[BigH]

Fellas,

This is a new post that is a spin off from my "What gun would you buy if money were no object"

I have decided on getting one of the STI's from a member of my club who is a dealer. He has in stock right now
Matchmaster .38 Super
Trubor 9X19 & Super .38
Steelmaster 9X19

Several fellow shooters are telling me that if they were to do it all over again they would go with the 9X19 over the 38 super. This is based on the over all costs of ammo today. I currently shoot 9 and am set up to reload. I also have about 5000 once fired brass.

There are other guys that are telling me 38 super is the only way to go as I would have to load to major to shoot USPSA and the 9 is a small shell

I will tell you that I shot a friends Matchmaster 38 last night using Fiocchi 129 grain and the gun is very loud. But is dead on accurate and fun to shoot

I am thinking about teh Trubor as I like the length and feel of the gun BUT the steelmaster in 9X19 looks awesome with all the slide lightening.

Let me know your thoughts

[Rolex]

Gave up .38S years ago when .9mm major came in.
If you have that much brass you are allready a head of
the game. My vote is for the .9mm! Best of luck

[BigH]

I am being told that the Trubor will shoot standard 9X19 (not major). Is that true? I have a couple of cases at home and could get a ton of practice in.

What powder are you using and what grain are you re loading.

[Theo Carter]

I have a Trubor in 9mm and I have no problem loading it to major.

[BigH]

Will it cycle properly with 9 minor

[steel1212]

Pretty sure the trubor was designed to run major ammo. Some of them will and some of them won't run minor. I think the Steel master was designed for minor ammo in mind for the steel challenge.

[Seth]

I bought a used Trubor last month. It runs everything. Factory minor loads, my 9 Major reloads, and everything in between. No changes in spring or anything else. Probably would need a resight for a steel match, but otherwise it rocks.

I'm using untuned SV tubes, Grams guts.

[GrumpyOne]

I have a Trubor in 38S. Love it, but it won't run anything but major. Yes, it is loud. If I had it to do all over again, I'd still do the 38S. The only difference is the brass. 9mm is very easy to find, where 38S is a bit more difficult. I have heard many times from the 9mm shooters that loading their rounds to major, they can only get 2 - 4 reloads before the brass craps out from the extra pressure. I have gotten as many as 12 reloads of major on my 38S brass, so it kind of evens out. Hey with a 38S, you can shoot 9mm too (9x23 that is!).

[PINMAN44]

Big:

I have a Trubor and I run 9major and 9minor fine. If I had to do it over again i might have had a custom gun built, but I love the gun I have and it works fine after a little fine tuning.

Here is my youtube page with the gun in action

http://www.youtube.c...er/ZEROBULL9x19

[UW Mitch]

I've been happy with my 9Major that JPL built. I start with known once fired brass. When I'm at a match picking up my brass and other mixed brass, I put that aside and keep that brass for loading 9mm in minor loads. When I was shooting 10mm in an indoor plate league I had lots of anxiety to make sure I got all my valuable brass. With USPSA I wouldn't want to have those same worries (with 38S or SC for example). If it's muddy, sandy, or I just don't feel like picking up my brass I don't "need" to since it's just 9x19.

~Mitch

[Flexmoney]

H,

The 9 vs Super has been covered...a lot...on the forum. See if you can dig up some of those threads and soak up that knowledge.

There are probably threads on the Steel master...and on the other models too.


There are also threads on the "shorty" guns vs. the full sized guns.

[G-ManBart]

I'd vote for none of the above. The value of a new factory Open gun just isn't there when you can spend a couple hundred more and get a full custom gun from someone like Bedell or Benny Hill. Lots of good info in this thread.

http://www.brianenos...?...t&p=1024851

[Sarge]

steel1212, on Aug 7 2009, 11:52 AM, said:

Pretty sure the trubor was designed to run major ammo. Some of them will and some of them won't run minor. I think the Steel master was designed for minor ammo in mind for the steel challenge.

I agree here. I looked up the steel master and it states it is for minor pf ammo only.

[short_round]

I think that 38 super comp will give you a lot more options to play with as far as loads go (especially bullet weights) if that's what you're into. 9Major is not as economical as it used to be, but I still save some money and have a little more options than buying 1000k new starline every three months like I used to do.

I do not reload my or anyone else's 9Major brass after it has been shot. When I've been desperate enough for brass and tried to use them, the number of cartridges that failed to case gauge went up dramatically and more than the average number of case head separations seemed to happen.

I should disclose that my open guns are 9Major now and I do not have plans to go back to 38 supercomp.

Quote

value of a new factory Open gun just isn't there when you can spend a couple hundred more and get a full custom gun

+1 to this. My competition guns (even production) have become very personal to me over time. As you shoot and compete with it, your open gun will become tuned to you and you to it. If you shoot your open gun with IPSC regulatority, you will wear it out. Starting a relationship with a good gunsmith early will pay off in the future. There is some sort or magic or genius that our best open gunsmiths have that is impossible to replicate in your garage and even in the factory.

High Performance = High Maintenance.

Quote

Will it cycle properly with 9 minor

My experience is that every gun is different. You have to try it out. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't.

FWIW

[Hi-Power Jack]

BigH, on Aug 7 2009, 11:37 AM, said:

I am being told that the Trubor will shoot standard 9X19 (not major). Is that true? I have a couple of cases at home and could get a ton of practice in.

What powder are you using and what grain are you re loading.

I got my first TruBor a year and a half ago, and started shooting factory
9mm (minor) and it worked pretty well. Had some problems with my
mags, but two mags ran well with the minor 9mm.

What are you planning on doing with your 9mm when you get it?
If you're going to shoot IPSC, you'll need major loads - either
buy them from someone, or reload them yourself. Not as hard
as I first thought - I was going to shoot only factory ammo in my
TruBor, but once I started shooting matches, I had to have some
major loads - doesn't cost much more, and it "Makes Major")

I've recently started loading major 9mm for my two TruBors and
I'm using Wolf primers (for practice) and WW primers for matches,
range brass, sorted to WW for matches, 115 gr MG JHP's (going to
try some 124 grains when I run out of 115's); over 8.5 grains of
HS6. But, I've recently learned that HS6 is Very Fast burning and
can contribute to the early demise of my two TruBors, so I'm
thinking of changing powder when I run out of the 19 pounds of
HS6 I currently have on hand.

As I mentioned when you asked about spending $3,000 for a
gun, I recommend you spend $2,000 for the gun (Limited Div)
and the other $1,000 on "other stuff" you will need.

[bigstick0000]

I switched from limited to open recently and bought a brazos race in 38 sc. I can't say enough about the gun, it's incredible. I have a trubor also and its a great gun but nothing compares to my brazos. my trubor is great for steel but the brazos rocks for ipsc.

[fourtrax]

Get the 9mm, you can play with different recoil springs to get it to run minor, no big deal. I converted my .38 super trubor to a 9mm. Cheapest load and dot movement on par with vhit powder is 7.8grains of Ramshot True Blue/124grain Montanna Gold FMJ. Do some "searches" for your best info. Hell, I'd buy the damn parts and send them to Gan's, about a week later (NO KIDDING) You are going to have a dream gun that rocks. Gary Natale(GAN's GUNS) rocks! You'd be well under 3,000 grand. Go to his website and take a look, lot's of IPSC guys are discovering GAN's, my secret, fast, exceptional, genius, gunsmith is getting too popular. I'll probably have to wait 2 weeks for my next gun!

[DMAC]

I picked up a Brazos ProSX in 38 Super off the classifieds a few months back. Great gun!