.284 with long OAL

[wboggs]

What is the experience of loading the long 1.5" Berger 180s to the base of the neck and having a long OAL of almost 3.4". This would be used in a Rem. 700 LA with proper throating and loaded single shot.
Thanks for the feedback since I realize this is not a new idea.

 

[TonyR]

My COAL is 3.250 inches with the 180 gr Hybrid. At 3.500 inches, I doubt that much, if any, bullet shank would be in the neck. I doubt it would be a problem as long as the ammo didn't fall apart while you were loading the gun. I had excellent results with the 6mm 95 VLD barely in the neck in a long throated 6BR and also with 284s with zero neck tension. I think it would work fine as long as you have enough in the neck so you could do every shot the same.

 

[wboggs]

The Berger is 0.22" base to shank and the .284 neck is 0.285" which would leave 0.065" in the neck. I could seat a little deeper to have 0.1" or so for a little safety margin. Are you happy with your long seating?
Thanks for your response.
Bill

 

[TonyR]

Very happy with mine. I really like the Hybrid bullets. I would recommend that you make up a dummy cartridge with the exact type of bullet you plan to use then let your gunsmith look at it. My smith has throating reamer and he can give me extra freebore if I want it. In my experience, you may find 0.020 inches bearing surface difference between lots of Bergers and I have had an 0.040 inch bearing surface difference between the longest VLD BS and the shortest Hybrid BS. So don't cut it too close. You could also try sizing a small portion of the neck and perhaps get a similar result. I would like to hear how all of this works out. It is an interesting area for exploration, IMHO.

 

[wboggs]

I load the cartdridge based on measurement of the case base to ogive so they are the same distance from the rifling even thought the overall length will vary. Agree with some room for error. Also, I don't like to jam them. We were shooting in the rain one day and my buddy had to extract a round and the bullet stayed in with wet powder in his trigger. Needless to stay, it wasn't pretty. I'm glad to see Berger making more bullets that shoot well at 01-.02 off. Bryan Litz has been invaluable for Berger
This is a future project but I value your input.
Thanks again.
Bill Boggs