.45 acp OAL

[sixxgunnernick]

Whats up gunners? So I got my dies..my rainier 185 grain hollow points. I 'm getting three different over all legths. Does anyone know it? Hodgons site says 1.195 I believe..I showed the guys at the range a round I reloaded and they said it looks like its seated too deep. I think my Lyman manual says 1.275 but that is the diagram with a roundnose at the front of .45 acp. Sorry for the hassle but it better to ask before a kaboom happens.

[Unclenick]

There is no way to answer your question without knowing the dimensions of the bullet? A rule of thumb I use with the .45 ACP is the leading edge of the bearing surface should be at least 0.020" forward of a full-length case.

The bearing surface is the full diameter portion of the bullet that bears against the bottoms of the grooves when the bullet is going down the barrel. Find the front edge of it by setting your calipers to 0.450" and lowering them over the nose until you find where they no longer slip over the bullet? Use that point as the leading edge of the bearing surface. Seat the bullets so that point is as close as you can tell, .918" from the outside back end of the case. That means, on a case that is the .898" maximum, the leading end of the bearing surface sticks out 0.020". Longer on shorter cases is fine.

You can also let cast and plated bullets stick out further, until they touch the rifling, as long as they still feed from your magazine when you do that. You check this by dropping a loaded round into the barrel and adjusting the seating until the back end of the case is flush with the back end of the barrel. This way the round headspaces on the bullet contact with the throat. It tends to reduce leading and increase accuracy. (See third barrel from the left, below.)