Can a bullet be seated too far up the neck?

[mattri]

In a plain jane shouldered cartridge, .243, .308, .30-06 etc if the base of the bullet does not extend below the entire neck does this cause any problems?

 

[jo191145]

Absolutely not.

IMO Just the opposite in fact. Theres nothing below the neck but trouble
Donuts, lost volumne and early pressure signs.
Must make the distinction between boat tail and Flat base. What really counts is bearing surface.
I personally don't like to see my bearing surface anywhere near future donuts.

 

[gambleone]

I agree with Joe. But watch if you're too far out & you jam the bullet, it may stay jammed & when you eject, you dumped your powder in your action. I've had some 40 gr in a 22-250 only about 2mm without any problem. (throat too deep, can't reach lands). I could reach lands with the 5o grs though.

 

[NorCalMikie]

The more bullet you have in the neck now, the more you'll be able to have as the throat gets longer when you try to reach the lands. Flat base bullets won't contact the powder charge where a longer boat tail might. It's all trial and error.
I've had short bullets that you could almost pull out if the neck because they were seated so short
but they would still shoot bug holes. Depends on your rig and what it likes.

 

[Laurie]

If the rifle has a really slack chamber in the neck section area, as you often find in old military rifles that were designed to function with dirty, damaged or out of spec ammo, you can have problems. I once loaded expensive Norma 0.303" British brass for a straight-pull Ross Mk3 service rifle with 150gn flat-base bullets seated so their bases were only around a third way down the neck. The particular powder and charge I used expanded the lower section of the case-neck fully out to the chamber before the bullet moved and split most of them, but only in the lower section. There was also a noticeable two-diameter effect left on the neck of the fired brass.

This was an extreme example and wouldn't apply to any normal situation. I think it was also caused by the powder that seemed to produce high pressures with low velocities and didn't suit the application. I've since loaded many rounds for better toleranced rifles where the case barely held the bullet without problems. I think you wouldn't want to reduce the neck diameter too much though before seating the bullet - you don't want to see a noticeable step where the bullet base sits. This applies to any bullet seating depth however if you want good results and brass life.

Laurie,
York, England

 

[mattri]

Thanks to all who replied.