45 acp OAL question

[okcaveman]

Howdy folks. Been lurking for a while and finally had a question I was hoping yall could help with

I recently purchased a lee 452-200-rf mold for my 1911. For these boolits to seat up to the 2nd groove the COAL is 1.159.

This is a much lower OAL than anything I can find in my manuals or on the internet.

With that said a factory 230gr FMJ bullet length is .659 with .379 sticking out for a total of .280 inside the case for a total COAL of 1.269.

The lee cast boolits are .535 with .263 sticking out for a total of .272 inside the case. Actually less than what the factory rounds have.

Now assuming that these cast loads will operate in my gun (dummy loads prove that they will cycle through the magazine) would this be a safe OAL?

If not please explain why, because the way I see it they are seated not quite as deep as the factory rounds so could not cause overpressure, correct?

Thanks for the help folks

[454PB]

Yes, you'll run into this with the lighter boolits sometimes. It's not a pressure issue, but make sure they feed OK.

One of my moulds casts a 155 gr. SWC, and very little of the boolit is outside of the case, but they feed just fine.

[saint_iverson]

.008 difference is the only thing affecting the actual pressure of the load, and for all powders I've used, that's neglegible. Normally I use Clays, so that's a hot-to-trot powder, but still proves to have very little problems with such a small un-case displacement situation. The issue with your max oal tho, is that because you have such a dramatic difference sticking out of the case, a full eighth of an inch... Do you have a bullet comparator, or do you measure just to the end of the boolit? Differences in o-give matter alot, particularly when dealing with the amount of jump before the actual boolit contacts the rifling. The longer the jump, the more your accuracy will suffer. Look up o-give if you are unfamiliar with the subject.

[okcaveman]

I am measuring just to the end of the bullet. I will have to read up on o-give. I am new to casting for a 45 auto, previously all I had ever cast was proven 357/38 swc for a revolver. Big difference. Thanks yall for confirming my suspicion that it would be a safe loading. I was just a little worried by the fact that it falls so far below the listed acceptable OAL and was wanting a second opinion.

Thanks again yall