max OAL

youngun · September 23, 2002, 02:51 AM

To find the maximum OAL of a given bullet in my rifle, should I simply seat a bullet in a piece of brass and chamber it, then subtract - what? - .005" or so?
This is for hunting, BTW, not sharpshooting.

Thanks for the help.

youngun

dakotasin · September 23, 2002, 06:28 AM

assuming your magazine is long enough to handle long cartridges (remember to check this at home, and not find out in the field), i like to neck size a piece of brass, seat the bullet real long, and force it to chamber. then i put this cartridge into the bullet seater, screw the stem down a half turn at a time and repeat until i get no rifling marks on the bullet. i make up another dummy and seat it to the new setting to be sure there are no marks. if there isn't, i mark this cartridge w/ a sharpie, labeling all the bullet data. next time i make up loads for this combination, i just adjust the seating die to fit the dummy, and then i'm done.

the initial process can be somewhat time consuming, but once you get the dummy made up, it is easy from then on out. before you crank out a few hundred rounds, make sure to test feeding and extraction. if 10 or 15 random rounds feed and extract ok, you are set.

if you are using flat base bullets, seat a bullet long backwards, force it into the chamber, and it should only take a half turn or so more on the seating die to get it adjusted right. assemble a dummy w/ the bullet seated the right way, check it, and you should be done. again, check function.

Clark · September 23, 2002, 10:23 AM

I know a guy that has been getting deer and elk for many years with a Moisin Nagant 91/30.
So he finds he gets the best accuracy seated long and jamming the bullet into the lands.
So last year at the end of a hunting day he extracts a round from the chamber, but the bullet stays in the lands and powder spills all over his action. No one had a cleaning rod to get the bullet out. So he takes someone else's rifle, pulls the bullet and powder out of a round and puts the primed case in the other guy's chamber. He then puts the two rifles muzzle to muzzle and fires the primer. The lodged bullet came out of the 91/30. Now my friend is more careful about OAL for hunting rounds.

HSMITH · September 23, 2002, 12:35 PM

WOW, the ol' Mosin mouth to mouth eh?!?!?! Guy has some brass ones for sure.

September 23, 2002, 02:51 AM	#1
youngun Senior Member Join Date: June 8, 2001 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 324	max OAL To find the maximum OAL of a given bullet in my rifle, should I simply seat a bullet in a piece of brass and chamber it, then subtract - what? - .005" or so? This is for hunting, BTW, not sharpshooting. Thanks for the help. youngun __________________ New firing pin: $12. New extractor: $15. Ballistic fingerprinting: worthless.

September 23, 2002, 06:28 AM	#2
dakotasin Senior Member Join Date: June 22, 2002 Location: south dakota, U.S.A. Posts: 136	assuming your magazine is long enough to handle long cartridges (remember to check this at home, and not find out in the field), i like to neck size a piece of brass, seat the bullet real long, and force it to chamber. then i put this cartridge into the bullet seater, screw the stem down a half turn at a time and repeat until i get no rifling marks on the bullet. i make up another dummy and seat it to the new setting to be sure there are no marks. if there isn't, i mark this cartridge w/ a sharpie, labeling all the bullet data. next time i make up loads for this combination, i just adjust the seating die to fit the dummy, and then i'm done. the initial process can be somewhat time consuming, but once you get the dummy made up, it is easy from then on out. before you crank out a few hundred rounds, make sure to test feeding and extraction. if 10 or 15 random rounds feed and extract ok, you are set. if you are using flat base bullets, seat a bullet long backwards, force it into the chamber, and it should only take a half turn or so more on the seating die to get it adjusted right. assemble a dummy w/ the bullet seated the right way, check it, and you should be done. again, check function. __________________ Hunting is not a matter of life or death. It is much more important than that.

September 23, 2002, 10:23 AM	#3
Clark Senior Member Join Date: December 4, 1999 Location: WA, the ever blue state Posts: 4,678	I know a guy that has been getting deer and elk for many years with a Moisin Nagant 91/30. So he finds he gets the best accuracy seated long and jamming the bullet into the lands. So last year at the end of a hunting day he extracts a round from the chamber, but the bullet stays in the lands and powder spills all over his action. No one had a cleaning rod to get the bullet out. So he takes someone else's rifle, pulls the bullet and powder out of a round and puts the primed case in the other guy's chamber. He then puts the two rifles muzzle to muzzle and fires the primer. The lodged bullet came out of the 91/30. Now my friend is more careful about OAL for hunting rounds.

September 23, 2002, 12:35 PM	#4
HSMITH Senior Member Join Date: June 21, 2002 Posts: 2,019	WOW, the ol' Mosin mouth to mouth eh?!?!?! Guy has some brass ones for sure.