Montana Gold .45

[lgbmike]

Has anyone used the Montana Gold .45 200gr JFP? I need to know what the overal length should be.

Montana Gold said it is similar to Sierra Tournament Master and Sierra recomended the OAL to be 1.155 which seems short to me.

Thanks,

Michael

[38superman]

I'm going from memory here but I believe I load that bullet at 1.210 OAL.

Tony

[dirty whiteboy]

If I remember correctly, I ran them at 1.185 out of a Glock 21.

[Carlos]

BE CAREFUL WITH THE OAL OF THIS BULLET!!!!!

I loaded some out past 1.200 (don't recal exact OAL). THEY RAN RIGHT INTO THE RIFLING. Thank God it was enough to stop the slide from going into battery or this could have been very bad. This was on a CZ-97B (their only .45 ACP handgun). Used them up in my S&W 625 (where there was plenty of room).

[38superman]

BE CAREFUL WITH THE OAL OF THIS BULLET!!!!!

I loaded some out past 1.200 (don't recal exact OAL). THEY RAN RIGHT INTO THE RIFLING. Thank God it was enough to stop the slide from going into battery or this could have been very bad. This was on a CZ-97B (their only .45 ACP handgun). Used them up in my S&W 625 (where there was plenty of room).

Weird.

I measured several different factory FMJ rounds at 1.260.

The Montana Gold 200 is a truncated cone flat point which is shorter than the FMJ.

Loading at 1.210 accounts for the difference in the overall length of the bullets putting the base of the bullet at the same relative depth in the case.

Even though both bullets have a different profile, it shouldn't have engaged the rifling any sooner than the factory ball I measured.

I tried them in 3 different 45's I own or (owned at the time), a Para P14, a Springfield 1911 and an STI Edge with no problem at all.

Maybe these guns have longer throats than the CZ.

There is one way to find out.

Drop a bullet (not a loaded round, just a bullet) into the barrel until it lodges against the lands & grooves.

Take a rod and push it through the muzzle of the barrel until touches the nose of the bullet and mark it at the crown of the barrel.

The rod has now become a depth gage.

Load a dummy round with no powder or primer at the OAl you want to use in your gun.

Chamber the dummy round and repeat the process with the rod.

If the rod drops into the barrel deeper than before, the loaded bullet is not touching the rifling.

The difference between the two marks is the distance the bullet will travel in freebore.

Tony