Appropriate COAL for 162gr ELD-Match in 284 SAAMI Chamber?

[joje]

Hi All,

I'm in the process of ordering a 284 barrel for a short action savage. Custom barrels with non-SAAMI chamber dimensions are new to me and I have a lot of probably stupid questions about it, but I think I'll start by cutting to the chase and ask what i REALLY want to know:

Does anyone have an idea what approximate COAL I would be looking at loading 162gr Hornady ELD-Match (or 162gr AMAX) if I was to seat it right up against the lands in a SAAMI chamber? (which, interestingly, doesn't seem to have any freebore at all and a relatively long leade instead)

I'd like to be able to seat said 162gr bullets no longer than 3.1" (but preferably not a whole lot shorter either) with no more than .05" jump and I'm trying to figure out how the SAAMI chamber will accomodate that and, if it won't, wether I need a deeper or shallower throat.

 

[normmatzen]

SAAMI 284 WIN drawing.

 

[joje]

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, it doesn't make me a lot wiser

The SAAMI image attached above does show a conventional freebore+lead chamber, however SAAMI's website (page 286):

http://saami.org/specifications_and...ns/download/Z299-4_ANSI-SAAMI_CFR.pdf#page=13

shows a chamber without *no* freebore and a very generous 0.5241" leade instead! Not sure what to make out of this

I need to provide the smith with info on how much freebore I want. I know a lot of f-class shooters use as much as .180 - .200, but they are shooting 180gr bullets with very long COAL since they use long actions. My action is limiting me to an absolute max COAL of 3.15" (and i'd like to keep it to no more than 3.1") and because of that probably not heavier than 162 eld-m or 168gr vld bullets tops. I suspect standard SAAMI chambering - if there is such a thing - may be to short since its made to accomodate cartridges no longer than 2.8"

I appreciate any guidance on this.

 

[oldroper]

I have Hornady new manual and 284 C.O.L with 162gr ELD-M/E is 2.995". The used custom T/C Encore. this is old post from here and I'm sure some comment on it.

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/freebore-on-284-win.2673422/

 

[ebb]

Why don't you do as most of custom rifle market did in years gone by. Take the bullet and case you want to use, them load (bullet and case no powder or primer) it the length you want it so it will fit in your action (some even want to feed from a magazine so you could make loaded cases that have a little room so they don't bind in the magazine box). Send several of these to the smith and tell him you want the bullet to be touching the lands. When the rifle comes home to you load another dummy or two like the first few only .005 longer and when you chamber they should have marks from the rifling on the bullet if the don't the smith has some explaining to do

 

[joje]

Thanks for the answers guys!

oldroper: I did actually look at that thread prior to creating this one. It contains a lot of good information, but even though it never mentions what actions are being used or any max COAL restrictions, I suspect they are all long-actions and therefore isn't directly applicable to my case. Still, your suggestion made me realize i should have used the search function more, and in doing so I stumbled on a thread covering appropriate freebore in a short action intended for 162gr amax :

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/284-win-short-action-freebore.3915859/

I'm a little surprised by his findings: with a .220" freebore, a 3.060" COAL 162gr amax load ends up right in the lands), But these were exactly the sort of numbers I was looking for.

ebb: I really liked this idea of yours, so I called him up and asked if I could do that instead of specifying freebore numerically, and he basically responded that was what he expected me to do all along. Doh! Did I mention I've never ordered had a custom barrel made before?