Question on OAl for .45ACP ???

[Chuck 100 yd]

Any of you guys load plated 200 gr. RN bullets in the .45 ACP ?
What did you decide is the best OAL to use?
I ordered 500 from Xtreme but have only ran Wad cutters in 200 gr.
Thanks in advance. Chuck

 

[Passtime]

After spending a lot of time researching OAL a couple of months ago I found that OAL is firearm specific. There is a minimum and a maximum. .45 Auto has a SAAMI OAL of 1.175-1.275 for all bullet lengths from light target to heavy round nose. What OAL works for any given firearm is what will cycle reliably in that firearm As long as you stay within the calibers SAAMI minimum and maximum OAL. Here is a link to a post that helped me tremendously. ( http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=407195&page=2 )

 

[LaneP]

Setting complete over all length (COL) for a cartridge that headspaces on the case mouth has to be established using the gun it will be shot in due to variations in chamber dimensions from barrel to barrel.

You can easily do this by removing your barrel and dropping an empty resized case into the chamber. Note the position of the case rim in relation to the barrel hood. It will likely be flush with or maybe a tiny bit below the barrel hood itself.

Now as you seat your first bullets, periodically check your seating depth by dropping a loaded round in your chamber. Once the case rim is at the same position as the full length resized empty case was, you will know your ammo is properly headspacing on the case mouth.

A bullet seated too long will cause failures of the slide to completely return to battery and bullets seated too short may induce feeding issues. Your chamber will tell you where the happy balance is.

 

[mikld]

I ain't figgered out how to post pictures, but there is the "plunk test" for determining the seating depth of a bullet. Remove the barrel from your gun and use it as a gauge for your ammo. The finished cartridge should freely/smoothly drop into the chamber, all the way ("plunk"). The case head should be flush with the barrel hood (on a 1911) or slightly below (a few thousandths). When the barrel is turned over, the cartridge should fall out, freely. If the bullet is not seated deeply enough the cartridge won't enter the chamber all the way. If the case isn't re-sized correctly (flare removed with your taper crimp die) it won't slide into the chamber freely either.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

I looked at those bullets on Xtreme's site and they are shaped like a FMJ RN bullet would be, SNS Casting has done the same with many of their coated hard cast. They should be seated to a length just like any FMJ would be. Passtime's link has some good points but I stay away from headspacing on any bullet (shown in the diagram) for semi-auto pistols, leave some room, about .010" is good. There are some older molds for .45 ACP RN that have a larger diameter for it's straight side and the round nose starts at a ledge, this will always be seated properly at the edge of the case rim to the edge of the straight wall. I really do prefer the FMJ profile on these bullets.

Here's a pic of what I'm talking about. The bullet on top has a FMJ RN shape. The other two have the older style cast RN shape.



Added Note: ....and now I see the OP was referring to Xtreme's extruded soft lead copper plated bullets so the same FMJ RN load length reference by me would still be the same. Sorry, I'm suffering from oldtimer's.

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

Cheesewhiz , Yes, that is the bullet I have. I loaded up some dummies after finding OAL data in a couple publications. Lee and Accurate both specify oal length for `PLATED` 200 gr. RN bullets. Lee suggests 1.220 and Accurate suggests 1.237 with Berrys 200gr.RN bullets. The dummies seemed to feed ok by hand operation BUT! How will they do when fired?

So I loaded 25 each of suggested starting load of 4.5 gr. Red Dot and lengths of
1.125 and 1.135. At the range they all cycled and fired fine in both my Ruger CMD ans Springfield arms 1911 Loaded Target. They are quite accurate but ejection in both guns send every other case back towards the shooter. NOT GOOD!
Neither of these guns or my two other Ruger 1911`s do that with 230 gr bullets over healthier charges of the same powder. I have since loaded another batch with 5gr. Red Dot and will shoot them in a few days and report back.
The 4.5 gr. Red Dot loads are listed as max under 200 gr cast bullets by Accurate Powder but is the starting load in Lyman cast bullet load manual. Both Xtreme and Berrys bullets say to use cast data with their bullets.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

I would look at starting at midrange loads or even 3/4 FMJ loads with plated bullets, I run Berry's at close to max on both 9mm and .45 ACP with no issues and I've ran probably 30,000 total of Berry's bullets over the last five years. I check for chamber to rifling clearance for my reloads in semi-autos, I run Berry's RN at 1.265" OAL and they work just fine.

...but I would always check your length to the barrel.

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

Cheesewhiz, Thanks friend. I have shot a lot of 230 RN loads over 5.0 gr. Red Dot and similar loads of other powders and was concerned with the seating depth with the shorter 200 gr. bullets having enough seating depth to be sturdy while still maintaining enough OAL to feed well.
I think I will be going back to 230`s when these are gone. I see no advantage in the 200`s other than the price.
I must say that the Xtreme bullets are a lot pretty`r than the Berrys right out of the box and the prices are good to. It only takes 3 days by UPS to my door so they are very quick also. That said, I still like Berrys bullets and would not hesitate to buy either brand again depending on availability.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Xtremes are hard to find in the Midwest but Berry's are easy to get here. I set up an account with Berry's years ago so I just order when I get down to a level. I buy a lot more Montana Gold FMJ bullets but I have about five really nice loads for Berry's in 9mm and .45. With all the powder shortages, I've really had to jump through hoops to come up with new loads for available powders. I NEED SOME WSF ASAP, CAN ANYONE GIVE A BROTHER A BREAK?????!!!!

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

I know what you are saying. +1 I used to shoot lots of trap shotgun and would buy 700X and Red Dot by the 12 lb. keg. I am down to 6 lb.left and have been only using it in pistol loads. It works well for CAS in the .45 Colt. With the fire taking out the Clays plant we will be without that group of powders for some time to come.