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**Mal H** · May 1, 2000, 06:03 PM

Josh - I had the same concern about how much bullet in the case is enough. I was chatting with a Speer rep a while back and he said there is no hard and fast rule about this. He had a rule-of-thumb that makes sense, you should have at least 1/2 of a caliber in the case if you are shooting bench rest and don't have to load from a magazine. If the cartridges will take a little abuse, like when hunting then you should leave at least 3/4 caliber. And if you are using boattails be sure to take that into account. The 1/2 caliber refers to the amount of bearing surface, not necessarily from the base of the bullet.

It sounds like you have already found your optimum OAL for that bullet and your rifle. I guess the only thing is that you will have to live with your gun now being a single shot when you want optimal accuracy. When that isn't necessary and you need to use the mag, you'll still have an accurate rifle even if you have to use the 2.80 OAL.

I don't know if a smith can do much with your current barrel to help that situation. But then again, new barrels really aren't all that expensive if you want to try making a rifle that gets the same optimal accuracy and still be able to use a mag. Just be aware there is no guarantee that if you have a barrel chambered/thoated the way you want that it will have the same accuracy you just achieved. There are too many variables at work.

May 1, 2000, 06:03 PM	#9
Mal H Staff Join Date: March 20, 1999 Location: Somewhere in the woods of Northern Virginia Posts: 16,955	Josh - I had the same concern about how much bullet in the case is enough. I was chatting with a Speer rep a while back and he said there is no hard and fast rule about this. He had a rule-of-thumb that makes sense, you should have at least 1/2 of a caliber in the case if you are shooting bench rest and don't have to load from a magazine. If the cartridges will take a little abuse, like when hunting then you should leave at least 3/4 caliber. And if you are using boattails be sure to take that into account. The 1/2 caliber refers to the amount of bearing surface, not necessarily from the base of the bullet. It sounds like you have already found your optimum OAL for that bullet and your rifle. I guess the only thing is that you will have to live with your gun now being a single shot when you want optimal accuracy. When that isn't necessary and you need to use the mag, you'll still have an accurate rifle even if you have to use the 2.80 OAL. I don't know if a smith can do much with your current barrel to help that situation. But then again, new barrels really aren't all that expensive if you want to try making a rifle that gets the same optimal accuracy and still be able to use a mag. Just be aware there is no guarantee that if you have a barrel chambered/thoated the way you want that it will have the same accuracy you just achieved. There are too many variables at work.