reloading 45 acp OAL ?

[rebs]

I am reloading some Remington 185 gr FMJHP's for my Colt Gold Cup.
What would be a good oal to start with that will feed reliably ?
Would 1.220 sound about right ?

[spacecoast]

From the Hodgdon site, 200 gr. JHPs are loaded to about 1.15". I think if you loaded them to that OAL or longer you should be OK, as long as you have enough bullet in the case to hold firmly. The main thing is that they feed OK.

[William T. Watts]

1.220 you mentioned should feed fine, put together a couple of dummy rounds and and see if they will feed from your mag. William

[rebs]

Thank you for your replies, I appreciate it

[rg1]

Factory Remington 185 hp's that I've got measure 1.210".

[Spammy_H]

Hodgdon's load data online shows the COL for Hornady's 185 gr. JSWC to be 1.135"

I load 230 gr. plated bullets to 1.200"

You may want to look at a couple other sources and see if you should reduce the length to 1.135" or not.

I had feeding problems with 230 gr. LRN loaded to 1.275", shortening to 1.200" solved them.

[Misssissippi Dave]

Semi-auto .45 apc OAL is specific to the pistol. Using a couple of dummy loads will help to figure out what you want to use. Even one dummy round can be used. Load the dummy round in the magazine and then add enough factory ammo to fill it to capacity. If it will let you load it full you are nearly there. Now empty the magazine. Put your dummy load in the magazine and see if you can get it to load properly using the side release. Now after ejecting the dummy round check it carefully to see if there are any marks on the bullet from the rifling. No marks of any kind, you should have something that works in your pistol.

I use 185 grain Montana Gold JHP bullets most of the time for my .45 apc loads. The OAL I use is 1.200 to 1.210. I probably could go a little longer. I use this length to allow it to feed in a few different pistols.

[Unclenick]

The Remington's have a slightly different shape than the other brands, so you can't necessarily use numbers from others. When you look at the bullet, the cylindrical rear portion that is the full .451" diameter is called the bearing surface. The front edge of the bearing surface for any jacketed bullet should normally stick out about 0.020" from the front of a case. Make one that way, then measure the COL. That should work. Load over 4.2 grains of Bullseye to have the old standard load for mimicking commercial match ammunition.

[joneb]

What would be a good oal to start with that will feed reliably ?

I would remove the barrel and drop in a fired case, note the relation of the case head to the barrel hood. When you drop in a loaded round it should look the same. When a bullet is seated to far out the case head will be proud of the barrel hood.

Put your dummy load in the magazine and see if you can get it to load properly using the side release. Now after ejecting the dummy round check it carefully to see if there are any marks on the bullet from the rifling. No marks of any kind, you should have something that works in your pistol.

+1
I make up several dummy rounds and manually cycle them through the gun, I measure them before and after to make sure the COL has not changed.