I haven't played with this area much and really don't understand a great deal about it. More of my reloading is done with lighter bullets for squirrels and p-dogs and loading them out to touch the lands doesn't leave much bullet in the case. Is there any kind of guide lines for loading these shorter bullets and how do you experiment to find your best seating depth. Please help educate me as I really don't know where to start.
Understanding bullet seating depth
- Thread starter panhandle
- Start date
If you are happy with your success rate of shots fired to squirrel or PD death rate, don't worry about the seating depth. If you are not, then moving the bullet in or out could help with your grouping but you will need to experiment to find that spot that works best for your load/gun combonation.
Number40fan is right on. Just would add that some folks say that you need at least a full caliber length of whatever bullet you are shooting in the case. I have loaded 6 ppc with only .100 to .150 in the case with great success. And, if you shoot a Remington factory rifle these days,newer models) in most any caliber you'll have to be careful and measure really well. Otherwise you may wind up with the entire bullet completely out of the case if you touch the lands. And, we know that won't work. So, measure wisely. Safety first. Bill
panhandle
Fine tuning a rifle by making seating depth adjustments is usually the last step in the load development process. But, to have any meaning there are certain things to be done and certain factors to consider.
First, is your rifle capable of shooting groups small enough to see any improvement by fine tuning seating depth? If it's grandaddy's 30-30 or dad's 30-06 it's probably a waste of time, bullets and powder. But we'll assume that yours is an accurate varmint rifle that can be improved upon.
In order to be able to read the small differences in accuracy from seating depth adjustments you'll need a good bench, a solid front and rear rest and, most important of all, wind flags. Without these 3 things you'll be wasting your time. And I'm assuming you know enough about bech techniques and rifle handling to eliminate most of the shooter error.
You also need a seating die that will let you make very small changes in seating depth. One of the straight-line seaters with a micrometer adjustment will be OK. You're going to be making adjustments in the thousandths of an inch.
If you already load with the bullet touching the lands there is really only one way to go. That is, deeper in the case. From there you simply change the depth, maybe .010' or .015' at a time until you see a difference in accuracy. If you haven't noticed any improvement by the time you are .050' to .100' deeper you probably won't ever see any with that particular bullet and powder charge. Many rifles will shoot their best with the bullet touching the lands and, in your case, you may already be the best you can be.
For a normal varmint rifle don't expect to see any amazing results. Even the best Benchrest rifles will often show only tiny improvements. But, in Benchrest, those tiny improvements may be the difference between winning and losing.
Even if you don't improve your accuracy there will be one big benefit. Your shooting techniques will probably be improved and you may find yourself shooting better for that reason alone.
Good Luck
Ray
Fine tuning a rifle by making seating depth adjustments is usually the last step in the load development process. But, to have any meaning there are certain things to be done and certain factors to consider.
First, is your rifle capable of shooting groups small enough to see any improvement by fine tuning seating depth? If it's grandaddy's 30-30 or dad's 30-06 it's probably a waste of time, bullets and powder. But we'll assume that yours is an accurate varmint rifle that can be improved upon.
In order to be able to read the small differences in accuracy from seating depth adjustments you'll need a good bench, a solid front and rear rest and, most important of all, wind flags. Without these 3 things you'll be wasting your time. And I'm assuming you know enough about bech techniques and rifle handling to eliminate most of the shooter error.
You also need a seating die that will let you make very small changes in seating depth. One of the straight-line seaters with a micrometer adjustment will be OK. You're going to be making adjustments in the thousandths of an inch.
If you already load with the bullet touching the lands there is really only one way to go. That is, deeper in the case. From there you simply change the depth, maybe .010' or .015' at a time until you see a difference in accuracy. If you haven't noticed any improvement by the time you are .050' to .100' deeper you probably won't ever see any with that particular bullet and powder charge. Many rifles will shoot their best with the bullet touching the lands and, in your case, you may already be the best you can be.
For a normal varmint rifle don't expect to see any amazing results. Even the best Benchrest rifles will often show only tiny improvements. But, in Benchrest, those tiny improvements may be the difference between winning and losing.
Even if you don't improve your accuracy there will be one big benefit. Your shooting techniques will probably be improved and you may find yourself shooting better for that reason alone.
Good Luck
Ray
P1ZombieKiller
Silver $$ Contributor
Cheechako said:
This has certianly helped me. Before I would just get up there, grip tight, and fire when I was ready. I never could figure out why I was not shooting groups like I see posted here. Now that I slowed down, paid attention, and let the rifle do the work it was built to do... my groups have really decreased.
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