a limited gun budget, and 10mm, .45acp, 9x19, .44mag, .454 casull, .500S&W, 50 A&E, and a few others I can not think of right now are higher than 9x23 on my "short" list.

 

[GunGoBoom]

Well, it is a very interesting round, what with the thicker case web and all - if I ever get a custom double stack like a strayer voigt or some such, it'll probably have to be one of these 9x23s - talk about some firepower - can't you fit 20 rounds flush in a 2x 1911, 9mm sized rounds? This is a good thing.

 

[eerw]

17 + 1 rounds - carry mags

19 + 1 rounds - standard mags

23 + 1 rounds - 140mm mags

28 or 29 + 1 rounds - 170mm mags

 

[VARifleman]

dumb question - 9x23 is same thing as 9x23 winchester?

In this case yes, as previously stated, but 9x23 Winchester should not be used on some of the other 9x23 guns (they are known as 9x23 Largo) as those are older and are designed for much less pressure. Check out the specs at ammoguide.com.

 

[Nicky Santoro]

9x23 - why haven't you bought one???

Just more crap AFIC. My 1911 has more than enough capacity and more than enough thump for a house or car gun.

 

[pangris]

Just more crap AFIC. My 1911 has more than enough capacity and more than enough thump for a house or car gun.

Surely you would agree that more capacity is better... and no pistol has adequate "thump", IMHO. But the .357 mag/9x23 is at least as good, if not better than the .45 ACP when it comes to proven power...

Paul

 

[crucible]

More (opposed to less) is always better when rounds are concerned of course. However, I hardly feel inadequate carrying 17 rounds of .45 230g Gold Dots (one reload) for my 1911. 25 rounds with two reloads.

I can buy .45acp anywhere, it's a proven cartidge in term of performance, my 1911's are already configured for it, and it will be made and stocks will continue to exist for it long after the 9x23 has faded into memory (not to mention reloading supplies). For a more powerful cartridge, .45 Super is just a couple inexpensive parts away, not that acp loads are pellet gun rounds in comparison.

A better question may be: what would it take to get me to change to 9x23? Answer: reverse all the above, inexpensively.

Nothing against it, but won't change to it either (for the same reasons already illustrated....also applicable to .45GAP).

Chris

 

[pangris]

FWIW, there have been a few references to the 9x23 going away - the round has been around in one form or another since 1908... it has been around long enough that I think if it does die, it will be a loonnngggg slow death

Points well taken regarding the .45 - I have and love several.

That said, the 9x23 seduction for me is fourfold -

1) Recoil is less felt and recovery is faster than with a .45

2) Effectiveness is equal to or greater than the .45

3) More rounds in the gun - 7 or 8 for a .45, 9 or 10 for a 9x23

4) The 1911 handles long skinny bullets very well - reliability isn't a problem

I am not rich by any means but I do well enough to indulge in one underappreciated cartridge, as I suspect most people on this forum are... I have five 1911s in "conventional" caliber, i.e. .45 and 9x19. They are great.

This one, so far, I think - is greater. Just a red headed stepchild.