Distance from lands to start out?

[Lefty Trigger]

I bought the tools needed to find the distance to the lands as well as measure the bullet properly from the ogive. What would be a good distance to start from? Some have said .050 and others say .020. I took apart a factory loaded Hornady round and measured it and with my rifle the factory rounds are .081 off the lands.

 

[22DASHER]

Start in the lands with square marks on the bullet which is about .015-.020”. Then you only have one place to go which is out....most likely you will end up right back to where you started.

 

[pacificman]

I usually start at about .005 to .010 then then work with different seating depths both ways for final load.
I think 22DASHER has the best idea though and I just might start in the lands next time and just see how
quick I might find a good load that way next time. Most all my rifles like a bit of jump for best accuracy.

 

[ShootDots]

I bought the tools needed to find the distance to the lands as well as measure the bullet properly from the ogive. What would be a good distance to start from? Some have said .050 and others say .020. I took apart a factory loaded Hornady round and measured it and with my rifle the factory rounds are .081 off the lands.

I believe it largely depends on the bullet you are using. Berger Hybrids typically will be about 15-18 thousandths off the lands. Most VLDs will either like to be "about" 10-15 INTO the lands, on occasion they might like it just a few thousandths off 2-4.. Some VERY SLEEK tangent ogive bullets like to be slightly "set into" the lands, maybe 7-8 thousandths. Typical of this is the Berger 140 Long Range Boat Tail, and the Berger 108 Boat Tail. At least this is what I have found as a "general" rule.. But as you know, every barrel is a life unto itself..

 

[Shynloco]

I bought the tools needed to find the distance to the lands as well as measure the bullet properly from the ogive. What would be a good distance to start from? Some have said .050 and others say .020. I took apart a factory loaded Hornady round and measured it and with my rifle the factory rounds are .081 off the lands.

Lefty,
Not sure a factory Hornady round its the best and most reliable ammo to try and figure out where to start your seating. Bet if you measured the rest of the ammo in that box, they'd vary pretty heavily. But more importantly and you may be aware, factory ammo are usually set to meet SAAMI specs. SO do you happen to know if your rifle likes a jump or the jam? You didn't mention what caliber your rifle is so as a general rule, play it safe and start at .020 off the rifling. Then load 3 groups of three rds and shoot them and see what the groups look like @100 yds. Repeat the process after moving .005 closer to the rifling and so on until as the groups get better/tighter. If they are opening up, then move .005 away from the rifling using your starting measurement. Some rifles like the jump and some the jam. I've had both but one thing is for sure, your rifle will tell you what you need to know. As an aside (and you may have guessed), I'm not Hornady fan....too much variation from bullet to bullet. Shot a ton of them over the years and found much better elsewhere. I'd give either Sierra or Berger a try for better consistency from bullet to bullet. Just my .02 worth.

Alex

 

[noload]

High BC bullets like it very close to touching, to a little jam. Fat bullets like more jump. You don't need any tools to find where your bullet touches the lands, just the comparitor to measure it.

 

[Lefty Trigger]

Lefty,
Not sure a factory Hornady round its the best and most reliable ammo to try and figure out where to start your seating. Bet if you measured the rest of the ammo in that box, they'd vary pretty heavily. But more importantly and you may be aware, factory ammo are usually set to meet SAAMI specs. SO do you happen to know if your rifle likes a jump or the jam? You didn't mention what caliber your rifle is so as a general rule, play it safe and start at .020 off the rifling. Then load 3 groups of three rds and shoot them and see what the groups look like @100 yds. Repeat the process after moving .005 closer to the rifling and so on until as the groups get better/tighter. If they are opening up, then move .005 away from the rifling using your starting measurement. Some rifles like the jump and some the jam. I've had both but one thing is for sure, your rifle will tell you what you need to know. As an aside (and you may have guessed), I'm not Hornady fan....too much variation from bullet to bullet. Shot a ton of them over the years and found much better elsewhere. I'd give either Sierra or Berger a try for better consistency from bullet to bullet. Just my .02 worth.

Alex

I'm loading for .243 and just used the Hornady factory round to get an idea. The bullets I'm going to be using are Hornady bullets, 87gr V-max's. Most here seem to be pushing towards the .020 mark for starting so I think I'll start there.

 

[Lefty Trigger]

High BC bullets like it very close to touching, to a little jam. Fat bullets like more jump. You don't need any tools to find where your bullet touches the lands, just the comparitor to measure it.

I bought the COL gauge and the comparator set.

 

[fyrewall]

I think this is something that needs to be determined by trial and error and recommendations don't mean very much. Chambers differ having different leade angles and leades are subject to erosion.

Possibly, starting out so the bullets just touch and then backing off a bit might work. I usually load all bullets so they just touch then back off somewhat being aware that bullet profiles vary (tangent or secant) and VLD or whatever. I have had excellent accuracy using stubby bullets that come no where near touching in rifles normally used with long pointy bullets. Also bullet profiles may vary even with bullets in the same box.

How good is the chamber in your rifle?

 

[Lefty Trigger]

I think this is something that needs to be determined by trial and error and recommendations don't mean very much. Chambers differ having different leade angles and leades are subject to erosion.

Possibly, starting out so the bullets just touch and then backing off a bit might work. I usually load all bullets so they just touch then back off somewhat being aware that bullet profiles vary (tangent or secant) and VLD or whatever. I have had excellent accuracy using stubby bullets that come no where near touching in rifles normally used with long pointy bullets. Also bullet profiles may vary even with bullets in the same box.

How good is the chamber in your rifle?

New rifle never fired yet.
I have found that as mentioned above the Hornady bullets do vary wildly? With a micrometer seating die I'm finding the seating depths varying by as much 3-5 thousandths in either direction. Maybe a different brand is in order....

 

[BradY]

In a hunting rifle, jump the bullets. Start at 10 thou off and work back. If it’s a factory barrel and chamber with potentially a generous freebore you may have to live with a fair jump. Make sure there is enough bullet in the neck too, don’t want them coming apart in the field from a bit of rough transport.

 

[Clancy]

Target rifle: 10 in

PRS/hunting: 5 off

That’s just what I would do.

I find almost all VLD bullets will shoot 5 in or hybrids and stuff 20 off.

I will not hunt with a round that is jammed. Not no way, not no how.

 

[Chfcemerson]

Alex Wheeler has a great youtube video about finding the lands. Bear in mind that coal measurements will be different from one bullet model to another. I have always found that starting just barely off the lands is the best place to start. This is only one part of getting an accurate load, powder and powder charges as well as neck tension can have just as much or more in the equation than seating depth.

 

[dolek]

New rifle never fired yet.
I have found that as mentioned above the Hornady bullets do vary wildly? With a micrometer seating die I'm finding the seating depths varying by as much 3-5 thousandths in either direction. Maybe a different brand is in order....

What is your,just changing the length of factory ammo?

 

[Richard Coody]

New rifle never fired yet.
I have found that as mentioned above the Hornady bullets do vary wildly? With a micrometer seating die I'm finding the seating depths varying by as much 3-5 thousandths in either direction. Maybe a different brand is in order....

what is your intended use for this rifle and your accuracy expectations.

hornady bullets are a price point bullet. take a box and weigh sort them and then sort by base to ogive and you will see what i mean. Now that said many get great accuracy from them.

a good method for finding a rough seating depth especially if you are needing a mag.length coal is in the link below. with my target rifles i start with a .010 to .020 jam and work out in .005 increments.

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

 

[hogpatrol]

I start the tangents with .005 into the lands and work back. They usually like a jump or right at the lands. VLDs and Hybrids, I start at .020 in and work back. They usually like being jammed. As others have posted, using factory ammo made on a machine with blended powder to fit every brand of rifle isn't going to help much in developing a starting load.

 

[Zero333]

For Target rifles I do what 22DASHER said.
I start 0.020" in the lands.
Once I get my powder charge dialed in I play with the seating depth. And most of the time end up right where I started depth wise.

For hunting I start with a 0.020" jump. After finding the right powder charge weight I increase the jump in 0.005" increments till something looks good or I go back to where I started. Jumping 0.020".

 

[fguffey]

I bought the tools needed to find the distance to the lands as well as measure the bullet properly from the ogive. What would be a good distance to start from? Some have said .050 and others say .020. I took apart a factory loaded Hornady round and measured it and with my rifle the factory rounds are .081 off the lands.

.081" off the lands? Accuracy, It seems the first thing a reloader would determine is the distance from the bolt face to the rifling. I determine the distance first before I start reloading, I have found chambers that were so long from the bolt face to the beginning if the rifling the bullet came out of the case before it contacted the rifling. I did not build that rifle, the builder that did asked me how something like that could happen and I said; "I do not know" he made the chamber reamer.

F. Guffey

 

[dsculley]

Read the Berger Seating Depth Test. Load your rounds for the test and shoot them. I highly recommend you shoot them "round robin". After you run this test, you can tweak seating depth by running another test above and below the best group in the Berger test in .005" increments. This is the fastest way I know for finding seating depth. After you test for your charge and settle on your charge weight, you may need to test seating depth in small increments again to fine tune your load.

 

[Lefty Trigger]

.081" off the lands? Accuracy, It seems the first thing a reloader would determine is the distance from the bolt face to the rifling. I determine the distance first before I start reloading, I have found chambers that were so long from the bolt face to the beginning if the rifling the bullet came out of the case before it contacted the rifling. I did not build that rifle, the builder that did asked me how something like that could happen and I said; "I do not know" he made the chamber reamer.

F. Guffey

I took the measurements with each bullet I will be loading for my rifle and the 75gr Vmax is touching the lands at 2.213 and the 87gr Vmax is at 2.228. That .081 measurement is a factory loaded round from Hornady. I took a round apart to use the bullet for measuring and found that those factory rounds are set at .081 off the lands in my rifle. Pretty big jump but safe I guess for factory loads since they have no way of know what type of gun they will end up in.