I reloaded some .30-06 rounds last night and set the oal to 3.336". The book says max length is 3.34". I'm operating on memory right now so I may be off.

Anyway I loaded up some 165gr bullets and some 180gr bullets. The 165's chamber fine but the 180gr bullets have the bolt closing tight and when I drew the cartridge out it pulled the bullet out of the case and spilled the powder.

Both cartridges are the same length. Is the ogive the problem here? Does this mean that once i seat the bullet deep enough that this bullet will be just a hair of the lands and thus potentially more accurate?

Thanks

Tom

Tom.... I think you are right about the ogive being the problem. Without having both bullets side by side for a visual comparison, I'm only surmising this to be the problem, but I feel you are correct. A Hornady Comparator will go a long way to correcting your problems here. As far as depth off the lands, closer does not always mean better accuracy. One of the guns I'm currently working up loads for shot reasonably well (1/2") at 100 yds. at .020 off the lands. I kept increasing bullet length by .005" until I was .oo5" off the lands. The groups opened up considerably. All the same powder charge, type, and same bullet. I'm gonna try backing away from .020" in .005" incs. and see if that helps.
Hope this helps a little.....We all know guns are individuals, and not all like to be "fed" the same way... Don.

Tom... Sorry if I rushed my reply to you. Was up against a time constraint.
Anytime you change a bullet type or weight you should check for contact with the lands with that particular bullet. The wat I do it is to take a fired, resized casing and slit the neck in three places with a Dremel tool using a fine cutoff wheel. Slit the neck down to the shoulder. Clean off any burrs. Take the bullet you wish to load, and just start it into the case. You can do this with the seating die, but just start it only. Then but the round in the chamber and gently close the bolt. This will put the bullet in contact with the lands, and seat it into the casing. Gently remove the casing. Measure this overall distance with the bullet comparator and record it with the bullet type, brand and weight and gun. With the seater plug in the seater die backed way off, run the bullet and casing into the die, top of stroke. Slowly lower the seater plug until you make contact with the bullet. You are now set at zero clearance to the lands. You can now adjust your seating depth to whatever you wish to start at. For instance.. If your zero clearance reading using the comparator and mics is 3.336", and you wish to set the distance at .020 off, keep adjusting the seater plug downwards in small increments until you get a reading of 3.316". You need to do this each time you cange the bullet, as I said before.
If I've been preaching to the choir here, I sorry, and I hope this has helped some... Don.

Don,

Thanks a lot for taking the time to respond. Nope not preaching. Actually BC told me something about this some time ago but I was still too green to understand what he was trying to tell me.

I looked on Midwayusa for a comparitor and finally found it. The search feature on that websit is junk. Anyway here is what I found:

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=724733

Is that all I would need? Seems like I would need another tool that it goes into but I'm not seeing the tool on the website. Let me know because I'd like to get one and start measuring from the ogive.

Also thanks for the tips on the splitting of the case. That is a really good idea. All I would need is a fire formed brass for each of my rifles. Very cool idea.

Since I'm going to be paying for shipping anyway what is the name of the tool that can measure the distance to the lands? I'd like to know how much it costs before I go the way of the dremel.

Thanks

Tom

Before a person starts reloading a cartridge, they should know thier max OAL for a particular bullet

Take a dremel tool and an empty fire formed case. with the disc cutter, cut thru the neck and shoulders. Now you could be able to insert a bullet and it should be tight enought to hold the bullet but loose enough to slide when you push it. Now chamber it and carefully remove, and measure. Do this a few different times. I find .005-.010" crushing factor. So you can subtract .010, and this is max COL.

Call Sinclair supply. Those guys are top notch and will tell you exactly what you need to buy. My equipment is Stoney Point, but I believe Hornady bought them out??

Overall length IMO is not an important measurement. I prefer the distance to the Ogive. This measurement is what really counts, and is more consistent. Sinclair sells a small ring that fits down over the bullet and allows you to measure the length to the Ogive. I prefer that tool.

As far as touching the lands. I will admit that most of my rifles shoot better when touching the lands. But it is not always the case. Tom.

Yep.....I measure off the ogive too, Tom...But you need some reference point in the seater die to start from... All the dimensions I gave were imaginary, but all were from ogive measurements.........

The website you gave me showed only a "collet" for .308, Tom. When you buy the Comparator, if I remember correctly, you ger about five or six caliber collets.
Head, you are correct. Stoney Point was, I believe, bought out by Hornady.
The Comparator kit as you buy it, comes with most of the standard rifle caliber "collets" and a jig that attaches to your calipers that the collets fit into.
Calling Sinclair Supply and telling them what you are doing is a good idea. They'll help you ouy for sure... The stuff really doesn't cost that much, and once you start using it, you'll wonder how you got along without it before.

Contacted Sinclair. They suggested I buy the nut. He is sending me a catalog because I want to take a look at the seating depth tool but the website doesn't have a picture.

I will order that soon.

One thing I noticed is that the guy that answered the phone pronounced ogive as o jive instead of o give. How do you guys pronounce it?

Tom

I've always pronounced it as o-jive.....