Lane's Weekly Stupid Question

[Dave Waits]

Originally Posted by NormanXDm

These discussions have been incredibly helpful and enlightening for me. But, I've always been curious, and enjoy learning as much as I can about any given topic (sometimes obsessively).

Anyway - my question now is around OAL. Obviously, internal pressure can be greatly impacted by seating the bullet too deep. Every load sheet I've seen will list a Minimum OAL, which makes sense. But, why would the OAL ever vary? Specs I've seen show the OAL of a .45ACP cartridge to be 1.275. Should I be cranking out every round right at 1.275, or is there a reason to vary from this?

Inquiring minds (or, in my case mindless) need to know...

Lane

Lane, 1.275" is the longest OAL that should fit in a good chamber with the headspace cut to the highside(.910). The longer you seat the bullet out the better it will feed to a point. Now, I only run 230 grain bullets and seat them at 1.265"( Same size as WWB and, incidentally, all Milsurp 230grain FMJ). Never have any feed-problems. Depending on what type of feedlips your mags have(Wadcutter, Hybrid, or Standard), your best OAL will vary a little but, by and large, if you stay within ten-thousandths of max( On the low-side) for the bullet-weight you'll be fine.