Bullet Length List?

[Brian Albin]

Is a list online of bullet lengths so I might use a rifling calculator to determine the necessary pitch for stability without first buying a box of bullets to measure one?
I tried the websites of Speer, Hornady & Sierra and did not find the bullet lengths stated.

[312shooter]

I have never witnessed one, a more effective and low cost approach may be to ask what bullets would work well in your rifle, include barrel twist of course. Lots of experience around here, bet you'd have a good suggestion in no time.

[gdmoody]

Every manual has a overall length for every bullet. Even the online manuals will have the COL or the OAL listed. I don't know if that is what you are looking for or not.

[JLA]

Nah George hes needing the length of the actual projectile for calculating required twist.

Best bet is to create a thread here and let members that shoot the bullets your are wanting to use measure and post the measurements.

In fact, im liking this idea so much ill get the ball rolling. Ill make the thread and stick it up top. Then Ill add the lengths and calibers of the bullets I reload. I am a target shooter so lots of target bullets to list.

[JLA]

Ah.. Thread made and stickied.
http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/showthread.php?t=112533

[LDBennett]

In place of real bullets to measure, I have used the advertising chart by the different manufacturers that show pictures of all the bullets they make or the pictures for the bullets in manuals. While the pictures are not necessarily to scale, you can determine the bullet length by scaling it based on the measurement on the picture of the diameter of the bullet. It is simply a ratio. This is accurate enough to do the Greenhill formula calculation. It is not sufficient to measure bullets of one weight and assume all bullets of that weight will be the same length. The ogive chosen by the manufacture, the shape of the bullet base, and the makeup of the bullet tip all influence the length. You need to measure (or do the scaling thing from pictures) to get an accurate length measurement for barrel twist calculations.

Be aware that while theoretically too fast of a twist for a particular bullet (over stabilization) is deemed OK, it is not necessarily so in reality. The spin RPM's are huge and if the bullet is not made to sustain that fast spinning, it will fly apart before reaching the target. This is not folklore as I have had it happen to me (223 caliber 55 grain run-of-the-mill hunting bullets in a 7.5 inch twist barrel). Only reducing the load level (bullet velocity) and picking a better bullet (varmint bullet) allows the gun to shoot 55 grainers but they do not shoot nearly as accurately as the correct longer bullets for the gun's twist.

LDBennett

[JLA]

Yep. A bullet performs best at its ideal twist requirement. Doesnt mean it wont shoot well from a faster one, but itll shoot best from the right one. All you need to do is take note of your velocity range and twist rate and select a bullet that will need close to your rifles twist rate at that velocity

[Brian Albin]

Originally Posted by JLA

I'm liking this idea so much ill get the ball rolling. Ill make the thread and stick it up top.

That's what I like! Thank you JLA.