I am having a Kimber Montana 25-06 re-barreled to 25-06AI. The new barrel will be a Broughton 1:8 twist. The gun will be used for hunting antelope through mule deer in the Rocky Mountain west. I am not looking for bench rest competition accuracy, but I do want an accurate hunting rifle. And, I am not going to be shooting past 500 yards, so I don't have much interest in the heavy-for-caliber bullets with the super high BCs. I am more interested in speed and flat trajectory.
The gunsmith asked me to send in a dummy round loaded with the bullet I plan to shoot seated at the depth I want, and he will cut the chamber accordingly. In particular, the gunsmith will cut throat depth based on my dummy cartridge. I've never done this, before, so any advise will be appreciated.
Gunsmith advised to choose bullet seating depth so:
1) a loaded cartridge will fit in the magazine box (obviously, but I'd forget if not reminded);
2) the bullet doesn't protrude into the case too much, which would reduce available powder volume;
3) I've got some "reserve" bullet shank/case neck engagement to chase the lands as they erode with use (i.e., the opposite consideration of #3).
I've got two candidate bullets in mind; Sledge Hammer 98gn (top), and Hammer Hunter 103gn (bottom). In the photo, below, are the aforementioned bullets, a 25-06 case, and a pair of calipers extended to the length of the magazine box.

Looks like I got plenty of length to the magazine, so I don't have to worry about that as a constraint. Next, my thought is to position the bullet's shank/boattail junction about 0.100" below the case's shoulder/neck junction as the best compromise between #2 and #3.
Comments and/or suggestions?
The gunsmith asked me to send in a dummy round loaded with the bullet I plan to shoot seated at the depth I want, and he will cut the chamber accordingly. In particular, the gunsmith will cut throat depth based on my dummy cartridge. I've never done this, before, so any advise will be appreciated.
Gunsmith advised to choose bullet seating depth so:
1) a loaded cartridge will fit in the magazine box (obviously, but I'd forget if not reminded);
2) the bullet doesn't protrude into the case too much, which would reduce available powder volume;
3) I've got some "reserve" bullet shank/case neck engagement to chase the lands as they erode with use (i.e., the opposite consideration of #3).
I've got two candidate bullets in mind; Sledge Hammer 98gn (top), and Hammer Hunter 103gn (bottom). In the photo, below, are the aforementioned bullets, a 25-06 case, and a pair of calipers extended to the length of the magazine box.

Looks like I got plenty of length to the magazine, so I don't have to worry about that as a constraint. Next, my thought is to position the bullet's shank/boattail junction about 0.100" below the case's shoulder/neck junction as the best compromise between #2 and #3.
Comments and/or suggestions?
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