What’s 9 Major?

You might have heard of something called “9 Major.” It’s a wildcat load of the 9mm Luger intended only for competition pistols specially built to handle extremely high pressure. Nine Major is loaded to make “Major” power factor for practical shooting competitions like IPSC and USPSA.

As a wildcat round, there’s no prescribed pressure limit for 9 Major. The rules for these shooting sports define the power level cartridges must meet in order to qualify for scoring categories. Hits in specific marked zones on paper targets are scored two ways, depending on the power of the cartridge. Shots are scored for Minor power factor or Major power factor. Major power factor scoring gains one more point for hits in the B, C and D zones than Minor does. Hits in the A zone are scored the same value for Major or Minor power factors.

Power factor is determined by bullet weight times velocity, divided by 1,000. To qualify for Minor power factor in USPSA competition, loads must achieve at least a 125 power factor. This is easy for the 9mm Luger and most factory loads will do this. For example, a 115 grain bullet at 1,175 fps produces a 135 power factor (115 times 1,175 = 135,125 divided by 1,000 = 135).

Major power factor in USPSA competition, requires a 165 power factor. A 115 grain bullet must reach 1,435 fps, a 124 grain bullet must reach 1,331 fps, and a 147 grain bullet must reach 1,123 fps. Run-of-the-mill factory 9mm Luger ammunition does not usually achieve these speeds.

An Open Division pistol usually sports a optical sight and compensator. This Para Ordnance
pistol is chambered in .38 Super, a common caliber for Open Division pistols.

Race Guns

The 9mm only qualifies for Major scoring in Open Division, a division where compensators and optical sights (e.g. red dot sights) are allowed. In all other divisions, the 9mm is scored Minor.

Open Division guns are often referred to as race guns. Like race cars, they’re designed for high-powered, high-speed competition. They are purpose-built, and designed to handle the high pressure 9 Major and .38 Super — the traditional caliber for Open Division guns — can produce. The most important feature is a ramped barrel providing full support of the case head. Non-ramped barrels, or any barrel with a large cutout for the feed ramp, are not safe for 9 Major ammunition because they don’t support the case enough to prevent cases from possibly bursting due to the high pressure.

Not all gun designs are safe for 9 Major ammunition. Competition guns are generally locked breech designs, such as the 1911/2011, Glock, CZ and S&W M&Ps. Factory barrels might not qualify, and they might need to be replaced with a barrel having more case support to safely handle 9 Major ammunition.

Most 9 Major rounds will be at +P (38,500 psi) pressure, and many will easily be higher than that, more in the +P+ range. That’s why gun design and chamber support are such important features. Clearly, 9 Major is not safe in all 9mm guns.
Gunpowder selection is very important when producing 9 Major ammunition. Only medium to slow burning rate pistol powders are used because they can produce lower peak chamber pressures when pushing the bullet to the same velocity as faster burning powders.

This Glock 19C was used to chronograph the factory 9 Major Ammunition with an
Alpha Wolf threaded barrel. Also shown is an Alpha Wolf three-port compensator.

Testing

Nine Major has grown in popularity due largely to the reduced cost of 9mm Luger cases compared to .38 Super cases. The 9mm Luger also allows the use of guns designed around the shorter 9mm Luger case, whereas the .38 Super requires a gun with a grip deep enough to accommodate the longer round.

Most competitive shooters in Open Division load their own ammunition. This gives them the opportunity to develop a load they and their gun likes. This is by far the best way to go when producing this specialty ammunition. However, there are ammunition manufacturers with the competitor in mind who load 9 Major. They include Atlanta Arms, JJR Ammo, ORM Tech and Universal Ammo.

I used a Glock 19C with a Lone Wolf 4.6″ Alpha Wolf barrel as a test gun to run some factory ammo. When I purchased the barrel, I confirmed with Lone Wolf it had enough case support for shooting 9 Major. The barrel is threaded 1/2 x 28 for the attachment of a compensator or suppressor, too.

Two bullets were pulled from factory ammo, and the bullets and powder charges weighed. The weight of the powder charge is important because this affects not only velocity, but how much gas is available for the compensator. Five rounds were measured for OAL too. This matters because the loaded round must fit in the magazine and the chamber.

Most 9 Major rounds are loaded as long as possible to help keep peak pressure as low as possible. The SAAMI maximum overall length for the 9mm Luger cartridge of 1.169″. Round nose bullets loaded to this length will, or should, fit all 9mm magazines. However, flat nose bullets, like hollow points, loaded to this length might be too long for some magazines. Because rounds lie in the magazine at an angle, and a flat nose bullet has a longer diagonal length than a round nose bullet — up to 0.020″ or more — it’s the diagonal length that has to fit and can cause issues.

Some of the test ammunition was loaded too long to fit in my Glock magazines. The Atlanta Arms rounds were loaded to 1.166″, and because they were hollow point bullets, they were a little too long. I could only load a few rounds before they started to stick. The JJR and ORM ammo fit in the Glock magazine, but just barely. Some of them rubbed against the front wall of the magazine.

Technical Issues

It’s probably fair to say most 9 Major pistols are built on a 1911/2011 frame, which can accept the longer 38 Super cartridge. Thus, their magazines can accept longer loaded 9 Major ammo if they don’t use spacers to convert them to strictly 9mm Luger ammo.

All the rounds fit in the Alpha Wolf barrel. Not all barrel chambers can accommodate 9mm rounds loaded this long. Many race gun chambers have extended throats for long-loaded ammo. This is another advantage of loading your own ammo — you can load it to the length fitting your gun, magazine and chamber.

All loads made Major power factor with room to spare. The lowest power factor was 176. Some user’s guns might have ports (“popple” holes) drilled directly in the top of the barrel to aid in reducing muzzle rise. This bleeds off pressure and velocity. The high velocity of these loads increases the chance they would still make Major power factor in those guns, depending on how many ports they have, and the barrel’s length.

Notice the ballistics are like you’d see from a .357 Magnum revolver. The hallmark .357 load is a 125 grain bullet at 1,450 fps from a 4″ revolver. Both 124 grain 9 Major loads were close to that mark. The JJR Ammo load was the fastest at 1,498 fps, a 185 power factor, translating into 618 foot pounds of muzzle energy. It should be apparent the pressure required to achieve this type of performance from the short 9mm Luger case must be very high. Only the right gun and barrel design can do this safely.

Most Open Division shooters use 115 to 125 grain bullets. Lighter bullets require more gunpowder weight to propel them to the required velocity than heavier bullets, when using the same gunpowder. The additional gunpowder weight produces more gas for the compensator. JJR Ammo, ORM Tech and Universal Ammo (not tested) use 115-124 grain bullets for their 9 Major ammo.

Factory ammo is limited for 9 Major but Brad found loads by these companies and tested them.
Most competitors reload their own to meet the specific needs of their guns.

Heavy Bullets?

Atlanta Arms breaks tradition and only offers a 147 grain bullet for this purpose. They say, “The 147 grain bullet allows the round to reduce overall pressure while maintaining the major power factor. This projectile has been the softest shooting major competition round we have ever made.” It’s generally true heavy bullets can be driven to the same power factor at lower chamber pressure than light bullets (when using the same gunpowder). But heavier bullets produce more muzzle rise in compensated pistols than lighter bullets, when using the same gunpowder and at the same power factor. That said, each shooter has different preferences and you never know what you, or your gun, likes until you try it.

Nine Major is an extra-heavily-loaded 9mm Luger intended for competition pistols. This ammunition is not safe in all 9mm guns — in fact, only a few. It’s almost always loaded to +P+ pressures likely exceeding pressures of +P+ ammunition available from the mainstream ammunition manufacturers. It’s only intended for competitive shooters with appropriate gun designs and barrels.

For more info:

www.atlantaarms.com

www.jjrammo.com

www.ormtechammo.com

www.universalammo.com

More July/August Exclusive Articles

Subscribe To American Handgunner