USPSA match scoring is based on three factors: Speed, Power and Accuracy.
The ACCURACY is based on the points you score on each target .. less penalties.
The SPEED is based on the time you take to complete the stage. ("Timed Fire" is judged a little differently, but still ....)
The POWER factor is based on your declared power factor, except at a Major Match when they actually determine the power factor of the ammunition you are using, on that day, at that place.
And if your ammunition doesn't actually perform to the level that you have expected, it can ruin your whole day.
What I want to talk about is one of the points that I include in my "Introduction to USPSA" Safety Class, when we start to talk about "POWER FACTOR" in the segment about Scoring Your Target.
This is A True Story, and I tell it once every month when I give a class
A couple of years ago, I volunteered to help my friend "Rory" (not his real name) at the chronograph stage in an Area 1 match at the Albany Rifle and Pistol Club.
He was the technical guy; he handled weighing the bullet samples, setting up the chronograph, tallying the accumulated velocities, and computing the power factors.
I just shot the guns.
In one-and-a-half days, I shot 314 different pistols, a minimum of 3 shots each, for a total of over 1000 shots. All I had to do is make A-zone hits every time (so I don't destroy the tandem Chronographs in The Blue Box) at a range of five yards. From a rest.
It was a great gig, and when people came up to me and said "you look like you might be getting tired, would you like me to take over for you a while while you rest" .. I said HELL NO! I was having too much fun, but there is a down-side:
It's no fun to tell people they didn't quite make major power.
What do you do when they don't make MINOR power?
A father and son came up to the chrono stage. They were shooting Production Division (there is no "Major Power: in Production Division) with identical pistols. They were using factory ammunition (*"Traditional Ammunition*?) out of the same 500-round 9mm boxes. They were sharing the same magazines.
Both pistols fit within "The Box", and were approved by USPSA for Production Division.
They needed to meet a minimum power factor of 125, according to Appendex D4 of the USPSA rule book.
First up was the father.
He plopped his pistol and an empty magazine on the table, and I loaded the magazine up with three rounds of his sample ammunition. I shot the three rounds, the data showed just over minor power floor. No problem.
Then the Son came to the line, placed his pistol and an empty magazine on the table, and I loaded the magazine up with three randomly-selected rounds of his sample ammunition. I shot the three rounds, the data showed 01.15 under minor floor.
(Actually: PF=123.85, average sample for 3 rounds) BIG problem.
Following protocol, I loaded another three randomly-selected rounds of the ammunition from his sample into the magazine, and fired three more rounds. The data showed 0.85 (actually, PF=124.15, average sample for top 3 of 6 rounds) UNDER minor floor.
So I asked the son: "We have one round left; do you want to use it to weigh the bullet, or to fire for a faster velocity?"
(Kind of a no-brainer; it was a 115gr. bullet, and the pulled-sample weighed in at 115.0 grains.)
"Shoot it", he said, after discussing it with his father.
So I shot the seventh round, and the three highest velocity rounds still didn't meet Minor Power Floor.
"It's Factory Ammunition!" they said.
"We're shooting Identical Guns!" they said.
and .. "'what does this mean?", they asked.
I told them that the son was perfectly welcome to shoot the whole match, but if they his ammunition doesn't make Minor Power Floor .. his scores will not be recorded, and he is not eligible for competition. For the whole match.
Bad news .. they were from Out Of Town, and paid not only match fees but travel expenses, etc.
They left, unhappy. Discouraged, Disgruntled, and Disenchanted. It was not a Good Match for them.
And I could not tell them the things that I tell to every "Introduction to USPSA" class I teach.
"Factory Ammunition" Don't Mean squat!
The thing is, when you're shooting Factory Ammunition, you're assuming that their specifications are the same as your specifications for both "quality" and "consistency". Their bullet weight is probably consistent, and so is their powder charge. Also, they powder is probably 'fresh' (for various definitions of the term), and most of the ammunition will yield a fairly consistent Power Factor (bullet weight and velocity).
But it doesn't mean that it will necessarily meet your desire to achieve your desired performance level, under any circumstances and any conditions.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
In this specific case, the son was very new to USPSA competition so he had probably shot a LOT more ammunition than had his father. And the Chronograph stage was very near the last stage of a 1-1/2 day match (we're talking 12 stages, few of them "Short Stages").
Ignoring the facts that in a Major Match, to you will ALWAYS chrono at lower speeds than you did at home (air density based on relative altitude, etc), and it often has more to do with you, and your gun, than it has to do with your ammunition.
There is one simple thing that you, as a shooter, can do to help get through the Chronograph Stage with minimal disappointment:
CLEAN YOUR GUN!
Just before your trip to the Chrono Stage, go to a safety table and field-strip your pistol. You just shot umpteen-rounds through your gun and the barrel is probably fouled.
Take it out, use nitro powder solvent (HOPPIE'S #9) on the inside and the outside of the barrel. Also if you're using a 1911 variant, clean the barrel bushing. Then oil EVERYTHING!
If you are using lead bullets (and even if you're not) use a brass brush on your bore. What you are trying to do is to encourage that lead-centered bullet move down the bore as expeditiously as possible.
When the bore is as clean as you can make it ...
OIL THE INSIDE OF YOUR BARREL!
Don't scrimp on oil, and don't worry if you don't follow it up with a dry rag through the barrel; the first round will remove any excess oil out. If you just let it sit, what can it hurt? Chronoman is going to fire six rounds through the barrel.
The definition of 'more lubrication is "MORE LUBRICATION!"
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