Stoney Point OAL guage

[oneonebravo]

I have recently use my new Stoney Point OAL guage for my custom rem 700 and custom AR10T both in .308winchester. They both measured about 2.86 oal. I have heard that most people load for oal of 2.80 to aprox 2.82 give or take. Are my measurement indicative of any problems with my chamber length? If I seat my bullet to 2.84 with a .02 jump,give or take, still working up a load) will this adversly affect accuracy, velocity, pressure,with varget). My overall question is does this measured OAL seem to long?

 

[Travelor]

OAL is governed by two things: The seating depth of the bullet and the condition of the nose of the bullet. Using OAL to judge the correct seating depth is a hit or miss proposition due to irregularities in the nose of the bullets,at least in SMK's). OAL really is only useful in determining whether the round with work in the magazine and to assure that the bullet is seated deep enough in the cartridge case.

As you indicate you have the Stoney Point tools, use the modified cartridge and measure the length to the ogive of the bullet to it's touching the lead of the rifling. Then experiment on how much "jump" or "jam" your gun likes. Remember that bullets made with different form dies, even with the same catalog number, differ and require measuring and different seating depth.

A VERY useful tool in working with this method is a seating die with a micrometer seating stem.

Be sure to write down your findings on the inside of each box of bullets you check to keep from having to recheck each time you load from that box.

You are well on your way to getting much better load results.