XD .40 or 9mm.... USPSA

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Gonzoinc

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Looking to get an XD 5", for my son for USPSA (production)

9mm or .40 with light loads (minor)
i can reload for .40
9mm would be factory ammo
looking for best managable recoil
what do you guys think?
 
Since you can reload I would go for the .40. The only advantage to the 9 is the cost of factory ammo. If you think the time/effort of reloading will be a hassle then the 9.

I do not have personal experience with 40 loaded to minor pf but plenty of people seem to think it is softer shooting than 9mm minor. There was an article about it in Front Sight not too long ago. Possibly due to heavier pistols?

40 will also allow your son to shoot other divisions.
 
If you reload 40 is the way to go. Minor 40 is softer than minor 9 in my experience.

Although I just posted that ^^^^, I went the other way and bought a 9 for production. I will buy ammo for most matches, and handload for select events. I load 9mm and 40 now, but the option of a case of 9mm ammo for practice changed my mind. I will shoot club matches and classifiers with factory ammo, and important matches with handloaded 'match' loads. My current reloading burden and equipment factored into the decision heavily.

Light sprung 40's with 180-200 grain bullets at 130 PF are as flat and fast as a gun can possibly be, I just wanted to be able to plunk down a few bucks and get decent ammo while I concentrate my reloading on 40 for Limited and L-10 matches and practice.
 
HSMITH said:
If you reload 40 is the way to go. Minor 40 is softer than minor 9 in my experience.
Click to expand...

That's what I was wondering
If a light .40 would be softer than a factory 9

I like the idea of softer loads with the .40...
but,
I like the idea of factory and not reloading (although I guess it wouldn't be that bad)

Anybody else have experience with light .40's compared to factory 9's??
 
If you are reloading the .40, I wouldn't have any issue with that route. However, in a light polymer frame, full power .40 rounds makes for some very unpleasant shooting for range gun. Some people seem to like it, but I have not met anyone personally that does.
 
Having fired both the .40 and the 9mm XD with 5" barels, I would sujest the 9mm if recoil is an issue. I shot with factory ammo in both, the 9mm was very plesant to shoot and very controlable; the .40 had much more snap to it and I found that I had to slow down my shooting to stay on target.

That was my experience, if you can reload .40 then you should take that into account, but is it that much harder to reload 9mm?

Edit:You can also get much better performance out of good 9mm ammo (JHP and such) than light .40. The advantage of .40 is the heavier bullet, but if you slow it down performance drops quickly.
 
Minor 9 with handloaded 147's are really soft, but still feel a little snappier than minor 40 with 180's.

Factory 9 is definately sharper than minor 40 reloads with 180's and fast powders, but both are pretty low recoil.

Minor 40 involves spring changes for proper function, most guns won't eject the brass with factory springs. Minor 9 runs fine in factory trim guns.

My only complaint about minor 40 is that the slide feels a little sluggish. It is a sensation more than an observation, and I expect each of us would have a little different take on it.
 
Ive shot a lot of minor 40 and 9mm but I shot the 9 as minor also with 147gr bullets. I really prefered the 40. With the 185 gr bullets loaded to approx 135 pf they were much better on steel. Also recoil is more of a push than a snap.
One more benifit is if you want to try limited 10 you can step up to major pretty easily.

IIRC my minor load is a 185gr Zero JHP over 3.5 Titegroup.

Adam
 
With 40 most guys around here shoot minor at about 135-145 PF, the extra power is for a couple reasons. It cleans up the load, burns cleaner. It takes some of the sluggish feel out of slide movement, and springs are heavy enough to ensure good function.

Most factory 9mm will fall in the 130-140 PF.
 
HSMITH said:
With 40 most guys around here shoot minor at about 135-145 PF, the extra power is for a couple reasons. It cleans up the load, burns cleaner. It takes some of the sluggish feel out of slide movement, and springs are heavy enough to ensure good function.
Click to expand...

I might add..... it will knock down steel targets with more authority than a 9mm. No need to double tap 'em.
Some clubs won't allow double tapping steel targets. It makes the bullet recochet upwards and might hit houses nearby, so they said.
 
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