OAL and Accuracy

[phdo]

I'm fairly new to reloading (about 6 months) and I'm only loading .223 for my AR15s at the moment. I was working up a load yesterday and noticed that my OAL varies slightly from 2.200" (according to the Hornady 9th) to 2.209" and would like to know if that's going to affect my accuracy. I'm very OCD so I weight and measure everything to the dot. I would like to know what is the margin (+/-) for the OAL in comparison to the recommended per my handbooks. I tried looking online for hours but can't find the information. Thanks in advance.

[mark501w]

It's the variation in your goodies.

[aleng888]

Wow let drive your OCD bit higher. Do you weight your bullet? You know not all bullet the same that can be +-.5 gr. hehe back to your question no really for a ar15.

[BigBronco]

Actually the OAL is not as important as the distance from the case head to the ogive. Most rifle reloading dies if not all do not push the bullet in to the case from the top of the bullet. The seating stem is hollowed out ans rests on the body of the bullet and not the tip. If you were to measure from the cartridge length from the case head to the ogive you should find less variation in the bullet length.

Keep in mind that the bullet tip does not engage the lands and grooves of your barrel. The body of the bullet does, beginning at the ogive. Therefore the OAL can vary by a few thousandths. If this still bothers you Sinclair makes a metplat trimmer to correct this issue with your bullets.

[Enfield47]

Your bullets are going to vary in length, especially if they are bulk bullets, it's nothing to worry about. As long as they fit in your magazine you will be fine. If you have a comparator set that measures from the bullet ogive (where it's widest) you can use that to set your mind at ease to see that that measurement is the same. Measuring from the bullet ogive is most accurate method, not overall length.

[damndave]

COAL doesn't really mean squat. The variations in the bullets are generally a lot more than that. Just try measuring pistol bullets. It's the distance from the ogive to the lands which should be consistent.

[J-cat]

no.