Montana Gold 200gr JFP .45 - OAL?

[FJC]

Anyone using these bullets? I'm switching to them from Ranier 200gr JHP, and these JFP's are slightly shorter. I'm wondering what overall length others are using. I ran a handful through my 550B on the same settings as the Raniers, and they came out at 1.23, whereas the Raniers are at 1.245.

Certainly I'll experiement a little, but just curious what others using this bullet have found to work well for their pistols.

Thanks,

 

[mbartel]

The bullet length does not determine the OAL of the loaded cartridge, if the seating die remains fixed, then with the identical nose shape and ogive profile, a 300gr. bullet will be seated to the exact OAL as a 185 gr. bullet. When the loading press ram tops out into the seating die, the cartridge OAL will be "X" inches in length. And that will be dependent on bullet nose shape and ogive profile. But to make a long story longer.....you might have to experiment around with BS depth, in order to get a reliably functioning handload in your handgun. Some autos are more finicky than others when it comes to cartridge OAL.

 

[FJC]

I realize that, but the bullet shape is quite different between these two different bullets, which resulted in different OAL's when seated using the same setting on the seating die.

Had the hardest time finding anyone that had OAL suggestions for this bullet style...I even emailed Montana Gold and asked them. Didn't ask for any load data, just for a suggested OAL. They told me to look in reloading manuals and suggested brianenos.com might help. Has anyone ever seen Montana Gold mentioned in ANY reloading manual?

I finally settled on 1.22, and they ran fine in my SIG P220.

 

[HSMITH]

Set your 45 acp seating die with a round of factory ball, then mark it and leave it alone. Where ever that seats a bullet is where it needs to be seated. This has been discussed a lot in the past, you can search on my username and OAL for more reading.

Montana Gold is a decent bullet, but you won't find them in any manuals. Use data for a similar jacketed bullet and start low. The jacket on MG bullets is a little harder than typical copper jackets, this causes velocities to be a little lower and pressures to be a little higher than you would get with a normal copper jacketed bullet.

 

[fast_rope71]

I just got some of these and with other 200 gr soft or hollow point bullets it was recommended for 1.155". I settled on 1.190" which fed fine in a SA champion bull barrel, a regular 5" SA 1911, a Norinco, and an XD45. With the bullet set out a bit further, the case will have lower pressure, so it's safe with a just below max loading of AA#7. I decided on 11.1 grains, the max listed was 11.5. Should be stiff without being overpowered.

 

[Walkalong]

Set your 45 acp seating die with a round of factory ball, then mark it and leave it alone.

Agreed. This usually works well with a seater plug that is hollow and contacts the Ogive. It does not work so well with flat plugs. Sometimes it can use a bit of tweaking after initial seating though.