berger 80vld in ar 15, not enough bullet in case neck to reach lands?

[sbetts]

so i am working up some berger 80 vld for my ar15 and my chamber is long. Im not sure if its the shape of the vld my chamber or a combination of both. But to reach the lands with the vld's it seems like there is not going to be enough bullet seated in the case. its only roughly .116 inch in the case thats the part held in by neck tension. plus the boat tail length but that is not under tension. This was verified by measuring a chamber cast and by an oal guage.

so is there a rule of thumb of how much bullet should be in the neck under tension for safe operation? like at least the diameter of the bullet .224 deep being held in by the neck/

thanks
Scott

 

[fl3gun]

I have shot many thousands of Berger VLD's in my .223 and 6mm AR15 spacegun highpower match rifles. In every barrel I found I got significantly better results at 600 yards by jumping the VLD's about .045 off the lands. Follow the load test advice on Berger's web page and find a sweet spot off the lands. The force of the AR bolt slamming home into battery will FUBAR any attempt you have made to load good quality ammo that has jammed bullets. Been there done that!

 

[Taildrag15X]

For my bolt guns I use the 1/3 diameter rule, as in I have at least .080 of the bearing surface in the neck. With my 1-7" Krieger I set up for both Berger and Sierra 77, 80 & 90gr. bullets, it's throated long so the powder will fit without being compressed.

 

[HighOre]

I wanted a better method to Chamber Cast my AR- uppers, so.
I found it. It avoids over pouring into the recessed lugs. I bought
it at Home Depot for $4.18. In the toilet aisle.
It has a built in funnel, and I cut it down to a 12" length.
NOW, if any casting metal cools and sticks in it, I just heat it up
til it drips out. SEE;
https://www.homedepot.com/p/3-8-in-O-D-x-20-in-Copper-Toilet-Riser-1-20DL-CF/100202750

 

[HighOre]

I edited the picture above to this;

 

[barefooter56]

so i am working up some berger 80 vld for my ar15 and my chamber is long. Im not sure if its the shape of the vld my chamber or a combination of both. But to reach the lands with the vld's it seems like there is not going to be enough bullet seated in the case. its only roughly .116 inch in the case thats the part held in by neck tension. plus the boat tail length but that is not under tension. This was verified by measuring a chamber cast and by an oal guage.

so is there a rule of thumb of how much bullet should be in the neck under tension for safe operation? like at least the diameter of the bullet .224 deep being held in by the neck/

thanks
Scott

Scott,
With the type of rifle you have 1-2 calibers of bearing length is what is needed for proper retention of the bullet in the neck. Your .116 is about half on 1 caliber. PLEASE SEE our VLD BULLET SEATING DEPTH TESTING INFO HERE ( use the hunting version) https://bergerbullets.com/vld-making-shoot/