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Old February 22, 2009, 04:41 PM   #1
tpcollins
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Join Date: February 18, 2009
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Does bullet depth trumph distance to lands?

This is a newbie followup post, but I'm overwhelmed with all of the internet/forum advice about the correct distance to set the ogive from the lands - I've seen anywhere for .005" to 1/16" (.062"). I will be loading 70gr Nosler BT into .243. If I set the ogive measure .010 from the lands, I fall way short of the "minimum depth= bullet diameter" rule. On top of that, I lose about another 1/16" because of the boat tail chamfer of the back of the bullet that doesn't make contact with the neck either. If I were using 100gr bullets, they would be longer and I would stand a chance of seating it closer to the bullet diameter.

I assume there is a tradeoff when using lighter grain (shorter) bullets when it comes to distance from the lands - but I assume "depth of bullet" trumps "distance from lands"? I just checked (10) 100gr factory loads and those all average .092" from the lands with a variance of .005" of those 10 - duh.

Seems like if I quit worrying about getting close to the lands and just make sure I seat the bullet the minimum amount - and try to make them all measure the same - I would be better off ???? All I want to do is pound coyotes out to 250 yards.Thanks.
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Old February 22, 2009, 06:16 PM   #2
SL1
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Your best accuracy in YOUR rifle may be close to the lands or way off. The only way to know is to try a variety of configurations.

With respect to seating depth equaling caliber, there is nothing magic tnere with respect to accuracy. It is mainly to assure that the bullet is not pushed out of alignment when the cartridge is pushed out of a magazine and up the feed ramp. There is an old shooting technique (Schutzen) that actually loads bullets (VERY carefully) extremely loose in the case with the bullets touching the lands. They have set some extremely small group records that way. But, clearly you can't load these from the magazine.

One thing to remember is that many of the factory rounds don't even HAVE necks that are one caliber long. So, that should tell you that you really don't need that much seating depth, even if your case neck will permit it with your chosen bullet.

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Old February 22, 2009, 08:48 PM   #3
wncchester
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SL1 - Well said.
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