cfor@ciba-geigy.ch (Rainer Foeppl) (06/05/91)
There are discussions in progress about the major/minor system used by IPSC competitions to score matches. the current system has a lot of problems, e.g. a lot of shooters clearly exeed the maximum pressure of their cartridges to get the major factor. on the other side there is no way to measure the pressure used by the competitors load on the spot to prove him his unsafe ammo. regarding those facts, we think that it would be the best, just to define the minimum facts, every shooter has to fulfill to take part of a competiton. we think this should be a factor of 125 and a minimum diameter of .354 major is no more used, as todays guns with compensators do not have the same recoil as the old one factory models. if you think practically then i have to tell you that if you should come into a situation to use your gun you will also not be sored by minor/major.... I think in south africa at the individual world shoot will be the next IPSC - meeting to discuss those things - but i would like to get some ideas of other people, too. regards rainer. C C major i -- Rainer Foeppl email: cfor@ciba-geigy.ch
berenson@cookie.enet.dec.com (Coffee: Nature's Productivity Tool 04-Jun-1991 1610) (06/05/91)
First, I disagree that the current system has a lot of problems. There are many people who believe that the problems have been invented. In particular, claims about truely unsafe loads in 9mm Major have been invented by those with a large vested interest in the 1911 (and their accessories) to keep high-capacity guns in the minor category. The fundemental fact is: as long as hand loads are allowed, dangerous loads are possible. Banning handloads is the only way to take ammunition out of the safety equation, but doing so makes the sport totally unaffordable. Second, the minor/major distinction has *LOTS* of practical validity. Every modern measure, from Marshall's and Ayoob's statistics on actual shootings to the Jello Junkies Wound Ballistics criteria, support the notion that Major Loads (.357 Magnum, 10mm, .40S&W, and of course .45 ACP) are more effective than minor loads (.38 Special, 9mm). Third, the real issue is one of "vested interest". There are 10,000 IPSC shooters in the U.S. alone and nearly every one of them has made a purchase decision based on the existing rules. Sorry, but you'll excuse me if I don't want to throw away what is now thousands of dollars in firearms, magazines, leather, reloading gear, brass, etc. because a rule change says I should throw away my 1911 and move to a high-capacity 9mm to be competitive. The truth is that eliminating Major will lead to a new equipment race that will drive shooters from the sport. The currently accepted solution, requiring .40 caliber or larger for Major starting in 1993, will have the same effect. The sentiment in the U.S. largely seems to be that the U.S. should drop out of IPSC if this rule holds, and I believe the same general feeling will pervade USPSA's membership if Major P.F. is eliminated altogether. I do believe we are spending too much time on solving non-existant problems, while real problems go relatively unaddressed. The single biggest improvement we could make in this sport is to formally create and push a stock class separate and parallel to the current open class. All the other proposed changes do far more harm then good.