In “action” pistol competitions like USPSA/IPSC or IDPA, your ammo must make a particular power factor, a number derived according to the bullet’s weight and velocity. There are two classic approaches to getting that number: (1) Run a heavy bullet with a fast-burning powder at low velocity, (2) run a light bullet with a medium-to-slow-burning powder at higher velocity. We can make a case for both approaches.
These days, the most commonly used cartridge in action pistol matches is 9mm Parabellum. The classic “gamer” approach to handloaded ammo is to run a heavy bullet (in 9mm that generally means 147 grains) with a fast-burning powder. There are multiple advantages to this.
To start with, it tends to give softer recoil at the same power factor. With a light bullet/slower powder approach, by contrast, burning powder drives the casing to the rear for a much longer (in the overall scheme of things) time period, so the casing presses on the breech face for longer, thus slide velocity is higher and the gun cycles faster. With the heavy bullet/fast powder approach, the powder burns much faster, therefore the casing “pops” the slide, which then travels to the rear mostly through inertia, therefore the gun is perceived as having much softer recoil.
Also, the heavy bullet/fast powder approach results in ammunition much quieter than a light bullet/slower powder ammo at the same power factor. That might not seem like a big deal, until you’re right up next to a wall on an indoor range, firing around a barricade at a match, and muzzle blast from a light bullet/slower powder load can be downright obnoxious.
Having said that, we can also make a case for the light bullet (in 9mm that typically means 124 grains), slow-to-medium-burn-rate powder combo. Let’s differentiate between “recoil” and “muzzle flip.” Recoil is the amount of energy the gun gives us, when we fire it, coming to the rear. Muzzle flip is how far up the front of the gun comes, when we fire it. Though the two concepts are closely related, they are not the same thing. While the heavy bullet/fast powder approach, because the recoil impulse is spread out over a longer time period, gives us the impression of much softer recoil, with a light bullet/slower powder the gun cycles so fast, it’s fully-cycled before the front of the gun can move up very much, thus the gun tends to “shoot flatter.”
There are very, very good shooters in adherence to both approaches. There is no right or wrong answer here, it’s simply a matter of what works best for you. Try both, and discover which you prefer. This is one of the very nice things about being a handloader, we can tailor our loads to deliver exactly the recoil impulse we want, instead of being a slave to what happened to come out of the factory ammo box.
