Depends upon how much accuracy and consistency you want from your loads. Personally, I tinkered until I found a load I liked ( for range use only) and then stick with it...you can tinker and fuss forever, but your Glock is Not a Sig-210...so, just work up a nice load, that cycles consistently, and get after it!
Spend your time "shooting" not loading😁

 

Sounds like you have it pretty much covered. 9mm never needs trimming. But you keep going, it's fun. been loading for 50yrs.

 

Each gun has it's own personality. Most of my guns like 1.1 +/- .05'.
I do have a Star BM that likes them a little longer and a Kahr CM-9
that does best with 1.0" because it's leade is really tight. Do what
the LT said. Find one that cycles fine and gives you the groups you
want. I finally settled on 1.03" because it will run in all of them even
that tight Kahr. I can keep them all on a paper plate all day at
25 yards with that length using my 124 grain cast bullets.

Then when you get your next gun and it prints differently you'll
say "WTF Mang" what's wrong with this, until the LED flickers on .

 

Sounds ok consistent with making sure that you do not exceed max OAL if you change bullet types, especially to a longer heavier bullet.

Within one bullet type (147 gr Flat nose), I've measured .634" up to .644" bullet length for the bulk of them with even further outliers. I've just loaded these to the same OAL (1.130") and let seating depth minorly vary for the same load. Seems successful so far.

But switching to a basic 147 gr round nose or a Hornady 147 gr round nose that has some boattail, the bullet lengths are .681" & .688" respectively. There is no way I can load them to the same seating depth as the 1st example and stay within max SAAMI OAL of 1.169" for the loaded cartridge. So even if you go to longer OAL like 1.160-1.169", increased seating depth is needed with these bullets to stay less than max OAL.

So bullet length, influenced by the shape, is something to consider impacting seating depth, especially on the heavier, longer bullets. That would be a factor for bullet changes at the 1.150" OAL you mentioned. Something to check, but less of a constraint at the shorter end of OAL targets and with lighter, shorter bullets.

 

115 gr fmj. 1.40 running 4.1 gr titegroup.

124gr 1.145 3.7 gr TG.

That's for the g locks, various 1911's, sigs and H&K's.

For the CZ it's 1.110 OAL.

 

OAL depends on the bullet. As long as you plunk test it, you are good. Pistol brass never needs trimming. I've loaded 124's from 1.060" to 1.175", just depends.

 

At the range today my Dagger started jamming the slide so the slide wouldn't move. Long story short later I found that the factory ammo was over length, above the hood by a tad. So not even the "experts" do it right all the time. Ammo I bought back during the china flu, can't read the language on the box on back. First time for everything.

 

I failed to mention the bullets that I'm using: Nosler 115gr .508" JHP #44848 , Sierra 115gr .544" FMJ #8115, and Ammo Inc. 115gr .593" #P115FMJ. I'm using PMC, Win, Fed, Blazer and range brass with various headstamps. Most of the brass measures .745" I've been seating my bullets at .188" and changing up powder loads from min to almost max. My COAL comes in @ Nosler 1.065", Sierra 1.101", and Ammo Inc. 1.150. Everything loads and cycles well this Glock will eat anything. I'm using True Blue powder I started @ 5.6gr and working up the ladder, 6.3gr is snappy . Max is 6.9gr in most of my books for this powder. I have some Win 244, and some Hodgdon HS-6, suggestions ........

 

OAL, always bullet & gun specific. Most RN can load to 1.145” & feed in anything. Truncated cone, fmj otpr jhp, the should starts to hit rifling sooner than later. So it just depends.
A certain min bullet bearing surface inside the case is required to keep the bullet in the case during feeding. Rule of tumb for riflrs is 1 caliber min, but not practical for most pistols. If your bullet is shorter, 1/8”+ may be fine. A longer bullet will need a bit more.
BTW, case length, pretty much a none issue. The cases dont stretch & most factory ammo cases are slightly short to fit all possible chambers.

 

Here is a writeup of my screwing around from which you might glean something of value.

Christian Ed and Hobby info - 9mm Bullet Profiles That Fail Plunk Test

9mm Bullet Profiles That Fail Plunk Test

sites.google.com

 

Still all depends on the bullet profile and the gun. What works in a Glock may not work in a SIG or 1911.

 

Or fricking CZ.

 

CZ's don't like short brass. Anything over .745" can cause feeding issues. CZ chambers are not SAAMI spec'd.

 

They also have almost zero throat, very short oal with anything other than RN.

 

Another example for my post #5 ... Hornady's OAL reco for 115 gr XTP/HAP is 1.085". I tried seating them longer and they would not clear my chamber checker beyond somewhere between 1.090" and 1.095"OAL.

I don't know where that puts them on seating depth. But another example where the bullet profile and the chamber of your gun may dictate something different than your target seating depth.

But you've chambered with all of your bullet selection. If you've also checked velocity for the longer loads for signs pressure went up (or stick within loading data for that bullet) you should be good.

Just things to consider if you change bullets again.

 

dla, thanks that's a good read. 9x45 solid advise, "bullet profile and the gun". ker-plunk!

 

1.08" shoot well in all my Glocks with any bullet. It will also shoot in any 9mm, unlike folks who try to load as long as possible. There's no need for that for 99% of shooters. There may be some 9mm barrels that like to be loaded long, but most shoot short loads perfectly great. Factory ammo is loaded short so it works in all guns. Why load your ammo long and limit which guns it functions in? Sounds like a pain.

Anyways, using mixed brass pretty much destroys accuracy and ES. Work up a load with say all Win brass and it will shoot really well. Now test the same load with mixed brass and it will shoot ok but not as well as Win brass. You may not be able to tell the difference at 5 or 10 yards, but it will deffinately show up shooting over a rest at 25 and 50 yards. With mixed brass my ES is around 50 fps which is terrible. Using same headstamp brass lowers that significantly.

 

Why load your ammo long and limit which guns it functions in?

To make USPSA Open Major 9mm Division with a power floor of 165. A 124gr bullet going over 1,360 fps, that's why. 124gr JHP Montana Gold over 8.5 grs of HS-6 at 1.175" OAL.

 

I'm at 1.100" OAL for my pet load. Runs well in all of my guns.

 

WHAT BULLET???? Yes it matters.

 

All of my 9mms are Glocks except for a Springfield Prodigy.

The Glock chambers are very generous, IME will pass plunk and spin at 1.175. Like the proverbial throwing a hot dog down a hallway 🌭.

The Prodigy OTOH, with the blunt RMR 115 FMJs I am currently shooting, requires 1.110 or shorter to plunk and spin.

 

All of my 9mms are Glocks except for a Springfield Prodigy.

The Glock chambers are very generous, IME will pass plunk and spin at 1.175. Like the proverbial throwing a hot dog down a hallway 🌭.

The Prodigy OTOH, with the blunt RMR 115 FMJs I am currently shooting, requires 1.110 or shorter to plunk and spin.

I dont think you can load that long with most 115gr bullets & have them withstand chambering. Not to mention fit in all magazines. There is a reason saami max is 1.165".

 

Sharpshooter mentioned the issues of using mixed brass and I cannot agree more. I process tons of brass and have found that there is no standard across manufacturers when it comes to making brass. Certain things like the length will be close but inside can vary greatly.
Some will have thicker webs, some have rounded bottoms, some have straight internal walls and some have tapered walls. All resulting in varying case capacity. This may not be much but it can affect the boiler room as you call it and in turn affect velocity and accuracy.
There are some like Extreme Ammo that are the worst. Also look out for the ones like ZQI that were made for Subsonic loads that have a shoulder inside. Those can cause excessive pressure if loaded with the same charge as the rest of your loads.

 

Sharpshooter mentioned the issues of using mixed brass and I cannot agree more. I process tons of brass and have found that there is no standard across manufacturers when it comes to making brass. Certain things like the length will be close but inside can vary greatly.
Some will have thicker webs, some have rounded bottoms, some have straight internal walls and some have tapered walls. All resulting in varying case capacity. This may not be much but it can affect the boiler room as you call it and in turn affect velocity and accuracy.
There are some like Extreme Ammo that are the worst. Also look out for the ones like ZQI that were made for Subsonic loads that have a shoulder inside. Those can cause excessive pressure if loaded with the same charge as the rest of your loads.

The diff between 0.744 & .750 will have zero affect on accuracy. Its not even sheet of paper.

 

For me, heavier bullets group better at longer COL's and lighter bullets are better at shorter COL's. So 1.145 for 147gr+, ~1.135 for 124gr and 1.100 for 115gr. All my guns feed reliably throughout/beyond this range, so that has never been a limiting factor.

Some bullets are more sensitive to COL than others in terms of how they group. I don't fully understand why this is.

 

My G19.5 has a very short leade. The 124 Nosler loaded by Underwood touched the lands at 1.070 oal and Nosler recommends 1.120!
I demiled one and loaded it, ain’t happening.
So it very much depends on the ogive of the bullet.

 

IMT, Freedom Munitions, AmmoLoad and MaxxTech all have stepped cases. Case can separate during firing and leave you with a dead gun.

 

Agree 100%. I’m a competitive shooter (and heavy bullet slower guy). I usually loaded a little longer (1.15-1.16), but recently got a deal on Precision Delta 147gr V2 JHPs. Loading out to 1.15 wouldn’t plunk in my Prodigy, but the PD 147gr FMJs and Xtreme 165s plunked fine at the same length, so clearly the ogive of the bullet matters.