C.O.L. for .45 acp--FN

Skeedaddy

I recently purchased some Hornady .45 acp FMJ FN (flat, not round nose)bullets for reloading (FMJ-RN was out of stock....). Seems like 1.20+/- C.O.L. fits the barrel w/o touching the grooves just fine, but now I'm wondering--what C.O.L. is "typical" for these FN's? And what is the max overall length? Any response will be greatly appreciated[:)]

perry shooter

Hello the length of a loaded cartridge is restricted by a number of things in a 45ACP first and foremost it must fit in the Magazine. Next it must fit in the chamber of the barrel you intend to shoot it in and lastly most people will want to be able to eject a loaded round if you have one in the chamber. The fit in the magazine will not vary much between different mags but I would allow at least .010 inch. The fit in the chamber will vary between barrels so my suggestion is to remove the barrel of each 45acp pistol you have and with a loaded round see if it will fully chamber "IE the head of the case about.010 inside flush to the back of the hood of the barrel" Now that those two conditions are met see if with a magazine with one cartridge you can load this one round and then eject it with out firing the round .My guess is unless you have a custom pistol with the ejection port enlarged this third test will fail yet the same cartridge will pass the first 2 tests. This will dictate that you set the bullet deeper in the case so all 3 test will Pass Good luck "PRAISE THE HARD-BALL GUN"

Hawk Carse

Hodgdon uses those for their 230 gr data, much to the confusion of readers trying to load roundnose. They show it as 1.200" OAL.

Skeedaddy

Thank you Hawk Carse and Perry Shooter! Both of these answers are exactly what I was looking for! The 1.20 passes all 3 tests mentioned by Perry Shooter in my Kimber, but failed the 3rd test in my "old" Colt Commander. It creased the case when ejected, so I was second-guessing my C.O.L. These old Colts were meant to shoot roundballs anyway. Hawk Carse hit the nail on the head as well! Thanks again.