Published OAL values??

[bantam9]

Little help???
Are published OAL values off the ogive or base to tip?
Can't believe it's base to tip, as many tips are buggered up and will give various readings? I see oal can be stated as either value though, when I've tried to dig into this deeper.
Kinda confused on this... I gotta believe you would use ogive to base OAL.

I'm getting inconsistent oal on various cartridges by several 0.001's . Not sure it's my seater dies or bad oal measurements..

 

[Andrew Leigh]

To the tip. For the reason you state it is wise to measure to the ogive.

 

[Nature Boy]

Published OAL is tip to tail. I assume it's that way because locating off the ogive is more difficult without the proper tools. That's an assumption on my part.

I have added in my reloading notes using both the ogive and base to tip datum but I generally use the latter for expediency.

If my assumptions are wrong, someone will be along soon to correct me.

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

Little help???
Are published OAL values off the ogive or base to tip?
Can't believe it's base to tip, as many tips are buggered up and will give various readings? I see oal can be stated as either value though, when I've tried to dig into this deeper.
Kinda confused on this... I gotta believe you would use ogive to base OAL.

I'm getting inconsistent oal on various cartridges by several 0.001's . Not sure it's my seater dies or bad oal measurements..

Though you measure from the tip the bullet often seats on the ogive.

Consistency of oal depends on a few things. Bullet ogive, dies, bullet tips, crimp, brass, and even press can cause varying OAL. You may have a different cause for the inconsistency for each caliber.

You shouldn't be getting more than +/- .003" ( total of .006" on anything with a hard nose like hard cast or jacketed bullet. For SP, some HP and polymer tip bullets the swing can be a lot more.

Might help to clean your dies once in a while too. Make sure your strokes are consistent when running the press. And some dies have a different insert for bullet ogive.

How about giving a little more info on dies, most troublesome calibers, press, and the OAL variance your seeing. That might help to narrow things down.



Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I'm getting inconsistent oal on various cartridges by several 0.001's . Not sure it's my seater dies or bad oal measurements..

Just a note, that small a difference in OAL will have very little to no effect on accuracy in most cartridges. Sometimes we get caught up in the little things to the point of worrying about too much.

 

[old heeler]

bantam9, If you measure ogive to tip of bullet that may vary. I've got some new Hornady ELD-X, 30 cal, 200gr and they vary .003" from ogive to tip but base to ogive length is the same.

Myself I'm more concerned base to ogive length so I never really measure OAL.

 

[bantam9]

An example would be my 380 loads.
Loading 3.0gr W231 in various pre-primed RMR purchased cases.
Projectile is a 100gr RMR-rnfp. Set oal for 0.953. I'm seeing oals which range from 0.947 to 0.955/0.956. This particular set of dies are the Lee 4 die set.

 

[Patocazador]

I usually don't pay much attn. to the OAL when developing rifle loads. I seat the bullet just off the lands if possible. If the bullet is short or the chamber quite long. I seat the base of the bullet at the bottom of the neck.

In pistols or rifles with clips I use an OAL to fit the magazine. More or less powder is used for regulating pressures.

 

[mdi]

Bullet seating depth used to be determined by how far the base enters the case, with the dimensions given in thousandths of an inch. I guess that's too difficult for most reloaders (me too) so the Over All Length started being used. Much easier to measure the distance from the case head to the bullet tip. This method does have it's drawbacks though, as you mention some bullet tips are kinda ragged (even my Nosler Match bullets JHPs) and differ slightly in length and OAL is bullet dependent with best info coming from the bullet manufacturer. When I load Hornady bullets I start with Hornady data from a Hornady manual and the same with Nosler and Sierra bullets. OAL is the easiest method to determine the bullet seating depth measurement...

 

[Reloadron]

Little help???
Are published OAL values off the ogive or base to tip?
Can't believe it's base to tip, as many tips are buggered up and will give various readings? I see oal can be stated as either value though, when I've tried to dig into this deeper.
Kinda confused on this... I gotta believe you would use ogive to base OAL.

I'm getting inconsistent oal on various cartridges by several 0.001's . Not sure it's my seater dies or bad oal measurements..

We measure, as was covered, from the cartridge base to bullet tip:

http://www.bearblain.com/images/Cartridge OAL.jpg

That said I have a box laying here with some Sierra 168 grain BTHP MATCH bullets. Randomly grabbing a few bullets:





I am also finding much greater overall lengths for the bullets and we know if we were to look at bullet ogive to base dimensions bullet by bullet we would likely see variations of 0.005 or more. Therefore when we seat bullets working off the ogive it is not unusual to have variations in the COAL when we are done. Really rough on the OCD types but considered normal.

Ron

 

[Schwing]

Just a note, that small a difference in OAL will have very little to no effect on accuracy in most cartridges. Sometimes we get caught up in the little things to the point of worrying about too much.

+1.

Although, even though I agree with this 100%, it still drives me crazy seeing big OAL variations so I hear your pain. When loading my own cast lead bullets, it is even worse because of the tips not being consistent etc. I will even trim my brass on calibers like .38 and .357 just to help a bit, even knowing it isn't 100% necessary. There will always be that machinist part of me that can't live with it

If it makes you feel any better, I have done testing in many hand gun calibers with OAL variations as high as +-.010 with ZERO variation in accuracy and no measurable velocity difference. Where it DOES cause problems is in semi-auto reliability. If they are too long, they don't cycle properly.

 

[bantam9]

Schwing,
Not sure I can attribute any accuracy issues to the oal, but it does drive me crazy as well.

 

[Nature Boy]

Does reloading make you OCD, or does the hobby tend to attract that type?

 

[mdi]

Those that have successfully/safely reloaded for a while (those that have all their fingers) tend to be a bit "OCDish"...

 

[gwpercle]

Don't obsess over a few .0001's when it comes to OAL , unless you are a match shooter . You have to remember that these small variances are normal with standard reloading gear. You have to spend a lot of $$$$ on competition reloading tools , cases and bullets to eliminate it and have a rifle capable of taking advantage of the potential increase in accuracy.
Do the best you can , keep things clean and tight , your ammo will be fine.
Gary

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

I've figured out through a plunk test, that both of my 40 cal pistols can take a 1.150" overall length and still not contact the rifling. I'm going to load a dummy round at 1.155" and see what the limit is.

Saami max is 1.135 for 40 cal.

 

[Schwing]

LOL.

Not necessarily but the OCD re-loaders usually are those who still have 2 eyes and 10 fingers after doing it for a few years.

 

[bantam9]

Not sure in this instance I fear of having a BOOM, but I do tend to ocd at the bench.

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

I've been loading my 308 rounds at 2.830" length with no problems at all, in my Remmy 700.

 

[sbwaters]

I am more attentive with OAL for competition shooting, keeping it just before the lands and consistent.

I just run the press safely within the margin for OAL error with plinking rounds. Haven’t run into an OAL too long yet.

 

[Blue68f100]

Not sure in this instance I fear of having a BOOM, but I do tend to ocd at the bench.

The concern is real, all depends on the load. Never hurts to fully double check things in question. Once you confirm your not into the lands, and have a little wiggle room, no problem.

Currently I'm have the opposite problem on one of my guns. Leads are so far out I can't reach them or get close as I want.

 

[Schwing]

I have this as well on a little bersa .380. In my case, I am limited by the magazine. The longest OAL that will reliably function in the magazine is .020 shorter than what passes the plunk test.

It is what it is unfortunately.