trextrex1029 said:
manual says overall length should be 29,69mm ... 92fs ... PROFILE: semi wad cutter ... what length should it be at?
Using the OAL in the manual won't ensure the finished rounds will function reliably in YOUR pistol (especially if you are using a different nose profile bullet like a SWC and if the manual is using FMJ/RN) as typically a test fixture is used to measure chamber pressures and not an actual pistol.
To determine the Max OAL and working OAL:
- Take the barrel out of the pistol and hold it upright
- Drop some resized cases in the chamber (they should drop in freely)
- Using a dummy round (no powder, no primer), starting at SAAMI max OAL of 1.169" (29.69mm) and applying a taper crimp of 0.021" (0.54mm) to the diameter of the bullet, incrementally decrease the OAL until the dummy round drops in freely and spin without hitting the rifling - This is your Max OAL
- Once you determined the Max OAL, you need to function check to see if it will reliably feed from the magazine. Incrementally decrease the OAL until the dummy round feeds/chambers reliably from the magazine when you manually release the slide. Sometimes, this working OAL may be the same as Max OAL; but usually, it is shorter than Max OAL.
- Once you determined the working OAL, then conduct a full powder workup from start to max charge to first identify the powder charge that will start to reliably cycle the slide and extract/eject the spent cases and second identify the charges that will produce accurate shot groups. Usually accuracy will improve as powder charges approach high-to-near max load data but many faster burning powders than Unique/Universal will produce accuracy at mid-to-high range load data and plateau towards the max charge.
