Queston on C.O.L.

[JimGun]

According to Hodgdon Reloading Center website, all loads shown for 230gr RN with W231 were with C.O.L. of 1.200". When shooting loads to those specs in my Colt Commander, I had several in a box of fifty that would not feed properly. When I lengthened the C.O.L. to 1.220, I had no more problems. Now I have a Kimber Tactical Custom HD II and am having a similar problem with the C.O.L. of 1.220". Does anyone know what the minimum C.O.L. for such a pistol? Second, If I keep extending the length what effect does that have on the velocity?

 

[Blue68f100]

Sorry every gun is different when if come to feeding. Some guns have tighter chamber than other. Kimbers are know to have tighter chambers that some. Normally you determine the OAL then load up a ladder test to determine which works best. Load some dummy rounds to determine what it likes. The load a few to test.

 

[rcmodel]

It's all in the details.

Hodgdons data doesn't say 230 grain FMJ-RN.
It says Hornaday 230 FMJ FP. (flat Point)

So if you are using FMJ-RN, you are loading them too short.

Military 230 Grain FMJ-RN is loaded to approximately 1.270".
And if your bullets are near the military bullet shape, that's what you should load too also.

rc

 

[JimGun]

checking hodgdon's for .45 ACP 230gr LRN regardless of which powder is used 1.200" is given for the COL

 

[nettlle]

Lyman's 49th says 1.275" OAL. I've loaded 230 gr. RN with 231 @ 1.260" OAL. I just checked some Federal 230 gr RN factory loads and they are 1.260" OAL. I doubt any of my 1911's would feed 230 gr. RN @ 1.200" OAL.

 

[joneb]

You should be in the 1.265 ish range. I do not go much deeper than the bearing surface of the bullet meaning I don't seat much on the ogive. Do the plunk test and manually cycle a few dummy loads through the gun.

 

[rcmodel]

checking hodgdon's for .45 ACP 230gr LRN regardless of which powder is used 1.200" is given for the COL

THEN, Hodgdons is wrong.

rc

 

[X-Ring]

THEN, Hodgdons is wrong.

Agreed
I load 230g LRN to 1.250 and both my 45s love them.

 

[papaairbear]

Speer #14 lists the tested OAL for their 230 gr FMJ-RN at 1.260. And Lyman's 49th has a tested OAL of 1.272 for a 225 gr lead RN. (#2 Alloy; bullet #452374).

 

[JimGun]

Thanks for the information. I am going to load a batch of Ranier 230gr RN at 1.250 and see if that works. I am curious to find out when I chronograph them what effect the greater C.O.L. has on the FPS.

 

[LiveLife]

Depends on how long your leade/freebore is. If your leade is short, not much but if your leade is long, you will see measurable difference as more gas will leak around the bullet before bearing surface of the bullet will engage the rifling.

As to Hodgdon using 1.200" OAL, keep in mind that test barrel fixtures used to measure chamber pressures are single shot and do not feed from the magazine. So it simply means 1.200" OAL was used to conduct pressure tests and this does not mean the round will reliably feed from the magazine or minimize gas leakage from being too far from start of rifling. It does mean you can use load data if OAL is longer than 1.200"

I would suggest you determine the max OAL first using the barrel with the dummy round - www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=506678

Then function test by feeding the dummy round from the magazine and incrementally decrease the OAL until it feeds/chambers reliably from the magazine which is your working OAL.

If you look at the comparison pictures of factory 230 gr FMJ/RN, CCI is 1.270" while PMC is 1.255" and Remington is 1.258". For Berry's 185 gr HBRN (which has similar nose profile as 230 gr RN), 1.250" worked in Sig 1911 barrel with shorter leade and 1.255" worked in other 45 pistols (SA/RIA/M&P45/PT145).

Now if you are loading RMR 230 gr HM RN, which has shorter nose that increases bullet base length, you may need to load shorter to not hit the start of rifling (1.230" will work with most 45 pistols but need 1.200" for my Sig 1911 with very short leade, almost no leade)

 

[rg1]

Depends on the bullet somewhat. Some 230 FMJ-RN bullets are very blunt while some like Winchester's 230 FMJ-RN has a longer tapered round nose. Most 230 gr. FMJ-RN I load to 1.250" maximum while Winchester's I load to 1.260" maximum. My 1911's and Glocks feed fine at 1.250". One of my Colt 1911's, a Combat Elite, won't chamber a 1.270"-1.275" length especially with some bullets.

 

[JimGun]

Thanks for all of your replies. You are right, R.C. The 1.200" given on Hodgdon's must be the minimum for the charge, regardless of firearm. I just ASSumed that it was the optimum length. I loaded 50 rounds at 5.2 gr Win with C.O.L. of 1.260 and they all cycled with no problem. However, the chronograph results showed 782 fps avg. for C.O.L. of 1.220" and 751fps avg. for C.O.L. of 1.260".

 

[hdwhit]

Just for a sense of history, the Winchester rounds had a COL of 1.263 while the Remington ones had a COL of 1.275.

My grandfather experienced no failures shooting these. These are from two of three full boxes I inherited from him; each from different contractors. I keep them for sentimental reasons.