45 acp questions

[chm270]

I have 2 types of bullets to reload.
First are 230gr fmj with the "open base".
Second are 185gr hollow points with complete jackets.
I believe the HP's are either Remington or a similar "clone" from pictures I have seen.
The lengths of the bullets are:
230 gr .640" and the 185 hp are .550".
My question is, when seating these bullets for OAL, would the OAL be about the same, seating one less deep than the other? Or would the HP's end up being a shorter OAL if seated to the same depth as the 230's?
It seems that everywhere I look there are different OALs listed, so I was hoping you guys could help me out here. I have reloaded lots of 230 fmj but never lighter or hollow points.
Thanks in advance!

 

[contender]

Since the 45 ACP is crimped with a taper crimp,, many folks use the olgive of the bullet as a guide when seating lighter bullets such as you mentioned. You can experiment with seating depth AND check it with your gun for proper feeding before you settle on the OAL.
Using a micrometer, measure the bullets to see where your taper starts. Do not try & seat a bullet below that.

 

[Dale53]

Here is a picture that will help you determine proper seating depth for most bullets.

I headspace on the bullet if it is cast (all I shoot). However, due to the tough jacket on a jacketed bullet you must seat a few thousandths deeper to avoid the occasional round that won't go into battery. Just use the barrel as a gauge to determine the proper depth for YOUR pistol:

Dale53

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Not to start an argument but a bullet should never contact the rifling when the round is chambered. It can cause high case pressure when the gun is fired. With semi-auto handguns it is normal practice to seat the bullet .010" - .020" off the rifling.

I normally set mine to .015", that way if I get some variance in length I will still be out of the rifling.

To get my length for a gun, I pull the barrel out of it. I put the bullet I'm testing just barely into a spent casing and insert that dummy into the chamber. I let the rifling push the bullet further into the case. I then measure the OAL of that now pushed in dummy round. I subtract .015" from this found length and make that my target OAL for that bullet in that gun. I do this several times to make sure I'm getting good numbers with my "push test".

You can go shorter than this calculated length but I find in a 1911 that that OAL will normally feed well.

 

[Tellico]

Not to start an argument but a bullet should never contact the rifling when the round is chambered. It can cause high case pressure when the gun is fired. With semi-auto handguns it is normal practice to seat the bullet .010" - .020" off the rifling.

I normally set mine to .015", that way if I get some variance in length I will still be out of the rifling.

To get my length for a gun, I pull the barrel out of it. I put the bullet I'm testing just barely into a spent casing and insert that dummy into the chamber. I let the rifling push the bullet further into the case. I then measure the OAL of that now pushed in dummy round. I subtract .015" from this found length and make that my target OAL for that bullet in that gun. I do this several times to make sure I'm getting good numbers with my "push test".

You can go shorter than this calculated length but I find in a 1911 that that OAL will normally feed well.

Cheesewiz
Using your method and the four pictured rounds above it, which picture would represent how far you push the case into the chamber to determine the AOL?

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Second from the left. The round should headspace on the case mouth.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

I'm sorry but I forgot to add that the OAL should not exceed 1.275" for .45 ACP. That is the SAMMI max length. If the push test comes up with a number higher than that, set to that length or a bit shorter.

 

[Donaldjr1969]

I use a method almost identical to Cheese's when determing COL. What I did was take a hacksaw and cut slots down the side of a spent case that was trimmed to the proper length. Making sure to file off ALL burrs from the inside and outside of the case beforehand, I placed a bullet in the case mouth and then pushed it in the chamber. I them seated it deeper in .005 increments until it passed the "plunk test." By plunk test, I am referring to the handload making the same "kerplunk" sound when dropped in the barrel as a factory load does.

In a P90, I get my best results with something slightly LONGER that COL. When loading a Lyman 452460 A bullet with a shorter nose but larger bearing surface than a H&G 68), I have to get the COL as long as I can w/o the forward drive band touching the rifling. The COL with that bullet as listed in the Lyman #49 manual is somewhere around 1.167 to 1.170. In my P90 mags, a short round like that will sometimes see a live round being ejected along with a spent round before chambering another live round. Taking my COL to 1.175 to 1.180 tends to minimize that.

 

[Hammerdown77]

Some great tricks for determining OAL here guys, thanks! I just went through this trying to determine OAL for a short chambered Lone Wolf 40 to 9mm barrel for my Glock.

 

[chm270]

Thanks a lot for your input guys. Amazing how "simple" it becomes when it is explained like this.
Much appreciated!

 

[AGE Ranger]

Thank you for this information.

I've been having feeding issues trying to reload 230 gr l-rn for my P90. Haven't had any issues with any jacketed bullets.

 

[mattsbox99]

I recently installed a Storm Lake barrel in my 1911 and it was listed as NM. SL confirmed the barrel was not short chambered but a factory cartridge (with jacketed bullet) looked like it was headspacing on the bullet. My gunsmith, an experienced 1911 builder, didn't like this and ran a finish reamer in the chamber and now it definitely headspaces on the case mouth like it should. Its important to check because you can get dangerous pressures or ruptured cases on guns that don't fully support the case.