Seating depth

[Nick Caprinolo]

I am not sure I understand your problem. You are shooting a magazine,bolt action rifle. Saami spec's for that cartridge in 2.260 and you are saying that you are trying to load them to 2.245. That's .015 less than Saami spec's. this makes no sense to me.

All manufactures build their rifles magazine's a bit longer than Saami. You must be measuring something wrong. You don't give enough information here for us to help you.

What make and model rifle are you trying to load for? What is the powder you are loading and at what weight?

By the way, a 1/7 twist rate is a bit fast for the bullet. !/8 is more suited for that weight bullet.

 

[JB10]

I am not sure I understand your problem. You are shooting a magazine,bolt action rifle. Saami spec's for that cartridge in 2.60 and you are saying that you are trying to load them to 2.245. That's .015 less than Saami spec's. this makes no sense to me.

All manufactures build their rifles magazine's a bit longer than Saami. You must be measuring something wrong. You don't give enough information here for us to help you.

What make and model rifle are you trying to load for? What is the powder you are loading and at what weight?

By the way, a 1/7 twist rate is a bit fast for the bullet. !/8 is more suited for that weight bullet.

Saami spec is 2.260 not 2.600

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

Saami spec is 2.260 not 2.600

Thanks. I corrected it.

 

[Walt Krafft]

Many of the heavy for caliber bullets are too long to safely load to SAAMI length in some cartridges. That bullet will shoot fine from a 223 with a 7 twist, but it will not do so at magazine length. I am guessing that if it is close to the lands, it will be out to 2.4 to 2.500 depending on the throat.

 

[Whisky Tahoe Foxtrot]

You don’t need any tools to measure your seating depth, they’re nice to have but you have everything you need right in front of you. Strip your bolt And use the Alex wheeler method you can do a search on this site for that or you can search it on YouTube. Very easy to do.
Wayne

Actually in Chaser's defense, depending on the action, he might need the tool used to compress the firing pin spring to remove the pin assembly...but given the importance of knowing the location of the lands and the ease of using Wheeler Accuracy's method (more mission difficult for Savage) it is highly recommended that Chaser acquire that tool.

 

[bozo699]

Actually in Chaser's defense, depending on the action, he might need the tool used to compress the firing pin spring to remove the pin assembly...but given the importance of knowing the location of the lands and the ease of using Wheeler Accuracy's method (more mission difficult for Savage) it is highly recommended that Chaser acquire that tool.

WTF,
I Had to read your post a couple times trying to remember what rifle he said he had, I guess I just thought everyone had the Remington bolt shroud tool but you are correct I had to chuckle remembering back in my old sideband days in your usernames meaning!... I like that
Wayne

 

[KY_Windage]

Most of my bench rifles have magazines too short to allow the bullets/seat depth I want to shoot. I don't care because I a going to shoot them single-shot.

I sometimes even hunt with rounds I cannot get into a magazine, because they are the most accurate in the weight I want. I can work the bolt and push in a "follow-up" round pretty quick if needed. Goes even quicker if you have the SS follower in.

Prolly not what I'd carry in serious grizzly country, though.

 

[thatguyshm]

I have to second the question of rifle make and model. I've modified remington 700s pretty easily to take a longer OAL cartridge..

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

I am still at a loss as to what his problem There isn't a factory rifle that I know of that does not leave plenty of space to extend the bullet further than SAAMI.

He SAAMI for that round is .260 long. He says that he wants to load at .245 which is shorter than SAAMI, but it wont fit his magazine. How can that be?

 

[Walt Krafft]

I am still at a loss as to what his problem There isn't a factory rifle that I know of that does not leave plenty of space to extend the bullet further than SAAMI.

He SAAMI for that round is .260 long. He says that he wants to load at .245 which is shorter than SAAMI, but it wont fit his magazine. How can that be?

Nick, the problem is the bullet is sticking way too far into the case to get the round short enough to fit in the magazines.

 

[Ned Ludd]

This is a common problem with .223 Rem, and probably a lot of other commonly-used cartridges as well. The longer, heavier, higher BC bullets cannot be seated optimally in the case and still feed properly from a magazine. I think I'll let someone else debate whether that is an issue of mags and/or actions being made too short, factory rifles not being throated properly, or something else entirely. Nonetheless, it is commonplace to find factory rifles that won't allow you use the high BC bullets you'd really like because they will be too long to feed from a mag when seated optimally.

A reloader in this situation has a few different choices:

1) Use a shorter bullet that can be loaded to mag length and still be seated optimally in the case neck.

2) Load the longer bullet to mag length, accepting that the bullet shank will be seated well below the case neck/shoulder [Note: pull apart a factory 77 gr .223 round sometime; this is exactly what has been done]

3) Purchase a magazine that can accommodate longer loaded rounds, or modify an existing magazine.

4) single feed

There are probably a few other approaches. Any or all can work, it's up to the individual to decide what's best for them. Chaser - if you decide to go with route #2, simply determine the longest loaded round your magazine will feed reliably. Many use 2.260" as "mag length", but all magazines are not created equally. Set that specific COAL as your "max" or "baseline" value, then move the bullets incrementally farther off the lands during your seating depth testing. Yes - you'll be moving them even further into the case neck, but they'll still run reliably from a mag (i.e. they only get shorter, not longer). Seating depth is cyclic, so you're really just looking to optimize seating depth in the region where the bullets are seated pretty far down in the neck. Obviously, it will be neither the same seating depth, nor COAL, as for an optimized load you might generate if you were to decide on single feed as in option 4. Nonetheless, you can still find a seating depth that works by moving the bullet only in the direction farther away from the lands.

 

[Chaser]

Ok guys I got it figured out with yalls help. Im looking into the sierra bullets now in 69 grain and 77 they will fit in my mag with factory specs and Im probably just going to go ahead and load these for single shot feeding for dinging steel. Thanks everyone! Now that I read in the hornady manual its clear as day that these wont work to magazine length but hey I dont read instructions who really does anyways!

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

Ok guys I got it figured out with yalls help. Im looking into the sierra bullets now in 69 grain and 77 they will fit in my mag with factory specs and Im probably just going to go ahead and load these for single shot feeding for dinging steel. Thanks everyone! Now that I read in the hornady manual its clear as day that these wont work to magazine length but hey I dont read instructions who really does anyways!

Instructions? That's what wives are for.