Here is my tip on how to find ideal seating depth.

always funny to me to read these post. First thing i will say is whatever works for you.

this is a good method for the benchrest shooter. bet most that are disagreeing don't shoot consistent groups in the ones and twos.

with my bench guns i too start with a hard jam and work through load.development. then i back off .005 at a time. i have found secant ogive bullets like the VLD like the jam and the tangent ogive bullets like the MK are more forgiving about seating.depth and like a little jump. the new berger hybrids also like a little jump. now that is .005 off a hard jam so they still are probably touching. anyway after finding the magic seating depth i tweek my load a little.

for a hunting rifle where i need a mag length cartridge i use the berger test. quick and.dirty. fine tune afterwards. i found a seating depth for a 168 gr. VLD .130 off a hard jam one time. sounds crazy but it works.

http://www.bergerbullets.com/getting-the-best-precision-and-accuracy-from-vld-bullets-in-your-rifle/

 

@jamesdmock @Tim Singleton I was wondering these same things, if you don't mind...?

Thanks,

Monte

 

I'm not an expert but I noticed every group shifts the point of impact. Is this as important s group size?

 

tag

as has been mentioned, trying to load to the 'touch point' would seem to be, well, a little too touchy. we strive for conditions where the rate of change is minimized, and i can easily visualize a 'keep out zone' there and +/- a couple thou.

 

The gunsmith who built my first two custom guns once told me that he thought that nodes would sometimes repeat at about 30 thousandths intervals.
Some years later , a friend left a well built 308 with me as it shot factory loads well , and I suspected I could really get it to shoot.
I started 10 off the lands as it was clip fed and a hunting gun so I did not want it jammed. Found an excellent load, but too long for the clip.
Backed it out to 40 off and it went right back to shooting excellent groups and it allowed the bullets to feed through the magazine.
Not nearly enough evidence to prove the point, but the load may come back into tune as you back off the lands.

 

Im a fan of the running start.

(Sorry i just couldnt resist)

 

Here’s my tip, shoot and see