Berry's 9mm OAL & Load info

[Rig Magician]

Hey I am just starting to load up some 9mm with Berry's 115g FP and Bullseye. I looked up the laod in my manuals and will start with 3.8 and work up to 4.6g of bullseye. I have been trying to set up the OAL and the listed OAL of 1.075 to 1.100 looks long for these bullets. I seated them down to 1.050 and the look good and cycle good from the mag to the gun. I need to pull the barrel and see how they head space in the barrel. Will the load of 3.8 to 4.6 be to high for this OAL or should I reset the die for a longer OAL?
These will be shot in a Glock 19
Thanks,
Mark

 

[ranger335v]

Contrary to some firmly held beliefs, there is no fixed OAL for any bullet.

SAAMI only specifies the minimum chamber dimensions, it's up to the ammo maker to find an OAL that works with any individual bullet. Make a dummy cartridge and try it, it it fits the magazine, feeds and chambers reliably it's "right". Develop your powder charge to work with that seated length, that's what the book makers do.

 

[Walkalong]

I am loading similar 115 bullets at 1.130/1.135 O.A.L. with good results. Loading to 1.050 would definitely increase pressures. My Speer #13 goes to 4.7 Grs Bullseye with a jacketed 115 Gr RN bullet @ 1.135 O.A.L., so I would stop short of 4.7 if I were to load them significantly shorter. Probably stop in the neighborhood of 4.4 Grs unless they still felt weak.

With Bullseye I assume you are not trying to push them to max velocities anyway. A medium speed powder would be better for that.

In general I want to find an O.A.L. that feeds well in my guns, and load using that O.A.L.. You do need to take into consideration how that O.A.L. varies from the one used in the load data, and adjust accordingly.

 

[LiveLife]

Like Walkalong and ranger335v, I normally determine the OAL first to make sure the dummy round feeds/chambers well in the pistol from a magazine.

For 9mm, I start out at the reference mark of 1.125" OAL (at this OAL, I almost don't experience bullets hitting the rifling for most pistol barrels). I decrease/increase the OAL only if I experience any feeding/chambering issues. I load all of my jacketed/plated/lead 9mm bullets to this OAL except Missouri Bullet's 125 gr 9mm at 1.100"-1.110" due to the rounder nose profile.

Once I determined the OAL that feeds/chambers reliably, then I work up test powder charges to identify the load that reliably cycles the slide while being accurate.

Generally, deeper you seat the bullet, more chamber pressure your charges will develop. Most published load data are loaded at 1.125" OAL or shorter, so 1.125" OAL gives me added safety margin if I am using load data published for shorter OAL. Some match shooters looking for accuracy edge will load with the longest OAL that will reliably feed/chamber so that the bullet will engage the rifling sooner.

Glock factory barrels have the loosest chambers around. You won't have much problem feeding/chambering longer OAL rounds.

 

[Rig Magician]

Thanks guys, I will deffinetly start at the lower range and work up. I just wanted to be sure they were not to short to cause high pressures.
Mark

 

[rfwobbly]

Contrary to some firmly held beliefs, there is no fixed OAL for any bullet.

SAAMI only specifies the minimum chamber dimensions, it's up to the ammo maker to find an OAL that works with any individual bullet. Make a dummy cartridge and try it, it it fits the magazine, feeds and chambers reliably it's "right". Develop your powder charge to work with that seated length, that's what the book makers do.

+1

In addition, if you are shooting an eastern European pistol (CZ [including Dan Wesson] or XD series) then chamber free bore will be even less thus pushing a FP bullet back even further. As an example, I load these same bullets in a CZ at 1.040" OAL which is about .015" less than the bullet touching the rifling.

So it pays to check.

 

[Rig Magician]

Well I loaded up 10 rounds each from 3.8 -4.4 in .2 g increments. While walking back to the house I droped the box and scattered them all over the ground. Oh well time to start over again. If all is good I will shoot these after, If not I will have to pull them down.
Mark

 

[Walkalong]

Been there, done that.

Now I mark things.

 

[rfwobbly]

Well I loaded up 10 rounds each from 3.8 -4.4 in .2 g increments. While walking back to the house I dropped the box and scattered them all over the ground.

...and on the 8th day God invented snap-closed ammo boxes. And He saw it and said, this is REALLY good!

 

[Walkalong]

Yea, they are, but the rounds I spilled (which started me marking them), were in a box. Well, until I accidentally dumped them all over the bench.

 

[Rig Magician]

I had mine in a MTM box that busted open and cracked the lid. One box down now.
Mark