Easy way to measure chamber length without fancy tools?

[country gent]

Did you try the "plunk test" without a bullet seated to see where your case was at resting on chamber shoulder case mouth junction? Diffrent bullet styles ogives will seat to diffrent oal lengths. I have fopund that most semi autos ( pistols more so) are more dependant on length of the loaded round than shape or wieght of bullet. To short starts feeling "clunky" just before jams start to happen To long and it feels "sluggish" and or slow before jams start to occur. Some pistols will feed empty cases from the mags fairly reliablly, yet choke on a bullet that isnt quite right. I have 2 Kimber 1911s that out of the box feed a full wadcutter bullet when loaded to the right over all length and choke on them when to short or to long. My 1911 in 38 Speacial has only seen hollow based wadcutters and hasnt jamed in better than a year that I can remeber. With soft lead bullets in BPCR rifles cases filling the chambers saves the lead ring effect from happening. Improving accuracy, question is is it from the case filling the chamber or the bullet not getting shaved down when fired? Boolits can be to hard as well as to soft both degrading accuracy, cases vary in thickness, case head, flash holes and primer pockets, also length but that can be controledor changed easy enough. So to get the ultimate ammo cases would need to be completly uniformed. A swage and heavy press to make all the case heads the exact same inside the case by re forming, Primer pockets all cut to square and exact same depth, flash holes reamed to same dia and sorted for center ( a gage made not eyeball) then deburred to same depth and shape inside the case. The re forming of the case head lengthens the case so trimming becomes needed, And then after all this work an annealing to uniform tension. Its all easier to type out than to actually do. Now considering that rimless straight walled cases headspace on the case mouth and are set to as such chambers probably only vary a few thousandths of an inch in length and cases a little more. Setting cases long enough so roll crimped ammo headspaces creates issues with bullet release as the case may not be able to open enough to let go of the bullet.

[mallen]

Plunk test is what I did to get the bullets on the rifling. but seems that has no noticeable effect on pistols.

[fouronesix]

Plunk test is what I did to get the bullets on the rifling. but seems that has no noticeable effect on pistols.

I have no clue what you are trying to do.

If I have a 45-70 single shot and want to get the very best accuracy for target work out of a cast bullet, I may very well seat the bullet out so the nose or front drive band engages the lands. But a 9mm semi-auto handgun is about as different as there is from a 45-70 single shot. For guns like the 9mm, reliable function and safety, trumps things like seating into the lands for target accuracy. Piddling around with the 9mm outside its fairly narrow zone of reliable function and safety- is not recommended. Good luck and I'm done on this thread.

[mallen]

I have no clue what you are trying to do.

If I have a 45-70 single shot and want to get the very best accuracy for target work out of a cast bullet, I may very well seat the bullet out so the nose or front drive band engages the lands. But a 9mm semi-auto handgun is about as different as there is from a 45-70 single shot. For guns like the 9mm, reliable function and safety, trumps things like seating into the lands for target accuracy. Piddling around with the 9mm outside its fairly narrow zone of reliable function and safety- is not recommended. Good luck and I'm done on this thread.

I figured that if i got as close as i could before loosing reliability, it would be that much better. but seems a lot more people are now saying that at pistol distances the difference would not be measurable. and now that I am learning more. the rifling is way past saami spechs to begin with.

[Love Life]

Do not seat "Jammed" with an auto loader pistol. Seat to pass the plunk test and maybe go a tad shorter to make yourself feel better.

Bullets in autoloaders loaded to book or SAAMI spec/dimensions are pretty daggone reliable. It's not rocket science and by seating so far out or close to the rifling you are opening yourself and pistol up to issues with reliability. If you are a hair off the rifling, and say you short stroke the press so your OAL is a bit longer, then boom. You've just induced a failure to return to battery due to the bullet ogive jamming in the rifling.

It's perfectly OK to have jump in an auto loader pistol. Your rd is supposed to headspace off the case mouth and not the bullet in the 9mm.

Now I have read a couple of threads by you so what I am going to say next is not meant to be an insult or to degrade you.

I highly recommend you buy a reloading manual if you don't already have one. Then read the first part of it BEFORE it gets to the load data. The questions you have asked are elementary in nature and covered in any reloading manual ever printed. Well, at least the 25 or so manuals that I currently own. The reason I say this is that in the multiple threads you have started you have not implemented what has been passed here to you. You may create an unsafe situation on the range and hurt somebody besides yourself.

As I said, I do not say that to insult you. I want you to be safe and enjoy shooting your quality hand loaded ammunition.

[Love Life]

Oh, and to answer the OP. Do a chamber cast. Takes a special alloy for sale at Rotometals, some modeling clay strategically place, a small ladle, and a candle.

[Taylor]

[mallen]

Do not seat "Jammed" with an auto loader pistol. Seat to pass the plunk test and maybe go a tad shorter to make yourself feel better.

Bullets in autoloaders loaded to book or SAAMI spec/dimensions are pretty daggone reliable. It's not rocket science and by seating so far out or close to the rifling you are opening yourself and pistol up to issues with reliability. If you are a hair off the rifling, and say you short stroke the press so your OAL is a bit longer, then boom. You've just induced a failure to return to battery due to the bullet ogive jamming in the rifling.

It's perfectly OK to have jump in an auto loader pistol. Your rd is supposed to headspace off the case mouth and not the bullet in the 9mm.

Now I have read a couple of threads by you so what I am going to say next is not meant to be an insult or to degrade you.

I highly recommend you buy a reloading manual if you don't already have one. Then read the first part of it BEFORE it gets to the load data. The questions you have asked are elementary in nature and covered in any reloading manual ever printed. Well, at least the 25 or so manuals that I currently own. The reason I say this is that in the multiple threads you have started you have not implemented what has been passed here to you. You may create an unsafe situation on the range and hurt somebody besides yourself.

As I said, I do not say that to insult you. I want you to be safe and enjoy shooting your quality hand loaded ammunition.

how so?

[leeggen]

Mallen, There is a thread on here that tells how to set up for 9mm. I beleive if you will search "How to set up the 9mm" I think you will get some really good information that will help you. As suggested get a manual and read up on loading. 9mm as is 40S&W's are pretty tight in relaoding specs. A mistake can cause an over pressure problem very quickly. We all here just want you to learn to reload safely, no one wants to see you nor your pistol hurt. Just do some real searching on this sights search engine, enter the search in many different wordings to get more information.
CD

[mallen]

and with that im done with that thread