New Pistol Shooter - Looking for Guidance on Handloading

First topic message reminder :

Greetings everyone. I'm starting to shoot pistol and have mainly shot 22s. I have a 45, and want to start working with that. I am an experienced, competitive rifleman, so I have a basic understanding of handloading. I have also loaded a lot of .40 SW in the past. I understand the basics pretty well. As I have begun to research loads for bullseye, I haven't found a lot of material available for loads. And, of course it is preferable to use light-recoiling loads which aren't necessarily those listed in manuals. I will be shooting the 45 for centerfire and 45, and a Smith M 14, 38 special for revolver matches.

One thing I can't figure out, how do I determine the best OAL for a pistol load? It seems that there are some rules of thumb for this, and I don't know what they are or how to do this right. The manuals don't seem to be all that helpful with this. How do I figure this out for both the 45 auto and the 38 revolver?

I will be shooting 185 lead semi wad cutters and 185 jacketed hollow points in the 45 with bullseye. What is a good target velocity? Is there any benefit to using a lead hollow point wad cutter? What are typical loads, with bullseye powder, for these bullets?

I will be shooting 158 lead semi wad cutters in the 38. What is a good target velocity? What are typical loads with bullseye powder?

Thank you in advance.

This is a factory Magtech 158 gr lead rn cartridge of current manufacture. Bs0324 L-1038

The measured OAL is 1.530 inches.

The factory specs as printed on the box are MV=754 fps velocities from a 4" vented bbl.

My chronographing of these cartridges has put them in the 825-850 range.