45 acp COL questions

[dbltaps]

Hello all! I have a couple of questions. I have just purchased some Hornady 185 gr semi wadcutter fully encapsulated bullets, and the Hornady reloading guide states that with these projectiles, the COL should be 1.230. After setting up my press to load to that COL, the dummy cartridges I have loaded look very strange with the shoulder of the bullet far from the end of the cartridge, unlike every picture I have seen showing SWC's with the shoulder of the bullet at the end of the cartridge.

1. Do I ignore the COL recommendation and load the bullets with the shoulder even with the end of the cartridge?
2. If I do load the bullets even with the end of the cartridge, won't that raise the pressure *a lot*?
3. If I load to the recommended COL, won't the bullet hit the rifling?

Thanks in advance for any answers/advise!

 

[dbltaps]

I forgot to mention that I am reloading for a Kimber Pro TLE/RL II and plan to start with 5.0 gr W231. I also have attached (above) a picture of approximately how the dummy cartridges look.

Thanks!

 

[918v]

The OAL for these bullets is 1.150 to 1.200". Seat them so that about .030" to .050" of the shoulder sticks out past the case mouth.

 

[chevy bob]

I just loaded 50 of the Hornady 185 gr. SWC and wondered the same thing about the aol.I followed the Hornady manual which said 1.230 aol and they did look short,but fired and cycled the .45 just fine.

 

[Ol` Joe]

Hornadies #7 recommends seating to a COL of 1.135" and the #5 says 1.230", I`d give a call to them and find out just where the proper depth is.
I`d suspect the 1.135" is what they will recommend to you, and that the longer length is a misprint.

 

[dbltaps]

Thank you all for the advice! I took Ol' Joe's advice and called Hornady. They confirmed his recommendation of 1.135 COL! The cartridges at that COL looked correct and functioned perfectly! Thanks again!

 

[918v]

Hornady #4 calls for a 1.194" OAL with this bullet. I have a box of Federal 185gr Gold Medal rounds using a similar bullet. Their OAL is 1.165". The 1.230" OAL is for the XTP bullet. You may want to increase the 1.135" OAL a little bit. I believe this is the minimum OAL they recommend, but you may have reliability issues.

 

[Walkalong]

I shoot a similar 185 Gr Berrys bullet. I came up with 1.190 O.A.L. for it, and it functions well in my 1911's.

Pic Link

 

[double d]

I use the same Hornady 185 SWC with 4.5 Bullseye and load to 1.225" OAL.
Using a S&W 945-1 Performance Center gun. Good accuracy.

 

[skipsan]

A rule-of-thumb that I use, learned from very experienced reloaders on other forums, is that the bullet should be seated deep enough such that approximately 1/32" of the bullet cylindrical section protrude above the case rim. With Berry 200 gr swc, this results in an OAL of about 1.210.
The OAL dimension is a "resultant" dimension, not one that you're shooting for. This gives the cartridge ample bullet diameter to "grip". The 1/32" dim. is a basic dimension without tolerances--just something to shoot for.

The powder is 5 gr of W231. No problems in feeding or slide functioning in a variety of 1911s.