Need LOA of Speer Gold Dot 9mm Actory Ammo

[Warren Sear]

I am hoping someone has a factory loaded Speer Gold Dot 115 grain hollow point 9mm Luger cartridge they can measure.

I am loading some Speer Gold Dot 115 grain hollowpoint component bullets, and according to the Speer Reloading manual #14 the overall cartridge length is listed at 1.125". When I load cartridges to this length, the bullet is only 0.14" into the case, which seems like the bullet is barely into the case, ant too long to be corect, although an unprimed cartridge will cycle through the pistol manually just fine.

If that is the correct length, then that is what I'll go with. I am trying to rule out the possibility of a typo or some other error in the manual.

 

[H Richard]

That sounds awfully long. My normal seating length is usually 1.070 to 1.100.
I'd check a couple different manuals. Hornady is on line as well as others.

 

[Nevada Ed]

My factory box is at 1.12" OAL.

I tried the 115 & 124 Gold Dots in Federal cases at a OAL of 1.08 & 1.10"
but had fail to feed, eject and poor accuracy in test with all my 9mm pistols
from 3 to 5" barrels and different makers.

The JHP nose at 1.12" OAL is set by the factory, at this length, for a reason, I would think.

 

[mikld]

I just had a similar situation where the book listed 1.125" OAL. That seemed way too long and the round wouldn't plunk in my Taurus G3 or my Masada (didn't try other 9mm pistols). I tried a length that has worked for my with several bullets, working down 1.060" and they plunked fine. No worries about deep seating raising pressure to dangerous levels because as I normally do, I start at min and work up...

 

[SMSgt]

Hodgdon also lists 1.125 as COL for that bullet, so there must be a reason somewhere, unless Hodgdon just mimicked Speers data. Bullet shape has more to do with COLs than weight. Personally, I don't consider anything in load data as gospel, merely a guideline. I load my handgun rounds with as long a COL as possible and still cycle and chamber okay.

 

[Warren Sear]

The dummy round fits fine into the chamber of the gun (SIG Sauer P365). As I noted above, it feeds and extracts the way it should. It just seems way too long, and I would like to see the bullet loaded deeper just as a matter of the bullet being more secure in the case... that and it just looks funny.

I hope to post a picture tonight.

 

[zonker5]

Measured 8 factory 115 grain Gold Dot hollow points, OAL runs 1.1190" - 1.1255".

Case length runs 0.7385" - 0.7450".

Hope this helps.

 

[WR Moore]

Long ago I established 1.090 as the OAL for most 9 mm*. Has fed without issue in several makes/models. But, that's generally using truncated cone/flat point bullets, many JHPs will seat to the same depth without adjusting the seating die. And, if you're into economy, the powder charge is generally a tenth or two less for the same velocity.

*That happened to be the OAL on Remington 115 gr JHP, now termed the HTP (high terminal performance) round. Feeds in everything that'll feed ball.

 

[Warren Sear]

Here is a picture of my ammo. From left to right:
A Speer God Dot 115 grain hollowpoint bullet, the same bullet loaded to 1.125" cartridge overall length, and for comparison, a Hornady 125 grain hollowpoint loaded to the Hornady recommend 1.060" C.O.L.

 

[Warren Sear]

My factory box is at 1.12" OAL.

I tried the 115 & 124 Gold Dots in Federal cases at a OAL of 1.08 & 1.10"
but had fail to feed, eject and poor accuracy in test with all my 9mm pistols
from 3 to 5" barrels and different makers.

The JHP nose at 1.12" OAL is set by the factory, at this length, for a reason, I would think.

Thank you. Just to confirm, you have measured factory loaded Speer Gold Dot 115 grain JHP at 1.12" OAL?

 

[Warren Sear]

Measured 8 factory 115 grain Gold Dot hollow points, OAL runs 1.1190" - 1.1255".

Case length runs 0.7385" - 0.7450".

Hope this helps.

Yes, that helps a lot. Thank you for the information.

 

[Warren Sear]

For what it's worth, my hand loaded Hornady 125 grain hollowpoint ammo, as shown in the picture above, loaded to 1.060" C.O.L. functions flawlessly in ALL of my 9mm pistols. I bought 500 of the 115 grain Speer hollowpoint bullets at my LGS last weekend and wanted to try a batch soon. I have heard a lot of good about these bullets but haven't found any for sale (when I was wanting to buy, anyway), so I am eager to give these a try.

 

[Homie]

FWIW-Speer #15 says the same thing.

 

[Nevada Ed]

Thank you. Just to confirm, you have measured factory loaded Speer Gold Dot 115 grain JHP at 1.12" OAL?

****

Here is a picture of my minimum and maximum OAL's
that was tested in my C9, 3.5" 9mm pistol.

I matched the Factory length of 1.12" that my two ammo boxes had
since they had no failures to eject and had the best accuracy, for me.

I will note that with Gold Dot & HST SD ammo, that I found that
there will be ammo that is lighter and heavier in a box.
I save the heavier for "Work" and use the lighter loads for target use.

You need to see what OAL works for each load and pistol it is used in.
I found that the very short OAL, works best with fine grain or ball powders, for me.

As mention in my earlier post, the Gold Dot at a OAL of 1.08"
did not work for me
but it may for others.

 

[Warren Sear]

****

...I matched the Factory length of 1.12" that my two ammo boxes had since they had no failures to eject and had the best accuracy, for me...

I do not understand; how would cartridge length effect ejection? Did you mean to refer to feeding?

 

[2wheels]

1.123 9mm Gold Dot 115g.

 

[Warren Sear]

****

...You need to see what OAL works for each load and pistol it is used in..

I have never liked the idea of having separate ammo for different pistols of the same caliber. I only load ammo that will work in all of my pistols of a given caliber. Factories do not load like this, and I don't see a need for it either.

If I had a pistol that did not work with standard spec ammo, I would get it fixed.

 

[Warren Sear]

Thank you all for your input. I very much appreciate it, and it all has been very helpful.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I do not understand; how would cartridge length effect ejection? Did you mean to refer to feeding?

Problems with both.

A 3" Kahr, C9 3.5", S&W 4", Sig 4" and a PT5" were all used,
all have been broken in with at least 500 rounds.

These were "Stock" pistols out of their box from the factory.
The recoil spring might not have been correct for the fps.
My loads matched the fps of the factory Speer ammo.

It had its good and bad points.
Some pistols like the 115 gr, while some did better with the heavier 124 gr Gold Dot.

I prefer the Federal HST in my 9mm pistols for SD work.

 

[Warren Sear]

I loaded 4 test cartridges and fired them in my private shooting range (aka my basement) tonight. No surprises. Everything worked just fine.

From the Speer #14 book, I used the maximum load of 6.7 grains of Power Pistol with 115 grain Gold Dot hollowpoint bullets. I loaded to an overall length of 1.120", and used a slight taper crimp.

Range is only 5 yards.

I plan to load about 90 and shoot them at the gun range in a few days.

I really appreciate all of the responses I received to my question.

P.S. My gun is rated for +P ammo.