Just how important is longer OAL?

[Truegent2004]

Since going from a Glock to an STI Edge custom gun. I decided to load longer ( Montana Gold 180 JHP's; and 14 lb. recoil spring in my gun) than factory like the other 1911 shooters. But once I did I encountered Failure to Chamber problems. The gunny who made my custom said that this is common with some JHP brands and to try loading to factory length (1.125-1.13). Since then......no real problems.

Is it true that longer OAL means less recoil? Would a 15 lb spring help me? Should I change anything?

[EricW]

I don't think it matters at all unless you're shooting the Bianchi Cup and are trying to tweak every last bit of accuracy out of your gun. I load my 40's long, but factory 40 runs just as well out of my gun.

[smokshwn]

Truegent,

+1 on what Eric said. From what I have read a lot of guys load a little long to overcome any mag problems that may be related to a shorter cartridge than the 1911 design length. The extreme example would be spacers in 9mm mags for the doublestacks. Anyway my SVI in .40 will run all day long on factory length ammo or it will run just fine longer.

Good Luck, Craig

[MikeFoley]

My STI .40s will run any length of ammo, but I load a little long (1.14325) to avoid the seemingly inevitable mag and feeding issues that I have seen others have over the past few years. It is sort of a preventive measure. I use Zero 180 gr. JHP, and have used the TCFM too. The longer OAL takes a little more powder to make the same power factor.

[Skywalker]

OAL for a cartridge is important until you find the one that gives you 100% feeding reliability; then, it's a non-issue.

It doesn't matter if you load long, short, or ... bent, only feeding reliability matters (well, OK, if you load too short you might be in for different, unpleasant, surprises ... ).

Experiment until you find the OAL that better suits your bullet profile and gun, then stick with it.

[Larry White]

I have STIs,SVIs and a Para, all in 40 and all run anything from factory ammo to 1.120, swcs, tcs, and jhps. I think your smith didnt finish his job. The really long loads started when guys were shooting 200s with really fast powders and trying to get futher out on the pressure curve. I load 165s and 180s at 1.170 or so and it all works.-----Larry

[bberkley]

I load 180gr (Bear Creek, Master Blasters, WestCoast Plated, Armscor, etc.) in my .40s at 1.200 with around 5gr VV N320.

My STI will run factory Blazer, factory-length reloads, and long-loaded rounds with 6+ different bullets at or around 180gr weight plus 200gr bullets with ZERO problems.

I first ran stuff through borrowed magazines until I got my own (Beven tuned/parted out), and had some problems that I attributed to the magazines that went away with new mags that Beven worked his magic on.

Bottom line is, the pistol eats everything I feed it with nary a problem. Maybe your barrel isn't cut for long-loaded .40s?

Try a different bullet, try polishing the feedramp, check your mags too.

[dbletap_ed]

To use the longer OAL the barrel must be throated to match. A standard 40 chamber will not chamber some of the longer rounds we use. Your statement “But once I did I encountered Failure to Chamber problems” could have several meanings. If you mean that the round was fully in the chamber but the slide would not completely close would indicate that you barrel is not throated to match the OAL you tried to use. Just as a note my SV will feed factory length just fine most of the time. That is I will have a problem every 500 to 1000 rounds. However, when I load my rounds out to 1.200 there is never a problem. To find out if your rounds are too long for the chamber take the barrel (out of the gun) and drop a sized empty case in it and note where the head is in relationship to the hood. Now drop your loaded round in, if it does not go as far into the chamber it is too long for you barrel.

[DogmaDog]

The most important reason to mess with load length is to ensure reliable function. After that, there is a safety consideration: as you shorten your load, you decrease the available space inside the case, and correspondingly increase the chamber pressure. So if you need to shorten your load, then you also need to back off the powder charge, and work back up.

Some people here have also observed a slight increase in velocity from shorter loads, all else being equal. If they are right, then shorter loads are actually somewhat more efficient than longer loads--you get the same velocity with less powder. So recoil should *theoretically* be very slightly less with the shorter loads.

I seriously, seriously doubt that you would perceive any difference in recoil between long vs. short rounds, though.

DogmaDog