Rainier 200 grain Flat Point

[McD]

Just got a box of Rainier 200gr flat point to try in my .45acp Tac and was wondering if anyone has tried these? I've been doing some searching on the net looking for a OAL # but I haven't had much luck. Looking for a good starting point so I don't have any FTF problems.

In general what happens to the feeding of a round if the OAL is to short or to long (I know about to long and pressure problems) just looking for some general guidelines for any style bullet.

Thanks in advance.

McD

[xdmikey]

you don't mention how much experience you have at reloading but you should have a few load manuals even to start. i use lee's second edition since it's the newest book i have.
it lists minimum o.a.l.. maximum is determined by your barrel and brass.
lately i've started standing the barrel of the gun i'm loadin for close to the press and i drop each completed round into the chamber so there are no surprises at the range. this may sound redundant but now i no longer have to carry a rubber mallet to the range!
michael

[McD]

I'm new to loading for my XD (but not other weapons). I have manuals but I was more interested in any experience anyone might have with this bullet or similar style ( flat nose). It seems (from what I have read here) that the XD can be sensitive to COL/OAL for different bullet types/shapes. I was just looking for a starting point.

[mudfoot]

I have been loading the Rainiers for over a year, no issues once I got used to loading by Lead Specs for them.

[jeepinbanditrider]

I loaded a bunch of the same ones you are loading and didn't care for them. It was probably more of a weapon problem though. My wife's 1911 only likes round nose profile bullets.

[lbreevesii]

I haven't tried the 200 fp's but I just loaded my last 100(other 400 shot already) of a 500 box of ranier 230 grn round points. They shot great but I did have some issues here and there with seating, tended to shave some off and didn't want to go in straight. I'm talking maybe 10-15 out of 500 here. Probably loader error though, its my first time w/ .45's. I have loaded at least 1500 ranier 165 and 180grn in various flavors for .40 and have NOTHING bad tos ay about them. My Hi-point 3095 eats them like candy

[jeepinbanditrider]

Originally Posted by lbreevesii

I haven't tried the 200 fp's but I just loaded my last 100(other 400 shot already) of a 500 box of ranier 230 grn round points. They shot great but I did have some issues here and there with seating, tended to shave some off and didn't want to go in straight. I'm talking maybe 10-15 out of 500 here. Probably loader error though, its my first time w/ .45's. I have loaded at least 1500 ranier 165 and 180grn in various flavors for .40 and have NOTHING bad tos ay about them. My Hi-point 3095 eats them like candy

I had the same "shaving" problem on a bunch of mine also. Seems the Ranier plated bullets have a very thin plating. I reloaded a bunch of 9mm Xtreme bullets and didn't have a single "shaving" incident. The plating on their's seems much more uniform and thicker. Though myself and other have had accuracy issues with the Xtremes. Some one posted you need to keep the velocities down to get good accuracy out of them.

[lbreevesii]

yeah i've only had this shaving/seating issue with the .45's, never one problem from the nearly 2000 i've loaded in .40.

I'm playing with some reduced load .45's with them now. To be honest i've always loaded them as jacketed rather than lead as far as charges go. I really shouldn't but oh well, still works fine. All the .45's I've done so far in them have been the book load for 230grn jacketed with red dot. My latest have been down a half grain from that and down a full grain from book(which is really what alliant recommends for a lead 230grn). We shall see how they do!

[Bidah]

While I have not loaded those particular ones, I have loaded some that are similar. The process that I use to find the length is the same that I use for my CZ, which also tends to be tight on the throat.

Set up your seating die, and seat a bullet to a starting length, with no crimp, powder or primer. See if this will chamber, and keep going shorter a bit at a time till it does. Then seat it about .002 or a bit more farther down, load some up, say 10 or so, and give it a try. If your pistol will let you chamber one that is still slightly belled, it should push the bullet down to the max OAL that it will take, and then just shorten that a bit so it doesn't "stick". The bullets will vary a bit here and there for ogive, hence finding that sweet spot where it will work for all of them. You can further refine this by finding the length that gives you the best accuracy for that charge, and playing with charges and seating depth to get the best overall.

On a friends XD45, for a Truncated bullet, I had to seat it so that the shoulder was just inside the case mouth, about even. My 1911 was not nearly as picky, but YMMV.

[McD]

From a PM I received I guess I will start with a COL of 1.180" to 1.220". I suppose OAL from any manual using a Flat Point bullet is a fair starting point. I'll just tune from there. No worries though I have a good supply of both 200 & 230 gr RN's.

Thanks to all!