Originally Posted by Ridge Runner

What I do is stick a bullet in the chamber and hold it against the lands with a pencil, then slide a ramrod down the barrel till I feel it touch the bullet tip (ramrod has to have a flat jag on it) I put a mark on the rod, then I close the bolt, run the rod down till its against the boltface, put another mark on the rod, measure the distance between the marks, that's my max col with THAT bullet, you may have to shorten it to max.mag length unless you are happy loading one cartridge at a time
that's how I've done it for 40 years, back then there weren't these tools available, worked then, works now not fixin what ain't broke
RR

Originally Posted by Nomercy448

Another simple method, what I was taught to use a long time ago is "smoking the bullet".

The way I was TAUGHT was to seat a bullet really long with a firm crimp to hold it in place, then use a match to soot or "smoke" the bullet black. Then close the cartridge (just bullet and case) into the chamber, jamming it into the lands.

Then when you eject the cartridge, you'll have rifling marks in the soot. COAL minus the length of the witness marks, minus your desired bullet jump, and you have your COAL for THAT BULLET. These days, rather than sooting with a match, I use magic marker as my 'witness fluid'.

I've heard of the ram rod method (might have seen it in a manual even?), but it also is reliant upon the TIP not being deformed (since the ram rod engages the tip), so I revert back to the old school "smoking" method.

Many ways to skin a cat. Sadly, new "tools" don't always make life simpler, they just make more money for the folks selling them.