can a pistol boolit be seated to touch the rifling

[smlekid]

is it possibe to seat a boolit out to just touch the rifling? in my 9mm 1911 I would have an oal of 1.200" to achieve this I know it works with rifles but how about handguns?
the load would be 3.5grs of H Universal with Mihecs 147gr BB boolit sized to 358 in a 356 barrel the boolit feeds fine at 1.040" just curious to see if the accuracy could be improved by loading it like a rifle but wanted to ask first!!

[Dframe]

Your accuracy might indeed improve slightly. But getting something with that long OAL to feed in your action would most likely be impossible.

[captaint]

smle - as long as they will feed through the magazine and the slide will go fully into battery, go and have fun.. Let us know if accuracy improves any.. enjoy Mike

[nicholst55]

I installed a very popular, high quality aftermarket barrel in my 1911 .45 that had absolutely NO THROAT. When I chambered factory hardball ammo, the bullets were engraving the rifling. Not a good situation, as I was getting pressure signs and functioning problems. I had my gunsmith run a Clymer chamber reamer into the chamber, and now my problems are gone.

So yes, it is possible, but not necessarily desirable to have pistol bullets touch the rifling.

[HammerMTB]

Sure, you can do that.
I did it in several barrels of Contenders I owned.
But in an auto-pistol, COAL is limited by magazine length, as a general rule.
I have also had a Lone Wolf bbl that, like nicholst55 above, had no throat at all. After some back and forth with them, I sent it back for a refund as they could not correct the mis-machining.

[mroliver77]

I load my 1911 .45ACP to where the boolit is just touching the rifling.. Many do it this way and rely on it for correct headspace instead of relying on the brass to headspace on the small lip in the chamber. Like has been said this is contingent on the resulting over all length fitting in the magazine and feeding through the action.
Jay

[NSP64]

I tried to one time with my 44 and it didn't work to well.:kidding:
I used to load my .45acp like that.

[fredj338]

It's not even possible w/ a revolver & in a semiauto, causes more issues than it can provide benefits. It's NOT like a rifle.

[geargnasher]

I load my 1911 .45ACP to where the boolit is just touching the rifling.. Many do it this way and rely on it for correct headspace instead of relying on the brass to headspace on the small lip in the chamber. Like has been said this is contingent on the resulting over all length fitting in the magazine and feeding through the action.
Jay

IME this is the best way to load a 1911, but a lot depends on boolit nose shape, coal, and how deep the throat is.

dummy up an empty, sized case for that 9mm, seating a boolit long, remove the barrel, and drop the dummy round in the chamber. Keep seating the boolit deeper until it just barely flushes to the back of the barrel this will be the maximum loaded length, and the boolit/bullet should be touching the rifling). Check coal and feeding, you'll likely be too long for the mag, but you never know until you try. If it cycles and you've evaluated the situation with some good common sense, try a handfull of loaded rounds at the range, see how it functions.

Keep in mind that seating depth drastically affects pressures in these little autos, so if you work up a load for one gun, don't just seat the boolit deeper with the same powder charge for a different gun, the pressures will be higher!

Gear

[mpmarty]

Allmost all my semi-auto rounds are seated so the boolit rests on the beginning of the rifleing. It works well in my 10mms and 45acps.

[smlekid]

thanks all I made up a dummy round and discovered that I can only seat them to 1.065" due to magazine not barrel
another question would I have to adjust my powder charge with a longer oal to get the same velocity if the boolit was seated shorter? (going from 1.040" to 1.065")

[geargnasher]

thanks all I made up a dummy round and discovered that I can only seat them to 1.065" due to magazine not barrel
another question would I have to adjust my powder charge with a longer oal to get the same velocity if the boolit was seated shorter? (going from 1.040" to 1.065")

I guess that answers your original question pretty conclusively, then doesn't it? :bigsmyl2:

If you care about 20 fps or so, it may take more powder to equal the velocity. Shoot them and see. My policy is to start over with the listed beginning powder charge and work up from there no matter what change I've made, even if it's one that, logically, should make pressures go down some.

Gear

[fredj338]

Allmost all my semi-auto rounds are seated so the boolit rests on the beginning of the rifleing. It works well in my 10mms and 45acps.

So what happens when you have to unchamber a round? I find loading into the rifling provides no accuracy benefit & can cause rounds to become stuck in the chamber & diff to unload.

[geargnasher]

One more thing on seating depth vs. pressure: Each situation is unique and requires some intelligent evaluation. For example, if you worked up a safe, but hot load for 1.040", and the 1.165" load DID engage the rifling slightly, you would most likely have HIGHER pressure because you had eliminated the boolit jump to the lands. The boolit would have to overcome static inertia as well as engraving pressures all at once. Kind of like starting a freight train with all the couplers pulled tight already, it takes a lot more force to get it just barely moving, and in your pistol that can drive pressures way up with an already hot load.

Gear