Reloading Question

[highspeed]

My Hornady book states that my overall length for a loaded round should be 2.515". I barely seated a bullet in a round with out a primer in it and loaded in the rifle to see where the bullet buts up to the rifling and its overall length is 2.750. Should I load rounds to the Hornady specs or something different. Round is 250 Savage and rifle is Savage model 99

[Brute Killer]

SAAMI spec OAL and "just off the lands" length aren't the same length.

[highspeed]

I also read that your bullet should be 1/32" away from the rifling to get the best pressure. 1/32" is .03125. That would make my overall length 2.718. Is this the length I need to load to?

[Brute Killer]

I'm a beginner, but as I undetstand it, you have to experiment with OAL (and powder charge) to get the most accurate loading for any particular rifle.

[sir shovelhands]

First check the SAAMI spec for your max OAL and min OAL...always. Here: http://saami.org/specifications_and_...FR.pdf#page=13

Now the OAL they give you in the book, is part of their specific recipe. Simplified, the recipe is that if you have X grains of powder, and an OAL of Y (technically seating depth is what's important), then your velocity/pressure will be Z. And it's only valid for that amount of powder and that specific OAL. So you use their recipe as a baseline, knowing that increasing the powder outside of it will yield higher pressures, as will seating deeper.

[Artos]

For the 99, you need to make sure the rounds will go into the mag & cycle...

Some guns like a slight jam into the lands & others prefer a jump...sorta have to experiment.

[Greyman]

the SAAMI specs are a broad spectrum measurement so the given cartridge will fit in any production gun. With that said when you reload you can adjust your OAL to fit YOUR GUN, you will probably find a more accurate load doing so. The measurement you got 2.750 may be what the chamber is in your gun, keep in mind it may not fit in your magazine. some guns, loads like to be jammed into the lands some don't. That's the big part of reloading trying to find that perfect combo.

[dustoffer]

I also read that your bullet should be 1/32" away from the rifling to get the best pressure. 1/32" is .03125. That would make my overall length 2.718. Is this the length I need to load to?

Don't know where you got this info, but I've been reloading since the early '70s and I've never heard it. When I was in the accuracy workup business, I took the customer's rifle, had them tell me the three bullets of their choice, and then I went to work. My practice was to take my overall length gauge with appropriate modified cartridge for caliber and measure the distance to the lands. Then I reloaded 3 at .000" off the lands, 3 at .010" off, 3 at .020" off, 3 at .030 off, and with the same powder charge which is about 90-95% of the book's max. Load one more round -- length immaterial for a fouling shot. Head to the range, and shoot the fouler and then the three groups using a good rest, both front and rear, being careful not to let the barrel get hot. In cool months, it's 1 minute between shots, and at least 5 minutes between groups. Measure the groups -- you should see a decided preference for one length. Go back and load 3 .005" shorter (unless the best group was .000 off), 3 the same and 3 .005" longer--and shoot these. By now, should have a good feel for the gun's preference. Maybe tinker with smaller +/ increments in OAL, and small +/ in powder charge as well to refine it more. With hunting rifles, this is usually enough to get you to acceptable accuracy around an inch.

[sir shovelhands]

the SAAMI specs are a broad spectrum measurement so the given cartridge will fit in any production gun.

No doubt, and while you can load bullets longer than specified, it's good to always know the basic spec before reloading a round.

[Greyman]

No doubt, and while you can load bullets longer than specified, it's good to always know the basic spec before reloading a round.

Yep!! and any modern reloading manual will give that to you on the first page of the caliber of your choosing.

[cajuntec]

My Hornady book states that my overall length for a loaded round should be 2.515". I barely seated a bullet in a round with out a primer in it and loaded in the rifle to see where the bullet buts up to the rifling and its overall length is 2.750. Should I load rounds to the Hornady specs or something different. Round is 250 Savage and rifle is Savage model 99

I had to read this more than once to ensure you actually wrote what I thought, and since you did, lets start here.

If you loaded a bullet into a properly sized cartridge, then you placed tension on the neck of the brass. As you pushed it into the rifle chamber, the bullet may have engaged the rifling and moved back into the case. But when you ejected it, the engagement into the lands more than likely pulled the bullet back out of the case a bit. I'm not sure if you used one of these methods, but I've done all of these in the past to avoid such issues:

1) I marked up the bullet with a Sharpie marker, so even if it pulled out of the case upon ejection, I saw how deep it went into the case, as that part of the bullet was scraped of most of the Sharpie mark. I then seated a new bullet just a little deeper than where the mark started on the original, marked it as well, and chambered it. If it didn't move, I pulled it forward slightly until it did to verify where it was engaging the lands. That was my max COAL for that chamber.

2) Same as above, but I cut a slit in the case neck with a Dremel, and make sure there were no sharp edges to scratch my chamber. The bullet moves easier. Same process and verification steps as above.

3) Broke down and finally bought the Hornady gauge and associated modified cartridge cases to do the testing. I have some wildcats, so I ended up making my own modified cases for those by drilling out the primer hole and tapping threads into the base. This method works best.

What I've found in my testing. (Disclaimer - I'm not a long range precision shooter. I never considered myself to be an awesome shot, but I can shoot. Most of my testing is at 100 yards because that is generally the range I can shoot while hunting.)

1) On most hunting rifles, it didn't mean squat. I achieved much more of a difference by working up groups of 5 rounds of each step of a certain powder that I had settled on after doing research on what was best for that particular cartridge. After I found my best, if I wasn't satisfied (I usually was), I'd switch to other popular powders for that cartridge and do the work ups again. I messed with varying seating depth for a while after finding my best powder load. I didn't experience much difference in any firearm that I had settled on a "best" load previously. The differences I did experience were so minuscule, and I couldn't exactly contribute them completely to seating depth. It may have just been the shooter on those particular groups.

2) On some rifles - I couldn't get anywhere close to the lands and still be able to keep the bullet in the case properly. The bullets simply were seated too far out. Many Thompson Center barrels are like this, and I have found others as well.

All the best,
Glenn

[dustoffer]

Glenn--reference your #2---that is the real problem with short actions--by the time you load it to work through the magazine, it is a real leap to engage the rifling. Only fix is to have the barrel set back and the chamber chased only to a length that a bullet seated touching the lands will function through.

It is also an issue in Weatherby calibers as their rifles are free-bored.

And--YMMV is obviously different than mine on the importance of seating depth, as I found that once I determined the best bullet jump/OAL, varying the charge as much as +/ a full grain made little to no difference.

[highspeed]

Thanks fellas! I appreciate any and all the help I can get.