Classic Division: Major or Minor?

1riot1ranger

1riot1ranger

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
8   0   0
Location
Calgary, AB
So is there any consensus on what's the best way to go in Classic Divison? Get a bull barrel 9mm and shoot minor or get a bull barrel .40 and have the ability to shoot either?

I'd like to get a Trojan and am currently undecided on the caliber.

Is the jury still out?
 
To me the 40 makes more sense because you have options. You can choose extra rounds in Classic or go for Major PF, you can't with the 9 you are stuck in Minor. Also you could shoot Major PF in Standard if you wanted to with the 40 with the same equipment which you wouldn't be able to do with the 9.

Brass is easy to get for both, although the 40 would be a bit more expensive to reload but not really that much more.
 
I will be using a 9mm Trogan.

For me, I can't see switching back and forth Major/Minor with a .40. Changing mag capacity from 8 to 10rounds, match to match, wouldn't work for me. I have a hard enough time counting to 10 much less trying to remember how many rounds I am running from one match to another.

No, I will shoot my 9mm with 10rounds and stick with it.

The KISS principle will apply :)

John
 
38 Super minor because I had a lot of bits and components around and already had 14 mags from shooting AP with it:).
Might switch to 40 later but also still have the original frankencolt I started with for major.
 
I think 9mm makes more sense. 10 rounds with 125PF in heavy frame pistol against .45ACP, think big advantage.
I stick to .45ACP because that is what I have now and also I like .45ACP.
 
Classic Division is barely 42 days old. There is not much of a 'jury', at least in Canada, to determine what will work and what won't.

USPSA Single Stack is a very mature Division by comparison so let's see what works there. At last year's Single Stack Nationals there were 358 competitors. Of the five GMs that finished in the top ten, ALL shot major. In fact, all the top ten shooters shot major. The top minor shooter was B.J. Norris at 17th.

There were a total of 43 competitors shooting minor (12%). And of those, I don't know how many declared major and chrono'd minor but let's assume most declared minor. The top five minor shooters came in 17th (M class), 39th (M class), 43rd (Unclassified), 59th (A class) and 67th (M class).; hardly stellar.

Given the low number of competitors shooting minor and their relatively poor placement at arguably the premiere match for 1911 pistols, to me at least, the choice is clear.
 
Last edited:
8 rnds or 10 ? not all maybe aware you can have 10 rnds in .40 if buy Tripp mags from U.S. I believe they're permitted in CD and you're still major. The thing is, will this be disallowed in future to force all major's to be fair at 8 rnds each regardless if shooting .40 or .45.. thus we spend $$ on these mags and then changing rules and $$ spent for nothing ?
If they allow it and I can have the 10 rnds with .40 major, then I'll be working my way to that for future gun.. probably STI Trojan

For now, I'll likely just change my slide on my Colt .45 to new one (due to that it's been lightened with holes) so i can just use that once in a while.
 
colt45gunner said:
8 rnds or 10 ? not all maybe aware you can have 10 rnds in .40 if buy Tripp mags from U.S. I believe they're permitted in CD and you're still major.
Click to expand...

Nope. Any mag, regardless of calibre, with more than 8 rds in it at the start signal and you'll be shooting minor.
 
oh yah, I remember reading that now... Like I say, Real Men Shoot .45 :)
don't have to buy new gun..just slide as mentioned above...

And main difference between our CD and Uspsa SS is the allowing of bull barrels ?
any other ?
 
Course design will determine the advantage, or disadvantage of either plus the difficulty of the shots taken.
 
Aqualung said:
Classic Division is barely 32 days old. There is not much of a 'jury', at least in Canada, to determine what will work and what won't.

USPSA Single Stack is a very mature Division by comparison so let's see what works there. At last year's Single Stack Nationals there were 358 competitors. Of the five GMs that finished in the top ten, ALL shot major. In fact, all the top ten shooters shot major. The top minor shooter was B.J. Norris at 17th.

There were a total of 43 competitors shooting minor (12%). And of those, I don't know how many declared major and chrono'd minor but let's assume most declared minor. The top five minor shooters came in 17th (M class), 39th (M class), 43rd (Unclassified), 59th (A class) and 67th (M class).; hardly stellar.

Given the low number of competitors shooting minor and their relatively poor placement at arguably the premiere match for 1911 pistols, to me at least, the choice is clear.
Click to expand...

That's probably not the best match to make a comparison with. The SS Nationals use courses of fire based on the Single Stack Society rules, that means max round count of 24 on a stage (based on a carry load of a .45 1911, loaded gun and two spare mags) and they are generally set up around the 8 round gun. Compare to Area matches and you get a better idea. At the recent Western States Single Stack match, TGO shot a 9mm gun into 3rd place and from what I saw of the match the stages are closer to an area match (Area 2 specifically) than a Single Stack Society match.
 
alphamike said:
Course design will determine the advantage, or disadvantage of either plus the difficulty of the shots taken.
Click to expand...

OK, but some stages may provide an advantage to 10 rds and others may not (good stages will provide an advantage to neither and offer many alternate ways to shoot the stage); all within the same match. Unfortunately, you can only shoot one or the other. ;)


PH Racing said:
That's probably not the best match to make a comparison with. The SS Nationals use courses of fire based on the Single Stack Society rules, that means max round count of 24 on a stage (based on a carry load of a .45 1911, loaded gun and two spare mags) and they are generally set up around the 8 round gun. Compare to Area matches and you get a better idea. At the recent Western States Single Stack match, TGO shot a 9mm gun into 3rd place and from what I saw of the match the stages are closer to an area match (Area 2 specifically) than a Single Stack Society match.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. So let’s compare 2012 Area Matches:

Area 1: 21 SS competitors – 2 minor (9.5%).

Minor shooters placed 1st (M class) and 3rd (Unclassified but GM in Ltd)


Area 2: 43 SS Competitors – 9 minor (21%)

Minor shooters placed 1st (GM – TGO: BIG surprise), 11th (C class), 14th (B Class), 16th (C class), 29th (C class), 33rd (C class), 36th (D class), 37th (C class) and 42nd (Unclassified)


Area 3: 33 SS competitors – 6 minor (18.2%).

Minor shooters placed 14th (C class), 22nd (C class), 23rd (C class), 25th (D Class), 26th (D Class) and DQ (D class)


Area 4: 16 SS competitors – 3 minor (18.75%).

Minor shooters placed 5th (B class), 8th (C class), and 13th (Unclassified – now C class)


Area 5: 41 SS competitors – 5 minor (12.2%).

Minor shooters placed 20th (C class), 23rd (C class), 26th (C class), 30th (C Class) and 40th (D class)

Area 6: 37 SS competitors – 6 minor (16.2%).

Minor shooters placed 5th (A class), 14th (A class), 18th (C class), 24th (A Class), 29th (D Class) and 32nd (D class)


Area 7: 10 SS competitors – 1 minor (10%).

Minor shooter placed 2nd (A class) (beat by an Unclassified shooter that is A class in PD)


Area 8: 24 SS competitors – 4 minor (16.6%).
Minor shooter placed , 1st (A class), 5th (M class), 14th (B class) and 21st (C class)

So let’s summarize. Single Stack competitors shooting minor at Area matches varied from 9.5% (Area 1) to 21% (Area 2) and similar to SSN (12%)|. Minor Shooters won Area 1 (M class), Area 2 (GM Class) and Area 8 (A Class) but their competition was classed lower except at Area 8. The majority of minor shooters were C and D class shooters (are they trying to gain some sort of perceived advantage to make up for their lower skill level?).

So, I stand by my original opinion. :cool:
 
Last edited:
I agree with Pat. In Canada, regardless of division we're all shooting the same stages. USPSA single stack matches are built for single stack division.
 
Maybe just happens that the lower level of skill'd shooter is choosing 9mm ?
And the top shooters are so choosing .45 for no real reason, other than the love it or prefer it..
Also, any top shooter were to switch to 9mm, I'm sure they'd still be in the top 10.. anyone that good, can shoot good period..
Any good shooter will not drop too many points in a match, but those few they do (if 9mm), will be at less points, but also the occaissional extra shot (with the 9mm) will not run them dry or screw up their plan on where to do reloads, as they have extra 2 shots at their disposal..
so would the few less points be offset by saving time on reloading, etc... to balance out the points for the stage ? who really knows... it would be stage and performance specific..
Overall, a regular shooter can and will get use to their gun (both 9mm or 45) and be able to shoot well with either calibre, and having the higher points outside the A zone is better.
Once in a while, having the extra 2 rnds will save you too if extra shot is required, on a stage where there's some challenging shot and pretty much everyone is needing more than 8 to clear that port, the 10 rnd guys maybe not have to do a standing reload and have better score than the .45 8 rnd guys....
There's advantage to both ways.... And really tough to decide which way would be best.. If you're super accurate shooter, then the 10 rnds can only be an advantage....
If you're not so, then the 2 rnds extra not going to help you much either..

And I'm not sure if I'm accurate in my assessment...some thoughts.

Personally, I think on average the higher point count with major would be an advantage cause we (most of us) like to push and shoot fast and always drop points....so I'd go .45

Either way, pick what you want and have a blast :runaway: and if you're not happy and want to switch.... Always nice to open up that new box with your new Toy :D:D !!
 
Unless you plan to shoot exclusively single stack classic with that particular rule set and stage design philosophy, the extra two rounds you will get shooting minor will be an advantage for international competition. Since CD will be only one of many available divisions within a match, you won't likely see much eight round friendly stage design in international competition. As well, major or minor, you always want to strive for 90% of available score so all things being equal, it's pretty much always going to shake out with ten rounds being better than eight in my mind.

Of course this is just an opinion and once the division gets rolling reality may prove me completely wrong. We'll just have to see how things evolve. Interestingly, my favorite round of all time is the .45 acp, 230 grain round nose flying telephone pole. It's what I started with and I'll always have a soft spot for it.
 
The number of partial targets can have an effect as well with how much of the A zone or the highest scoring zone is available due to the major/minor points difference on the C and D zones.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom