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New Open gun for USPSA

noidlight

noidlight

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Ok everyone, I need some help trying to decide on a new open gun. My single stack .45 needs to be retired. I have been looking at an STI Trubor. Can you guys give me some suggestions? Also, what's the census on the choice of caliber? .38 super seems to be the norm, but I was talking to a few people @ Bass River this weekend and they were recommending 9mm major due to the low cost of brass. Your advise would be much appreciated.

Rob
 
How long are you willing to wait for the gun to arrive? If not long, a factory gun is the best choice. You might have to have it tweaked to your liking though.
As far as caliber, 38 Super type ammo is the norm, major 9MM is a minority. Supposedly, major 9 needs a bit more attention.
 
Read up:Open gun forum

The same question has been asked there a bunch and you'll get answers from the best source anywhere.

Toss a coin between 9mm and .38 super/comp. They both work. 9mm brass is cheap ( or free) but it is use it once or twice and forget it, .38 Super is more expensive but you use it a bunch of times when you pick it up.

A simple answer would be to call SV, order what they suggest. If you get a frame, send it to a gunsmith talk to them about what they suggest. In other words, the party building the gun usually knows what works best.
 
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Try to shoot as many different open guns as you can. They all will shoot a little different, especially a fullsize vs a shorty. I would go 9 major. Even if the cost was the same, you're not digging in the dirt

As for a gun I would recommend Bedell. The wait, I heard was down to 4 months

if you want to try mine, just let me know
 
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Unless you are having the gun built from a frame, you have two options in Massachusetts:

1. Buy used;

2. Wait for the implementation of the target pistol exception and buy SVI.

Major 9 mm is pushing the envelope - HARD!. I'd get .38 Super or 9 x 23. My SVI is actually chambered for 9 x 23, but it feeds .28 Super just fine.
 
Your gun is the one that started all this, Mike. After you let me shoot it up at Harvard I knew I just had to get me one. I'll figure out how to pay for it later.
 
 
picking a gun based on how much the brass costs is like picking a car based on how much the tires cost.
The initial cost of 9mm brass is cheaper, but if you're shooting it and leaving it around on the ground because it's no good after one or two loads, you've got to buy new brass more often than you do if you're picking up your 38 supers. Now your cost savings is gone.
9major is all well and good, I'd completely disagree with Keith about it pushing the envelope hard, but then I shot 9x21 when the powerfactor was still 175, and we were shooting 180pf to be on the good side of the PF when we went to major matches and got chrono'd. Still 9major seems like more trouble than it's worth, worrying about mags, spacers, ejection, consistent brass, and a smaller choice of powders.
All that aside, Steve's 9mm works great, and feels great.

More important than the caliber is does the gun feel good in your hands? Can you shoot it? Does it work? It needs to, everytime.

I'd of course say go SVI everytime, it's what I shoot, and the only manufacturer that cared enough about us to get any of their guns approved in MA. And I'd stick with 38super for another few years.
 
Supermoto said:
Rob...

Take a look at the following choices.

Shooters Connection / Bedell
http://shootersconnection.com/store/index.php?cPath=118

Brazos
http://brazoscustom.com/Home.htm

Dawson
http://www.dawsonprecision.com/CategoryProductList.jsp?cat=FIREARMS:Dawson+Precision+Custom+Pistols

JV Dynamics
http://www.jvdynamics.com/custom_guns/

Benny Hill
http://www.triangleshootingsports.com/

Dave Santurri
http://www.santurriltd.com/

SVI Gun
http://www.sviguns.com/

M2i
http://www.mattmclearn.com/cp_oultimate.html
Click to expand...

Let's take a look at those choices. Seven of the eight listed aren't Mass compliant at all.

The ONE manufacturer on this list which IS Mass compliant is SVI, but not the Open guns.

As the OP is a Mass resident, the above list is, therefore, worthless, . [rolleyes]
 
38supermatt said:
picking a gun based on how much the brass costs is like picking a car based on how much the tires cost.
The initial cost of 9mm brass is cheaper, but if you're shooting it and leaving it around on the ground because it's no good after one or two loads, you've got to buy new brass more often than you do if you're picking up your 38 supers. Now your cost savings is gone
Click to expand...

Yeah, but how much is your diginity worth? Digging thru a trash can for super brass like you George Castanza with an eclair...oh they're fine, they were sitting on the top[smile]
 
Supermoto said:
Yeah, but how much is your diginity [sic] worth? Digging thru a trash can for super brass like you [were] George Castanza with an eclair...oh they're fine, they were sitting on the top[smile]
Click to expand...

Those of us who mark our brass and police it afterwards don't have that problem. [wink]
 
Scrivener said:
Let's take a look at those choices. Seven of the eight listed aren't Mass compliant at all.

The ONE manufacturer on this list which IS Mass compliant is SVI, but not the Open guns.

As the OP is a Mass resident, the above list is, therefore, worthless, . [rolleyes]
Click to expand...

Wrong answer!

How can you say the above list is worthless??
The above is a list of custom pistolsmiths - they (w/the exception of SVI) do not manufacture their own firearms - they build custom pistols on the customers frame.

The only other smith I'd add to the list is Derek Janowicz of Millenium Custom http://www.mcguns.com/
 
I'm another one that shot 9x21 in a Tanfoglio years ago. 180 PF was the low limit of ammo I shot. That was loaded to normal 9MM length. No problems were had loading the ammo.
 
There are lots of choices. Having a frame puts you in the same postion as anyone in the country.

As far as caliber goes, just in this area there are a bunch of different setups and it is safe to saying no one is winning because of what gun they are running. I shoot 9mm, as does PMD, Hdgun, and Chris M. Matt, Pete, and Mike shoot plain Super, with a bunch of others shoot SuperComp. I know there is are some .38TJs. There are two 9x21s. Keith can shoot 9x23 in one of his open guns and .40 in his other.
 
PMD said:
Wrong answer!

How can you say the above list is worthless??
The above is a list of custom pistolsmiths - they (w/the exception of SVI) do not manufacture their own firearms - they build custom pistols on the customers frame.
Click to expand...

Go back and actually look at the sites - they are selling their own guns or their own iteration of some real manufacturer's gun.

That post also said nothing about buying a frame and sending it to a custom smith; it directed him to those sites as places to purchase an Open gun from. My preceding, express exclusion of building up a frame, together with the inclusion of SVI in that later list is proof of that.
 
Scrivener said:
Go back and actually look at the sites - they are selling their own guns or their own iteration of some real manufacturer's gun.

That post also said nothing about buying a frame and sending it to a custom smith; it directed him to those sites as places to purchase an Open gun from. My preceding, express exclusion of building up a frame, together with the inclusion of SVI in that later list is proof of that.
Click to expand...

Scrivener,
My reply to your post was in response to your comment about Supermoto's list being "worthless". I feel Supermoto answered noidlight's question about "suggestions" .

If you are going to play this game in open and compete you need a doublestack pistol in 9mm, 38super, 9x21, etc. . - the only way to get one is to buy it used or have a new one built.

Noidlight's question did not ask about Mass compliant manufaturers, he asked about suggestions and choice of calibers.

Cheers.
 
PMD said:
If you are going to play this game in open and compete you need a doublestack pistol in 9mm, 38super, 9x21, etc.
Click to expand...

No argument there.

. - the only way to get one is to buy it used or have a new one built.
Click to expand...

Which is largely what my first post said.

Noidlight's question did not ask about Mass compliant manufaturers, he asked about suggestions and choice of calibers.
Click to expand...

Actually, his first post asked about the "SVI Trubor;" a production gun from a manufacturer which, like many, has abandoned Massachusetts shooters. There was nothing in that post about buying used or having a bare frame built up.

Hence my reminder about Mass compliance, used guns, etc. All the links do is show him pictures of guns he cannot buy new and may not even be able to get built from a frame in any remotely cost-effective manner.
 
Rob,
Looks like Scrivener is trying to debate rather than give real advice so I'll keep on your topic and avoid responding to him..


You should be able to find a ton of info at the link GTOShootr and Supermoto gave you - do your research and ask lots of questions.

As far as caliber - I've gone both the 38 super and 9mm route.
The 38 super was more reliable.

As far as brass:

38 super - when I shot 38 Super I was able to load the brass several times before any case failures - picking up brass at practice is no big deal - at a match it's kinda a pain, but if it's marked you can usually get a large percentage back. As noted earlier you have more powder selection.

9mm - in order for my 9mm Major to work I need to cull the brass into separate headstamp lots, clean, rollsize (caspro) and then size with a Lee undersize die - for matches I case check each round.

If you go the 9mm route thinking you can get away with range brass - chances are you can't.

I think if I had to start over - I might strongly consider 38 super or super comp.

If you shoot Harvard you should be able to see at least 1/2 dozen different style open guns - ask the guys that are shooting them for the pros and cons.

GoodLuck!
Paul
 
38supermatt said:
picking a gun based on how much the brass costs is like picking a car based on how much the tires cost.
Click to expand...

Absolutely correct!

The price of brass is what it is. ( and it is not likely to get cheaper!)
You should pick the caliber that you can most effectively use, i.e. ease to reload for, make mags work , have a pistolsmith make the gun work, etc....

Look at what the top guys are using and make your choice, If you want to try one of my Bedell's, just ask.
 
When I went the open gun route I did a lot of research and talked to a lot of different shooters and gunsmiths. What I found is that some guns are more reliable than others and a visit to a match will show which guns run and which don't. As for the 9 major vs. .38 super I went with .38 super after spending a good amount of time talking with Bob Longridon from Brazos Custom he has major concerns with the 9 major because of the pressure associated with the shorter case. He mentioned at these pressure levels and the requirement of the faster burning powder he feels the 9 major is a disadvantage to the super. That being said I took his advice and went with the super. I don't have any experience with 9 Major but the super has been great.

I advise getting a Bedell or a Brazos as these guns seem to be the most reliable out of the ones I've seen.
 
Now that we have, which caliber to get all sorted out[thinking]

Lets argue fullsize or shorty, or Dot size, double or single sided mount.

We'll flood Rob with so many options...he'll end up shooting production[grin]
 

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