What is the best way to seat bullet to the "Lands"

[300meter]

I can offer you another method that doesn't require you to buy any tools. You start with a dummy round with your choice of bullet and preferably a fire formed case from your rifle.

Resize the neck and seat a bullet to an OAL that you know will reach the lands. Remove your bolt and place this round in your chamber and only use your finger to seat it against the lands. I prefer to have the rifle secured in a cleaning vise or at least laying on it's side, ejection port side up. Next insert a cleaning rod from the muzzle. Gently move it toward the chambered round with one hand, while holding your finger against the chambered round with the other hand.

You will immediately "feel" the contact of the bullet with the lands. This will be noticeable from the amount of effort required to dislodge the bullet from the lands with the cleaning rod. So it's a feel between your hand applying light pressure to the cleaning rod and your finger on the base of the round. If the bullet is not contacting the lands, this movement will be effortless.

Now, seat the bullet deeper in the case to shorten the OAL of the dummy round. Place the round back in the chamber and feel again. Use your best judgement on how much to shorten the round between tries. Let's say you shortened the OAL by .020 on the last try. Now you feel no resistance, so bullet is not touching the lands. You now know you are within the that dimension of the lands. Now make your dummy round .010 longer and try again. Within a couple tries you will arrive with a precise measurement and a dummy cartridge you can keep for a reference.

Why do I prefer this method over using a measuring tool? I can never "see" the contact of the bullet and the lands. Relying on a measurement will get you close, but the only way to know for sure you are off the lands is to feel it. I have used the measuring tools and they work, but I always double check myself with a dummy cartridge and a cleaning rod.

Anybody else do this?

 

[dennisinaz]

I will throw this in, if you are checking rounds with ink or smoke or Dykem or whatever you will have best results if you remove the ejector before you do this. Most have very stiff springs and can greatly affect the case as it goes into the rifling.

 

[RonAKA]

I will throw this in, if you are checking rounds with ink or smoke or Dykem or whatever you will have best results if you remove the ejector before you do this. Most have very stiff springs and can greatly affect the case as it goes into the rifling.

The other option is to make sure you use a fired case that has not had the shoulder moved back.

 

[bozo699]

I will try and add to replies from several other members that have replied to this thread. I also have used the Hornady gauge. I have access to a lathe and tap, so making a test case from a piece of brass fired from that rifle is much less of a hassle for me than it is for some. I also use and expander mandrel to get the inside diameter of the case just tight enough to hold the bullet, but loose enough for it to move with slight pressure. Also, I use a black “Sharpie” to color all the way around the ogive of the bullet. This stuff is easily removed with a quick spray of brake cleaner on a rag, then wiping it clean. A different way of doing it is to seat the bullet very deep in the case, mark it with a sharpie, insert it into the chamber then push the rod on the Hornady gauge until the bullet stops. Very gently remove the cartridge and measure the distance between the mark you just made and the new length from the ogive to the base.
If you use the closing of the bolt method to final seat the bullet, remember to remove the firing pin assembly so as to not get a false reading. If you feel any tension while trying to remove the dummy cartridge, I put a cleaning rod down the bore while the rifle sits in a cleaning cradle, and ever so gently push on the cleaning rod, while pulling on the bolt body, so that the bullet isn’t moving in the case. This is my 2nd most favorite method and will get me within a couple of thousands every time.
My favorite way to find where a particular bullet touches the start of the rifling isn’t practical for those of you that don’t re-barrel. When I have a rifle re-barreled, I ask my “smith” to save that 1-2” of barrel stub that is cut off any blank on the muzzle end and run the reamer in just past the shoulder. This gives me an exact duplicate of the chamber of that particular rifle. I will then use this “stub” with a fired case and bullet to get an exact measurement for that bullet in that chamber. This method has proved to be very fast and accurate not to mention it’s handier than fumbling with the entire rifle and several small parts. If I plan on using several different bullets I will do this process with all the bullets I plan on using, and record the results.
I hope this is of some help,
Lloyd

I agree with Lloyd's method of making your own case for the Hornady tool and it is simple to do, If you have a wilson case trimmer take a case holder and put your fireformed case from the rifle you are working with in it, then chuck it into your lathe, take a 17/64th drill bit (if memory serves me correctly) and drill the head of your case out, then take a 5/16 X 36tpi tap and tap the hole it will now fit your oal tool. If you want a tight fit and don't have mandrel use your bushing n/k die and put a bushing in it that will just hold the bullet snug. Measure several bullets from your box and take one from the average and use that bullet to set your die with, put the bullet into the tool and push it into your chamber, rotate and tap lightly on the tool to seat the case then gently push the bullet into the lands,
(do not tap on tool now and dont push hard) just lightly push the bullet until it stops, tighten the set screw on your tool down firm then take a cleaning rod and push on the bullet as you pull on the Hornady tool if done correctly the bullet won't move. I then have a piece of aluminum stock about a inch long that I have a hole bored the same size as the bore through it, I then slide my bullet thats still in my Hornady tool into the aluminum block and take a measurment from the haed of the case to the back of the aluminum block, I do this whole procedure several times to make sure the bullet never moves. I then take a charged case and the bullet I used in the tool and I set it in my seating die, I turn the die out so I am going to seat way long, I then take the aluminum block and measure from head to block, then take that measurment and subtract the original measurment from it and that will give me how many thousanths I need to go, turn the die down accordenly, continue to seat and check until you have the exact measurment. You now have your die set to where your bullet is just kissing the lands, you can now jump or jam as needed and will know exactly where your @ when finnished. write these measurments down so its recorded, hope this helps. It is fairley close to Lloyds method and it has worked well for me.
Wayne.

 

[1shot]

To all,
Waynes method/description is "the same but different", well written Wayne. It just goes to prove the age old saying that "there are many ways to skin a cat, just as long as the cat get skinned". (Sure hope I didn't offend any PITA folks out there, LOL).
Lloyd

 

[dennisinaz]

I will throw this in, if you are checking rounds with ink or smoke or Dykem or whatever you will have best results if you remove the ejector before you do this. Most have very stiff springs and can greatly affect the case as it goes into the rifling.

The other option is to make sure you use a fired case that has not had the shoulder moved back.

That is fine and dandy IF you are at the right depth, but if it is a little long, the ejector will push the case ahead of where it should be. It is imperative to use a fired case to do this as you state.

 

[bozo699]

Lloyd,
Thank you, I really like your idea of saving the chunk of barrel I cant do that this time as I only will have about a half inch of stock but next new barrel for sure and I will give that idea a try
Wayne.

 

[Butch Syme]

Back in the day I used to use a simple wooden dowel. Put the bolt in and stick the wooden dowel in the barrel and mark the dowel at the muzzle. Then drop in the bullet of choice into the chamber (muzzle down of coarse) and use the dowel to lightly tap bullet to ensure its not "jammed" and just let it rest on the riflings, then mark the dowel again at the muzzle. Measure the distance and Viola!

 

[bozo699]

Butch,
Sometimes simplicity is best Whatever works man.
Wayne.

 

[necchi]

Very interesting indeed, this has been a good thread.
Seem's there more than one way to skin the cat, and do an accurate job of it. Some just prefer one method over another, and with much of the loading game, the cost of the tools seem to some to determine whether the measurement is accurate or not,
If it's done from the muzzle or the breach, a measurement can be made.

The biggest point I've seen is it's not a hap-hazard or casual measurement. With whatever method a person chooses, multiple measurements with note taking and provance seems to be the key.

 

[1shot]

My apologies, but I originally used this method to measure shoulder bump, but found it worked equally well for setting up bullet length.
Lloyd

 

[bozo699]

Lloyd,
Apologize?.... what for? I really enjoyed your post and as a matter of a fact my smith has a Krieger 1:8 same as mine and he has changed his mind on what he is building and will have 2.5 -3" if barrel stock left over and I spoke for it I am going to give your method a try. My method works just fine for me but I always like to check out new avenues, you never know you might find someone else has a better mouse trap, thanks again.
Wayne.