.45ACP overall length?

[Georgezilla]

The overall length of the .45acp cartridge seems to be different in every manual and internet article I read. So far I've seen it listed at as low as 1.24" and as much as 1.27". What length do you recommend I go with and should your overall length be different for different bullet styles?

[bearandoldman]

The overall length of the .45acp cartridge seems to be different in every manual and internet article I read. So far I've seen it listed at as low as 1.24" and as much as 1.27". What length do you recommend I go with and should your overall length be different for different bullet styles?

Pretty much depends on the bullet you are using. Main thing is to get the crimp right so that they will chamber properly. IO prefer a 4 die set with a separate crimp.

[greener]

The overall length of the .45acp cartridge seems to be different in every manual and internet article I read. So far I've seen it listed at as low as 1.24" and as much as 1.27". What length do you recommend I go with and should your overall length be different for different bullet styles?

Pretty much depends on the bullet you are using. Main thing is to get the crimp right so that they will chamber properly. IO prefer a 4 die set with a separate crimp.

For us neophyte reloaders getting the right crimp seemed to be more important than point double O nothing in OAL. As the wise man said, the crimp is critical and seems to vary with barrels. Rounds that worked like a charm in a Kimber wouldn't feed in my Taurus, frinstance.

[bearandoldman]

For us neophyte reloaders getting the right crimp seemed to be more important than point double O nothing in OAL. As the wise man said, the crimp is critical and seems to vary with barrels. Rounds that worked like a charm in a Kimber wouldn't feed in my Taurus, frinstance.

Non crimped or too large diameter loads will cause problems. One day accidentally tossed a handful or two of loads into the finished ammo box as I thought they were. Got to the range and had problems, seated in the chamber so tight had a hard time getting the slide back without excessive force. My full size gun seem to be the tightest, I set my crimp die up by removing the barrel and using it as a go-no go gage.

[stork]

Over all length--- a really good rule of thumb for SWC lead ammo is this. Leave about 1-2 thicknesses(of your fingernail) of lead exposed above the end of the brass. This will give you a good feeding round with just about every SWC lead bullet design out there and you won't run into ammo seated so long it gives you jamming problems in your magazines.

Crimping is dependent on your current barrel configuration. The first Kart bbl I had installed on my wad gun shot the best with .463-.465. My current Kart loves .469-.470. Both loved 4.3 gr WST with the H&G #68bb bullet.

The same held true with my short line loads. The old bbl loved .465 and the new one loves .470. Both with the H&G #130.

FWIW

[Georgezilla]

How do you determine what crimp a pistol likes? is it based on accuracy, reliability or both?

[bearandoldman]

How do you determine what crimp a pistol likes? is it based on accuracy, reliability or both?

Stork will be able to tell you more from the accuracy area, but if they are not crimped small enough they will jam in the chamber and not let the slide close fully. This makes it a real pain to extract also as they will not fire with the slide not in battery, I use the barrel of my SA Loaded as a gaqe because it seem to have a tighter chamber thn my other guns. What fits in it will run in any of my 1911's

[stork]

Georgezilla,
It is both. Accuracy without 100% reliability is worthless. If you crimp to at least .470, your ammo should reliably feed through any factory cut chamber.

I do an extensive amount of testing with my Ransom Rest. I like to try various combination's of crimp, bullet hardness, overall length, powder charge, and brass.

I've found for 50' and 25 yds brass selection doesn't make any difference. I mix all brands with equal results to using just one headstamp. Bullets: as long as the bases are perfect, and at least .001 over bore diameter-bullet style isn't too critical

50 yards may be different. I get different results(with lead bullets). Sometimes one headstamp performs better, sometimes mixed headstamps perform better. This leads me to believe that the individual day makes more of difference than selectively choosing one certain brand exclusively.

That being said, my ammo for Perry, Regionals, and State matches is with selected brass and either Remington 185 SWC or Nostler 185 JHP. I realize that contradicts what I just stated, but its a mental thing.

FWIW

[bearandoldman]

Stork, whatever works, you have convinced the one person that really makes a difference, yourself and that is what counts. Just like a lot of other things in life, if it makes you fell better do it and if the other guys don't like it toooooo bad. Went into a 7-11 for coffee one morning and some young guy was telling his buddy very loudly so I could hear that he did not like the way I drove, I told him there are a lot of other roads in this county, maybe you should use one of them, startled look on his face, yes. You are supposed to be kind to your elders, so they don't get totally irritated and hurt you.

[Georgezilla]

On what portion of the cartridge should I measure for crimp on? I assume just the mouth of the case where the bullet starts coming out.

Thanks.

[bearandoldman]

On what portion of the cartridge should I measure for crimp on? I assume just the mouth of the case where the bullet starts coming out.

Thanks.

Thats right just below the top of the case. I prefer to crimp to about .469 and check them by dropping them into the chamber with the barrrel out of the gun.

[Georgezilla]

Thank you, BOM. When you drop check the cartridge in a barrel are you just checking to see if it seats all the way in the chamber -- or is there something I am missing?

[bearandoldman]

Thank you, BOM. When you drop check the cartridge in a barrel are you just checking to see if it seats all the way in the chamber -- or is there something I am missing?

You got that rig, the cartridge ahould drop in flush with the breech face, try an uncrimped one and you willl see what I mean.

[stork]

BAOM, I may have misinterpreted what you stated and if so I apologize in advance, but---DO NOT MAKE YOUR ROUND THE FULL LENGTH OF THE CHAMBER TO THE MAXIMUM LENGTH OF THE HOOD!!

When you drop your loaded round into your (REMOVED) barrel, make sure your loaded round is a few thousanths LESS than the length of the hood. This assumes your hood is properly fitted to the face of the slide.

As you shoot you will get a slight buildup on the face of the slide. If you are shooting a full 2700 match, you are virtually guaranteed to have pistol malfunctions before the end of the match. You have a slight buildup at the leade(sp) of the chamber plus a slight buildup on the face of the slide and the end result is ammo that is now too long for your weapon and jams result.

IF you are testing ammo with a clean 1911, a full length oal "may" shoot slightly better. Now test the same ammo after a couple hundred rounds and your perfect load converts your 1911 into a jam-o-matic that needs to have the slide pushed that last 1/8" into lockup.

I've done a considerable amount of testing on this and FWIW my practice ammo and especially my match ammo is always adjusted to a few thousanths short of the hood length.

For any match pistol and especially for a defense pistol, 100% reliability is the only acceptable way to go. I'll give up an inch at 50 yds in favor of a 100% reliable load. Fortunately it's not necessary.

FWIW YMMV

Stork

[bearandoldman]

Stork, actually when you have it right it is just short of being flush when crimped to .468/.469. If they are not crimped properly the will set out a long wasys, just a quick go/nogo gage. My SA Loaded seems to be a little tighter than my Micro or my V-10, so if it fits in the full size gun it will fir in anything. I don't shoot competition just for my own pleasure and to make sure if a BG is after me, and it is he or I, it ain't going to be I.
I used to shoot a lot of sporting clays and tried registered targets, it quit being fun so I quit doing it. Seemed ther were a lot af good shots with BIG attitudes and expensive guns and they cheated to win nothing but being on top. Saw that more than once when I was running registered shoots at the club I used to belong to.