Overall length on pistol bullets.

Semi automatic and single shot handguns, revolvers and other pistols

Overall length on pistol bullets.

Post by Jasonf » 23 Mar 2018, 2:09 am

G’day
So I’m sitting here thinking about overall length or seating depth in handgun loads. When loading rifle rounds we can obtain better accuracy by determining the overall length of a bullet for our rifles chamber. My question is does the same apply to pistol loads? Is it even possible to determine overall length in a pistol?
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Re: Overall length on pistol bullets.

Post by No1Mk3 » 23 Mar 2018, 4:36 am

G'day Jasonf,
OAL in handgun cartridges is determined by the ability to load in the action, ie: revolver cartridges must be limited by the length of the cylinder and no other consideration. Even at that, you will quickly learn Colt cylinders are generally shorter than S&W cylinders and you can lock up your Colt if the ammo is made flush with a S&W chamber. For autos, most of which headspace on the rim of the case, you need to consider the ability of the cartridge to slide up the ramp and not jam on the end of the barrel. All OAL considerations start with those 2 thoughts, Cheers.
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Re: Overall length on pistol bullets.

Post by Jasonf » 24 Mar 2018, 5:22 am

Thanks No1MK3. Just wanted to check as I will be collecting my new M&P 2.0 in about a week.
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Re: Overall length on pistol bullets.

Post by Sarco » 26 Mar 2018, 9:45 pm

No1Mk3 wrote:G'day Jasonf,
OAL in handgun cartridges is determined by the ability to load in the action, ie: revolver cartridges must be limited by the length of the cylinder and no other consideration. Even at that, you will quickly learn Colt cylinders are generally shorter than S&W cylinders and you can lock up your Colt if the ammo is made flush with a S&W chamber. For autos, most of which headspace on the rim of the case, you need to consider the ability of the cartridge to slide up the ramp and not jam on the end of the barrel. All OAL considerations start with those 2 thoughts, Cheers.


I would have thought that the majority of autos would actually headspace on the case mouth, not the rim. While there are certainly some autos which take rimmed ammunition, the majority would, I think be rimless (9mm, 40S&W, 45ACP etc).

Cheers

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Re: Overall length on pistol bullets.

Post by spEKTre » 28 Mar 2018, 5:32 pm

Jasonf wrote:Thanks No1MK3. Just wanted to check as I will be collecting my new M&P 2.0 in about a week.

There is a maximum length for auto's and it pays to make them as long as possible I have found, you know you have made them too long when they don't feed all the way in :).
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Re: Overall length on pistol bullets.

Post by wanneroo » 29 Mar 2018, 12:39 am

For pistol OAL I generally stick to what is in the manuals for that particular bullet. I think most bullets I use for pistol are Speer and Hornady and use the info right out of their manuals. So far over the years, no problems.
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