Seating depth question

[Dave M.]

I assume given the caliber you are shooting that you are not a benchrest or long-range F class type shooter.

I have never nor will I ever seat bullets closer than .010" from the lands and often more than that if necessary to fit the magazine and / or to have sufficient bullet length inside the case neck to provide adequate bullet tension. Typical guidance on this depth is one bullet diameter minimum minus the boat tail portion.

There is absolutely no reason in my opinion to seat a bullet close to the lands for of a high-performance hunting cartridge or for that matter any cartridge intended for hunting or general use.

I know many may disagree with the aforementioned position and that' fine but I consider safety and reliability very important. You don't want to have a bullet stick in the lands when you eject a live cartridge, and you are many miles away from your truck or create a high-pressure surge from the bullet being forced into the lands.

I think you’d be surprised where most F class guys are seating with respect to hard jam and/or the lands. I’ve never found a single load in any of our guns that will shoot its best from jumping bullets.

 

[K22]

I think you’d be surprised where most F class guys are seating with respect to hard jam and/or the lands. I’ve never found a single load in any of our guns that will shoot its best from jumping bullets.

As I said in the post, I presumed, given the caliber, that the OP was NOT a long-range type F Class shooter. If I was in that sport which I am not nor do I have any interest in, I would try to emulate, within the bounds of safety, the practices of the championship shooters, they obviously know what they are doing; I think.

I know I am not the "sharpest pencil in the box" with it come to the shooting sports but I don't understand why any hunter or recreational shooter would choose to jam bullets into the lands.

Also, based in what I see on the net and what I have observed at the ranges over the last 50 years, nothing would surprise me.

 

[Dave M.]

As I said in the post, I presumed, given the caliber, that the OP was NOT a long-range type F Class shooter. If I was in that sport which I am not nor do I have any interest in, I would try to emulate, within the bounds of safety, the practices of the championship shooters, they obviously know what they are doing; I think.

I know I am not the "sharpest pencil in the box" with it come to the shooting sports but I don't understand why any hunter or recreational shooter would choose to jam bullets into the lands.

Also, based in what I see on the net and what I have observed at the ranges over the last 50 years, nothing would surprise me.

I would absolutely NEVER load any hunting rifle into the lands, in fact, most times it isn’t even possible because the factory hunting throats are so long. I was speaking generally in terms of precision rifle shooting. My bad and please forgive me if I misunderstood what you said. That is on me. Sorry again brother.
Dave

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Well, I shot it today and it shoots pretty good with the VLDs, better than I remember. Around 3/4”. I just ordered 2 boxes of Sierra pro hunters. We’ll see how they shoot. They are flat base, so I bet they will be accurate. This is a Remington factory rifle, Boone and Crocket special run, with a skinny fluted barrel. It is a hunting rifle for me, so the VLDs are accurate enough for me, but not sure if I care for the terminal performance that I have experienced. To be fair, I have only shot 2 deer with the VLDs. Most of the time with my other rifles, I use ABs or BTs, or if they don’t shoot, I will try Hornady or these VLDs. Something will always work.
i guess sometimes I expect too much accuracy after shooting my custom rifles.

What was the performance problem with the Berger hunting bullets? They have (for me) performed as specified wound channel starts after 2" of penetration and up to 15" deep.

 

[bozo699]

BTW, i paid $45/box for the Pro Hunters. That’s crazy!

Pretty much the norm
Wayne

 

[K22]

I would absolutely NEVER load any hunting rifle into the lands, in fact, most times it isn’t even possible because the factory hunting throats are so long. I was speaking generally in terms of precision rifle shooting. My bad and please forgive me if I misunderstood what you said. That is on me. Sorry again brother.
Dave

No problem, no offense. I respect the discipline and the meticulousness of ultra precision shooters (i.e. benchrest and F class long range). I once was a competitor myself, quite obsessed with it, NRA Precision pistol and Hunter Pistol Silhouette. I also shot some three-position small bore rifle many years ago.

Now I am just a recreational precision shooter meaning I just don't blast away indiscriminately at steel gongs, I actually try to hit a small bullseye in slow carefully aimed fire, off my shooting cross sticks in practice range session tuning myself for varmint and predator hunting which is my passion these days.

I understand that ultra-precision shooters employ advanced techniques to be competitive using advanced and customized rifles. What concerns me is shooters like me, trying to employ these advanced techniques is the hopes of squeezing a few .1's reduction in group size at the sacrifice of safety and reliability.

When I read of fellow shooters jamming bullets into the lands it gives me the hives. Of course I am not talking about highly experienced competitors.

Take care and good shooting.

 

[wright brothers]

If seating out close to the rifling for a hunting rig is bad,
I've been bad a few thousand times.

 

[El Matador]

I have a Rem 700 in 270 WSM. It was the first rifle I really tried to squeeze accuracy out of. I went to the range many times, tried several bullets and a few powders, neck turning, weight sorting, etc etc. It would shoot under 1 MOA with perfect handloads. Then I decided to have a good barrel put on it. Day 1 at the range I was shooting under 1 MOA, and after finding a good load it shoots reliably under 1/2 MOA. This from a hunting rifle and I'm not the best marksman. To answer your question about jump, I'm shooting the 150 grain Nosler BTs and jumping them around 0.040"

 

[Dave M.]

No problem, no offense. I respect the discipline and the meticulousness of ultra precision shooters (i.e. benchrest and F class long range). I once was a competitor myself, quite obsessed with it, NRA Precision pistol and Hunter Pistol Silhouette. I also shot some three-position small bore rifle many years ago.

Now I am just a recreational precision shooter meaning I just don't blast away indiscriminately at steel gongs, I actually try to hit a small bullseye in slow carefully aimed fire, off my shooting cross sticks in practice range session tuning myself for varmint and predator hunting which is my passion these days.

I understand that ultra-precision shooters employ advanced techniques to be competitive using advanced and customized rifles. What concerns me is shooters like me, trying to employ these advanced techniques is the hopes of squeezing a few .1's reduction in group size at the sacrifice of safety and reliability.

When I read of fellow shooters jamming bullets into the lands it gives me the hives. Of course I am not talking about highly experienced competitors.

Take care and good shooting.

I’m an F class guy through and through and while some of us are truly remarkable shooters, I have always been impressed by the sling shooters and what they are capable of. True skill. I think I possess far greater skill behind the reloading bench than I do behind the rifle. lol

 

[Dave M.]

If seating out close to the rifling for a hunting rig is bad,
I've been bad a few thousand times.

Unless you have a custom hunting rifle, on a new aftermarket barrel with a shorter throat, it is damn near impossible to load a magazine fed hunting rifle into the lands. You’d likely have the bullets damn near falling out of the brass and still be 50-70 thou short of the rifling.