Error In Hodgdon Reloading Manual

[cwbys4evr]

I was doing some research for making some .223 rounds. I have the current Nosler and Hornady manuals as well as a Hodgdon 2013 Manual (more like a magazine actually but it says manual on it). I look in the Hodgdon and it says COL for .223 Rem is 2.28. So I go to my Hornady manual as a cross check and it says 2.26. Same with Nosler.

I then went to this site for SAAMI
http://www.saami.org/specifications_and_information/index.cfm

And downloaded their specifications manual. Sure enough it says maximum COL for .223 is 2.26.

I'm sure you old pros are aware of this but I thought maybe another newby like me could use the info, just in case they picked up one of those Hodgdon's at Cabela's on a lark like I did.

Question for you experienced guys. What would happen if the Hodgdon was my only resource and I had gone with the 2.28 length?
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[IMtheNRA]

Probably not much, other than the rounds would not fit into an AR magazine.

 

[gamestalker]

As for OAL, it is only a factor is the round won't chamber. Other than that, most reloaders don't seat to a published OAL, we find the best seating depth for our magazine fit, reliable feeding, and accuracy. About the only real factor is when working with handgun cartridges, in that, you don't want to seat them below the minimum OAL for that particular bullet and powder charge it was tested with, or pressures can rise significantly.
Max OAL is determined by your chamber and magazine. And if you single load, you can seat them as long as you want, provided they will chamber. For instance, I seat my high power rifle bullets up to the lands. For handgun, I seat some where above the minimum published OAL, then according to what the magazine will accept, and not touching the lands.
As for Hogdon's data being incorrect, it's not. Every bullet brand and style will have a different olgive point of contact with the lands, thus a different OAL.

GS

 

[rcmodel]

I'm not seeing it as a mistake.

I'm seeing it as the length they pressure tested at with very light 40 & 45 grain varmint bullets.

They tested the 90 grain Sierra at 2.380"!!

But in a 24" rifle barrel, which was probably not a magazine length restricted AR-15.

rc

 

[Tolkachi Robotnik]

Overlong a problem only rarely. But can be trouble.

The most common difficulty besides not fitting into magazines, or feeding as described above, is to have a bolt action rifle have bullets that engage the rifling.

This can peak pressures, but most bolt rifles handle it okay within reason. The real ticker is to load one of these in the field, they usually cam a little hard, and then fail to remove it intact later if not fired. This failure if while hunting, puts powder into action, and can stop a rifle for further use until something is ran down the bore and the bullet removed.

 

[noylj]

Do they reference the rifle they used? Most likely, they were testing varmint bullets and that almost always means bolt action single-loaded rifles.
COL by SAAMI or any one else is NOT a restriction for the handloader and one can always load longer. It's going shorter in COL that requires modification of the loading data.
I know in my AR, I could single load rounds with much longer COL that the magazine limit, but I don't.

 

[cwbys4evr]

That clears up a lot. I thought SAAMI was like the word of God, so to speak.

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[rcmodel]

That clears up a lot. I thought SAAMI was like the word of God, so to speak.

It's the word of god if you want it to fit in any SAAMI magazine.

If you want to reach the lands and single load?

SAAMI, the firearms, & bullet manufactures, & the reloading manuals don't have a standard.


It would certainly help new reloaders understand things better if they would explain all that.

Heck, it would help most of us old guys better understand lots of things if they would better explain all that.

Most of us have fingered it out by ourselves over the last 50 years or so.

You should see the reloading manuals we started with in 1962!
That was before Al Gore invented the internet, so there was no one to ask either!

rc

 

[steve4102]

That clears up a lot. I thought SAAMI was like the word of God, so to speak.

SAAMI specs are for firearm and ammunition manufactures, not handloaders.

Here is how Ramshot/Accurate tell it.

SPECIAL NOTE ON CARTRIDGE OVERALL LENGTH “COL”
It is important to note that the SAAMI “COL” values are for the firearms and ammunition manufacturers industry and must be seen as a
guideline only.
The individual reloader is free to adjust this dimension to suit their particular firearm-component-weapon combination.
This parameter is determined by various dimensions such as 1) magazine length (space), 2) freebore-lead dimensions of the barrel,
3) ogive or profile of the projectile and 4) position of cannelure or crimp groove.

 

[rfwobbly]

Heck, RC....
1962 was even before Al and Tipper were used as the model for "Love Story".