Cartridge Overall Length

[LatLong]

So I've got my Tikka pretty dialed in with some hand loads but I think I can do a little better. I want to start playing with C.O.L. How far off the lands do I want to stay? I know I don't want to be touching them, but what is a safe distance?

[picksbigwagon]

have you determind the amount of room in the chamber yet? You will want to do that firt so you don't end up having on touching the lands. In my AR, I keep it .1"off the lands for the best accuracy, and yes I pain staking measure each and every one which gets boring at times

[LatLong]

I haven't determined my chamber length yet...I'm ordering a chamber O.L. gauge tomorrow.

I also measure every round...powder charge and length. I am very particular about doing things exactly the same every time and the only way you do that is by measuring.

[waskawood]

To measure my oal I take a round that I have sized the neck down and use a thin cutting wheel in my dremel to cut 3 slots down the neck. It gives you enough neck tension to hold the bullet but will at the same time allow it to move when the ogive touches the lands. Some rifles like the bullet to touch the lands. Some like to be jammed. Some like a running start. Every barrel is different. I do not reccomend jamming on a hunting rifle where you may want to unload a unfired round.

[Code-Man]

The above information is pretty right on the money. We take a bullet sharpie it up and get it started into an empty...We then slide it into the chamber and close the bolt. We remove the shell that has pressed in the bullet tip and measure that. Then with that number we were told from Speer's Reloading manual to back it off .01 of an inch. With that being stated if you read Barnes' literature they state what the overall length should be and to not use the practice of coming off of the rifling. I do not understand why Speer says to do it but Barnes says not to. With measuring the length be careful that it still fits into magazine. I have a TC Pro Hunter which if I had a clip could not fit into the magazine but since it's a single shot I do not have to worry about it.

With that being stated we were working on a 270 Weatherby and we couldn't seat the bullet. A guy at the range said it's almost impossible because they don't have the riflings up tight. I had never heard this before but he said some of the bigger calibers and the Weatherby's are known for it but this is our first Weatherby that we have been playing with so he could have been filling us full of smoke but we have no idea. Any feedback on this?

[WalleyeGod]

Lat:

Out of curiosity what caliber are you working with?

Code:

Weatherbys are known for their long free bore.

WG

[LatLong]

It's a .30-06.

[WalleyeGod]

Lat:

Working on a friends Tikka 30-06 now and have things looking pretty good using 180gr. Nosler Accubonds. If that happens to be something you are interested in let me know. Plan on fine tuning things this week when the weather straightens out.

WG

[marksman]

Code- man, I am also puzzeled with Barnes saying to go by the book, But on there websight under TIPS they say .030"-.070" off the lands??????

[LatLong]

I've been having awesome results with Speer Hotcor 150 spitzers. This year I wanted to try Barnes. I tried 5 different loads this weekend with TTSX 168's and none seemed overly exciting. So back to the drawing board. I have some TSX 150's coming but don't know if I'll get to work something up before opener. I do have left over speer loads from last year so I'm covered anyway.

I haven't tried nosler yet as I don't have a manual for them. I'm going to give it some time with the Barnes and I hope I can get them to shoot as good or better than the Speers. Might be chasing a Unicorn though...with the Speers I'm averaging 5/8"-3/4" 3 shot groups.

[sparkydm]

I too use a cartridge and bullet to determine length of chamber. Now, when I called Barnes to find out how far from the lands the bullet should be, I was told to start at .050" and go in or out from there. He did not tell me to go by the manual.

[Code-Man]

I have tried the 150 gr TTSX for my 30-06. I have a Ruger All-Weather Stainless Synthetic. I emailed Barnes about it and I got told they recomend Hodgsen (Sp?) H4895. 50 Grains of powder of H4895 with a Federal Cartridge with a Bench Rest 2 Primer. I had close to half inch group at 100 yards. They say use the same loads for TSX as TTSX, granted no two guns are the same and what not but it is atleast a start. I did only half grain increments so the sweet spot could be +/- some but worked pretty good for me.

[LatLong]

Sounds like the combo you used gets the results I'm after. Looks like I will have to get some H4895. Then I can give the 150's a go. Gives me an excuse to go to the sporting goods store I just loaded some more rounds that have shot pretty well for my brother....TSX 168, Remington case, 53 gns of IMR 4350 and a CCI 200 primer. I will see how they do out of my gun this weekend. One of the best things about reloading is it gives you an excuse to go shoot more. Gotta love that!

[Code-Man]

Keep me posted how the load works for you. Like I stated before I didn't fine tune it but 49.5 gr was about 1" group 50.0 gr was 0.5" group and 50.5 gr was back up to 1". The OAL was whatever Barnes suggested...I cannot remember that off of the top of my head. Good luck and keep me posted how it goes.

[LatLong]

Well the load I talked about before resulted in a 1" group. I'm calling that good for now. I didn't have any time load any of the 150's I got. Heck I didn't have enough time till today to post....I bowhunted monday and tuesday. Leaving for the shack tonight for rifle season. I usually take a whole week to get ready for it but had to do it in two nights. I'm just wondering what I forgot Won't figure that out till tomorrow morning.