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Old February 26, 2013, 08:17 PM   #2
Brian Pfleuger
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Join Date: June 25, 2008
Location: Austin, CO
Posts: 19,578
There really isn't a minimum except under specific circumstances.

Practically speaking, you would eventually seat a bullet so short that the case mouth would be past the ogive (full diameter section of the bullet) and the mouth would start catching on the feed ramp or other things, possibly even just fall into the case, for bottleneck cartridges. You also will begin to increase pressures, as the bullet begins to take up space that the powder wants.

For handguns especially, having short rounds can cause significant pressure problems but even then a knowledgeable loader could reduce the charge appropriately and seat the bullet as short as he'd like, until the case started catching on things again, I suppose.

In any case, particularly with rifles, you'll GENERALLY find that LONGER is more accurate. Most folks load rounds close to the maximum length that will fit in their magazines or just a couple/few thousandths short of the rifling.
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