What OAL for Montana Gold 9mm 147gr CMJ

[Mike in CT]

I am hoping someone else has already solved this question; what OAL for MG 147gr Truncated cone bullets?

I have always loaded Round Nose bullets at 1.169 and they work fine in all my pistols. Now I have a case of the truncated round nose from MG and have found that 1.169 does not work in all my pistols. Since the truncated nose of the bullets has a different profile they need to be shorter to feed in the magazines.

I have found that 1.15 works in my STI 1911, but I also shoot a Sig 226 and M&P in the same caliber.

Any first hand experience with these bullets is welcome as I continue to experiment.

Mike

[Mike in CT]

I did some searching and it looks like I am in the right range, I found other loads listed at 1.150 and 1.135

Think I have answered my own questions with the search function.

Mike

[Sarge]

You are in the ballpark. I ran these bullets at 1.14 in my M&P. Just make a dummy round and drop check to make sure it does not touch the rifling.

[Rolex]

Here is what works in my Sentry:

OAL 1.158, Tripp mags with one coil

cut off, holds and feeds ALL 10 rounds

with NO issues. WSP, N320 3.7gr. once

fired brass. PF 135.

[Mark K]

I use 1.41

Mark K

[Bob DuBois]

Suggest you load as long as you can, load 10 at 1.150 and see if they will fit in your magazine. Seems to me the longer I can load the better groups my gun will shoot.

Wouldn't hurt to do a little test of your on with some lots of varied length and powder charges to see what your gun likes. Sometimes small changes can tune in better accuracy.

[RussellJohnson]

I have shot some of the 147 grain MG bullets, I load them at 1.165 and they work good in my Glock 17 and 34, I would not want to load them any longer. I believe that with the minor variation that you get loading that is the longest you can safely load for reliable magazine feeding. If you are using a very hot load the longer the safer, due to pressure issues. Good luck be safe

[rfwobbly]

• The part of the chamber where the case goes is very well defined by the SAAMI spec. In front of that is a no man's land where the manufacturer chooses the freebore. Because of this, the proximity of the rifling often limits the OAL on some bullets in some 9mm guns. In these guns the nose of the bullet simply strikes the rifling. Usually these guns are of eastern European origin, so I don't think you have any big concerns. But you need to be aware that one of your 9's may well determine the OAL for ammo used in the other 2.

• Another concern specific to new 147gr loaders is volume inside the case. The 147gr bullet being heavier, is therefore much longer. If you seat 147's to your favorite short OAL you've been using on your 115 and 124gr bullets you may find there's no room left for powder. It's easy to check for clearance with some 3rd grade math and the depth gauge of your caliper. It's not always an issue, but you need be be aware.

Hope this helps!

Edited April 27, 2011 by rfwobbly

[JasonS]

I'm currently using MG 147gr CMJ's with 3.5 gr of VV320, at 1.125, and I'm getting good results.