What Am I Missing Here On .223 OAL?

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UtopiaTexasG19

New member
I have been reloading for my .223 AR for close to a year now and have reloaded for .38 Special, .357 magnum, 30-30 Winchester for over 25 years. I always use the OAL in the reloading manuals but just for fun the other day I made a dummy round for .223 with a Sierra 65 grain Gameking and chambered it into the AR to see how much longer the chamber might be than the bullets I reload. To my surprise the chamber did not push the bullet into the casing any at all though I had the bullet extended out much further than any OAL I have ever used or any I have seen in the manuals. This is a 1:7 twist barrel. What am I missing here? Can the chamber in this .223 be that much longer than any OAL listed or are the diameters of FMJ .223 rounds that much smaller than the barrel diameters? I know the answer is obvious but my brain appears to be in neutral right now! Thanks...
 
The OAL listed in manuals is the safe MINIMUM length of the loaded shell. Loading shorter than recommended would push the bullet further into the case decreasing case capacity which could cause initial pressure spikes to be dangerously high. (Kaboom)
Generally on semi auto rifles your OAL should be just under what will fit and feed reliably through the magazine. On bolt guns you can load longer into the throat of the chamber which sometimes makes for better accuracy however if you start forcing the bullet into the rifling you can cause dangerous pressure spikes again. The key is to find that sweet spot in between which that makes the best accuracy.
 
I understand what you are saying but on this dummy round the bullet is sticking out way past any reasonable lenght that would fit a magazine for a
.223 semi-automatic and still does not touch the rifleing enough to push the bullet into the casing any further upon chambering. It is a BCM set up and extremely accurate.
 
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Maximum OAL? If it fits in the magazine and the bullet is in the case enough to stay then you have not reached the maximum OAL yet!:p

Don't worry about the maximum length. Your AR probably has more bullet free travel than a bolt gun would have to make it reliable. If your bullets were long enough to slam into the rifling on an AR it would be a BAD thing (pressure spikes, feeding issues, jamming etc.)

Forget about the min. and max. length and load your shells to the longest length that will reliably cycle through your rifle and you'll be good to go as long as your not shorter than the minimum length in the book (you won't be).
 
Can the chamber in this .223 be that much longer than any OAL listed or are the diameters of FMJ .223 rounds that much smaller than the barrel diameters?
Click to expand...

Yeap, OAL of 223s is normally based on the length fit the magazine. The chamber allows for longer OAL.

An example shooting bullets up to 77 grns can be loaded in the mag, longer 80 & 90 grns cant. (and be effective)

80 & 90 grn bullets are used for HP shooters for 600 & 1000 yards, There is no need for them to fit the magazine since rules require single loading.

You can't always go by the book. An example the Serria Reloading Manuel gives the OAL of 80 SMKs at 2.550, but require single loading.

2.550 is too long for the chamber of my White Oak.

The best thing to do is get something like the Stoney Mtn gave to measure your chamber, then use that as a guide when loading bullets long for ARs.

Some people shooting high power cut the front of the magazines so the bullets can be seated longer and still be used in the magazines for rapid fire stages.

In short, unless you have to load to fit the magazine, I don't use the OAL in reloading manuals. I load for my chamber and what lingth shoots the best accuracy wise.
 
This AR has the "Wylde" chamber which must be "generous" as far as neck diameter goes also. When taking taking a fire formed casing from this chamber and placing a new FMJ .223/.224 at the neck the bullet just drops into the neck and into the casing with no trouble at all.
BTW-I am using P-mags with this gun so my OAL for the 65 grain Sierra Gameking bullets is close to enough to the mags opening that I could not use a much longer OAL even if I wanted to on this particular AR. I was just curious as to why my dummy bullet was not altered when chambered though it is way too long I believe even for a bolt action .223. Thanks...
 
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