9mm c.o.a.l. for 125 gr. RN cast?

[Quavodus]

I just wondered what overall length works best for y'all with 125 gr. RN? I'm shooting a PC bullet, and it sometimes will give feeding problems. I'm gonna seat them a little deeper and experiment to see what feeds good. It's not a tapered shape like a lot of the 115 gr. FMJ that you see. Thanks.

[expendable]

Does the bullet have a small shoulder kind of like a SWC?

 

if so I usually seat to just below the shoulder. 
 

 

[Quavodus]

No, it's just a smooth base. I think I'm gonna have to seat them a little deeper. They're not feeding that great right now. Out of a 17 round magazine, about 6 will fail to feed.

[swiley383]

I have some that I had to load around 1.09 if I remember have  to check it was either 1.10 or 1.09 for a Glock and S&W  to pass the plunk test.

[deerslayer]

What kind of gun are you shooting these in?

[chances R]

I seat mine 1.120  to. 1.130

[Quavodus]

2 hours ago, deerslayer said:

What kind of gun are you shooting these in?

Sar 9 

[deerslayer]

I would experiment with seating depth using the plunk and spin method.  Load a dummy round and insert it into your gun’s chamber.  Seat it incrementally deeper until it drops in and spins freely without scratching the rifling.  Some chambers are shorter than others.  Glocks always had long, roomy chambers until gen 5 came out.  Gen 5 chambers are shorter and ammo for them needs a shorter OAL.  Same for many CZs.  1.125-1.130 is where I load most 124/125 ammo, but I had to go down to 1.115 for my gen 5 17 and that was with a Black Bullets International 125, which is a little “pointier” than most 125s.  A regular round nose probably would have needed to be even shorter.  Some CZ folks talk about 1.05-1.10.  These shorter OALs are pretty issue-free with most 125s, but can become problematic with heavier (and therefore longer) bullets.  

Edited May 5, 2022 by deerslayer

[Quavodus]

I've never loaded any 125 gr. before, and it seems I will have to seat a little deeper than the 115 gr. RN loads. Loading for autos is a pain, compared to revolvers. I'm gonna have to seat a little deeper for my .45 too. 

[Quavodus]

The boolits I'm shooting and loading are from Precision bullets. They are more of a round contour than a lot of RN bullets. I seated some to 1. 100" today and took barrel out, to do a test. They still didn't seem like they were going all the way down, compared to a factory 115 gr. FMJ. I may have to seat even deeper. This is a real pain.

[expendable]

Take a sharpie to the brass and make sure they are sized and crimped enough. 

[Quavodus]

I seated the bullets deeper to 1.115" and tried it. Fed like a greased pig. Problem is, I have about 400 more rounds loaded like that, and need to seat all deeper. Fun fun fun.

Edited May 10, 2022 by Quavodus

[myg30]

Just beware as you seat them deeper PRESSURE will go up. Not sure where you powder charge is at in low, mid or near max ? Watch for pressure signs.

 Depending on if and how you may have crimped them, if your bullets are not to soft  you could try seating them down a little more.

just take your time and be sure the Primers are all seated below the case.

Ive had to bump a few loaded rounds n the past to a shorter OAL and had good success.

I did this on a single stage press, not a progressive.

Be safe, wear eye protection when reloading.

 

 Mike

 

[Quavodus]

Didn't seem to be a "hot" load. Looked at the brass after seating deeper and firing. Primers looked good, and shot good. My load is 5.0 gr. Unique and Winchester standard primers.

[myg30]

Sounds and looks like your good to go then.

on other reloading forums I’ve read horror stories where guys loaded rounds, had to adj col to a shorter dim., and had bad results because their loads were close to max and the extra pressure from seating the bullet deeper gave them over pressure results.

I had a compressed rifle load in .223 that made me nervous pulling the trigger  but I researched it to hell before I stuffed the cases and fired them.

 

  Mike