How to reload specifically for your rifle

Reloading equipment, methods, load data, powder and projectile information.

How to reload specifically for your rifle

Post by bronco93 » 12 Jan 2019, 5:33 pm

So been reading up about how to get more accuracy from reloads . So correct me if I'm wrong but to find out the specific OAL you would first just seat a bullet in the case enough to hold it then mark the bullet- I used a lighter to soot it up. Then gently close the bolt and open it up and whetever the soot has rubbed off that is the specific OAL for your rifle. I have tried it on my Remington 700 243 and averaged 2.565 inches(Im using sierra 75gn SP). What do I do next? Do I seat the bullets deeper or just try some reloads working my way up .5 gn of powder. Hope that all makes sense.
Cheers
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Re: How to reload specifically for your rifle

Post by bladeracer » 12 Jan 2019, 5:46 pm

bronco93 wrote:So been reading up about how to get more accuracy from reloads . So correct me if I'm wrong but to find out the specific OAL you would first just seat a bullet in the case enough to hold it then mark the bullet- I used a lighter to soot it up. Then gently close the bolt and open it up and whetever the soot has rubbed off that is the specific OAL for your rifle. I have tried it on my Remington 700 243 and averaged 2.565 inches(Im using sierra 75gn SP). What do I do next? Do I seat the bullets deeper or just try some reloads working my way up .5 gn of powder. Hope that all makes sense.
Cheers


I prefer to put a rod down the bore against the bolt face and mark it with a piece of tape at the muzzle. Then drop a bullet into the throat and hold it in place, drop the rod down the bore against the bullet, mark it again. Measure between the two pieces of tape.

Once you've determined that length for that specific type of bullet, I would start with seating it 20-thou shorter. Then either shoot groups at different charges or shoot a ladder to find the elevation node. When you decide which load you want, start playing with seating depth working backwards from the length you measured. None of this matters though if you want to feed from a magazine that's too short for ammunition loaded to the lands.

What you are measuring is how far the bullet jumps before it hits the rifling. Measuring to the point of the bullet though is rarely accurate enough for this to work well. You need to measure the length of the cartridge from the base to the point along the ogive where the bullet meets the rifling, or "bore diameter", generally about .008" under bullet diameter - a .308 would ideally be measured to the point at which the bullet is .300" in diameter.
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Re: How to reload specifically for your rifle

Post by Gaznazdiak » 12 Jan 2019, 5:59 pm

Outstanding scientific method Blade, I'll give that method a try next time I'm trying a new load.
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Re: How to reload specifically for your rifle

Post by SCJ429 » 12 Jan 2019, 7:12 pm

Like the Blade said you can start with a Ladder test, start low and safe and increase the load by 0.3 of a grain. If you want to see how far you can go past the book max then drop the increase down to 0.2 of a grain. When you shoot them, stop at the first sign of pressure I.e. Sticky bolt or extractor marks on the head stamp. If you blow a primer then you needed to pay attention, be careful doing this.

Then look at rounds that are sitting at the same height, don't worry about horizontal dispersion. Use a cluster that are going fast enough for your liking to continue with load development.
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Re: How to reload specifically for your rifle

Post by Rod_outbak » 12 Jan 2019, 7:19 pm

Yep; for nearly all of my shooting, the magazine limitation is what decides max COAL.

Reminds me; we did put long bolt-stop in the Tikka, and yet I've not re-visited the COAL for that rifle.

Hmmm... Many thanks, bladeracer; might be time to do a bit of tweaking...
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Re: How to reload specifically for your rifle

Post by Oldbloke » 12 Jan 2019, 7:53 pm

Try this. Then load seating the bullet about 20 thou shorter.

https://aussiehunter.org/shooting/reloa ... ge-length/
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Re: How to reload specifically for your rifle

Post by in2anity » 12 Jan 2019, 9:54 pm

Bronco if the context of your question is with regard to your incoming Rossi, I’m not sure whether distance from lands should be a huge consideration. The important thing with regard to the 92 action will simply be reliable feeding. If you are asking with respect to a bolt-gun please ignore me.
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Re: How to reload specifically for your rifle

Post by Stix » 13 Jan 2019, 12:17 am

Rod_outbak wrote:Yep; for nearly all of my shooting, the magazine limitation is what decides max COAL.

Reminds me; we did put long bolt-stop in the Tikka, and yet I've not re-visited the COAL for that rifle.

Hmmm... Many thanks, bladeracer; might be time to do a bit of tweaking...


Not sure what chambering your Tikka is Rod, but while a longer bolt stop will change the angle a case will eject, a longer bolt stop wont change the max OAL as determined by the the mag length...forgive me if im missing something... :unknown:
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Re: How to reload specifically for your rifle

Post by Rod_outbak » 13 Jan 2019, 5:36 am

[quote="Stix"
[quote="Rod_outbak"]
Yep; for nearly all of my shooting, the magazine limitation is what decides max COAL.

Reminds me; we did put long bolt-stop in the Tikka, and yet I've not re-visited the COAL for that rifle.

Hmmm... Many thanks, bladeracer; might be time to do a bit of tweaking...
[/quote]

Not sure what chambering your Tikka is Rod, but while a longer bolt stop will change the angle a case will eject, a longer bolt stop wont change the max OAL as determined by the the mag length...forgive me if im missing something... :unknown:
:)
:drinks:
[/quote]

Stix,

The Tikka bolt is the same across the 3 action sizes; just the bolt-stop and the actual mags supplied with your rifle are specific to your cartridge length(different action sizes have different 'spacer blocks' in the same-sized mag).
I think the 7mm-08 is the middle of the 3 action sizes.
At the time I bought the longer bolt-stop, I also bought a couple of the mags for the longer action. I'm yet to pull them out of their boxes, but might be something to experiment with.
I've also got a new mag coming; (a 'Waters Rifleman'), which has more space in the mag to allow for COAL's beyond that allowed by the standard factory mag.
So, it might be time to consider messing around with seating depth a bit...
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Re: How to reload specifically for your rifle

Post by bronco93 » 13 Jan 2019, 5:39 pm

Cheers bladeracer. I'll give that a go tonight
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Re: How to reload specifically for your rifle

Post by marksman » 13 Jan 2019, 8:08 pm

“If you do not read the newspapers you are uninformed. If you do read the newspapers you are misinformed”. Mark Twain
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Re: How to reload specifically for your rifle

Post by Nigel » 16 Jan 2019, 12:20 pm

marksman wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWmIwPwLyyg

This is a great method. I do this but also mark the projectile with ink or soot so I get a visual indication of how the bullet is engaging the lands.

When measuring cartridge lengths for this purpose, I recommend measuring base to ogive rather than COAL. Variations in ogive and tip shape mean that cartridges loaded to the same distance off the lands can have significantly different OAL measurements. COAL is really only good for determining whether a cartridge will fit in a magazine and cycle reliably.
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