Am I over thinking things?

[jayhkr]

Load up 20 or 30 with what you determined to pass the "plunk and twist" test. " OAL: 1.100-1.104"

Crimp: .377"

Use the 3.4 grains of powder.

Don't do anything else until you go shoot those !!!

When they work, you can then load up a bunch more and shoot them.

You are not only "overthinking" something that is relatively simple but you seem to be losing sleep over it.

Thanks Steve. I appreciate the simple answer on this! Now for my nap!

[jayhkr]

As i mentioned the first thing you should be doing is determine what the max oal for that barrel and bullet is. Once you determine that you can rule out whether your oal is too long or it's a problem with the case. I think it's a problem with the case. Again, here is the linkhttp://www.czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=34225.msg189131#msg189131 Do this, and get back to us with what you find.

Read it, tried it, the bullet didn't seat any deeper. I flaired the mouth, seated the bullet and pushed it in until it was even with the top of the barrel, but when I go to remove the bullet, it either pulls it back out to the original depth or something else because I don't get any different of a reading OAL wise when I do this. Thanks for the link though, very informative.

The article said nothing about flairing the mouth. All you wanted was a piece of unsized brass that would firmly grip the bullet but still let it slide through. You may have to test multiple unsized brass to get the one that will do this. It needs to fit snug because as you slowly push the back of the headstamp into the chamber it's pushing the bullet into the case, then when the case finally bottoms out in the chamber if you slowly back it out with your fingers wherever that bullet is minus maybe .015 would be your max OAL. If the mouth was flaired when you tried to do what the article said i'm not sure how the bullet would stay still for you to get an accurate reading.Anyway, it sounds as if you got things working, so regardless congrats. Hope everything keeps going smooth for ya.

Ok so I did that push test thing, took the average length of 3 different pieces and here is what I came out with:

Glock 1.263

MP Shield 1.181

Again I have found that 1.100-1.104 seems to give me good plunk and twish results. So there we have it....LOL I just don't know what we have! Maybe one more step complete?

[Steve RA]

Just go shoot the ones you have loaded and see how they work.

A certain portion of the bullet, other than maybe double ended wadcutters, extends past the end of the chamber and into the rifled portion of the barrel. This probably accounts for some of the discrepancy in various measurements.

And yes, you are still overthinking a lot of this. There are people out there with the IQ of a rutabaga that can load workable ammunition.

Edited March 3, 2014 by Steve RA

[98sr20ve]

Again I have found that 1.100-1.104 seems to give me good plunk and twish results. So there we have it....LOL I just don't know what we have! Maybe one more step complete?

Stop worrying about the .00X number. Just round up or down to .005 either way. You will drive yourself nuts doing that with OAL.

[jayhkr]

I appreciate it guys. I have a few locals guys that are going to go through the process so I can be sure I don't shot my hand off. Everyone here has been so supportive I can't thank yoh all enough. Hopefully I'll be shooting by next week with my first batch of ammo!!

[G17]

Just go shoot what you have at the moment so you know. I highly doubt you're going to shoot your hand off. It sounds like your getting the hang of things anyway, have a little confidence. How many rounds do you have loaded up that you feel pass the chamber test.

[ropsitos]

Something you can do with the max COAL determination test is make something like this but for 9mm.

Last one will likely be most clear:

http://www.hornady.com/store/Lock-N-Load-OAL-Gauge-Straight-1Each/

http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/manuals-current/metalic-reloading/LNL-OAL-Gauges.pdf

I use them for rifle reloading to find out where the rifling is at. They don't make a case for 9mm but you could probably make the necessary case from a spent case by drilling out and tapping the primer pocket. Alternatively you can make the rod assembly yourself, with a spent case, and some stuff lying about since you only need to check 2 guns for these bullets.

This lets you make contact with the rifling but still have a measurement by the position of the backer rod even if the bullet sticks to the rifling. It is a little finicky about determining where the rifling exactly starts because the rifling is machined to have a lead in.

[jayhkr]

Had some hands on help yesterday and got it all worked out. Loaded a few of different grains this evening and ready to try them out. Thank you everyone!