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Old October 17, 2001, 12:12 PM   #1
shu
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Join Date: May 11, 2000
Location: lower rio grande valley, texas
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freebore

I have measured the freebore (which I understand to be the free-flight distance of the bullet before entering the rifled part of the barrel) of my .308win Rem 700 VLS with the RCBS precision micrometer. It is 0.19.

Is this unusually large?

Presuming the measurement is correct, I forsee a problem in selecting load for best accuracy. I understand that bullet should be seated forward just short of touching the lands. (Fit to magazine is not a problem, as loading will be single shot.) Also bullet should be seated at least one diameter into case.

Presumption also is that boat tail bullets have greater stability than flat tail. Therein lies the problem. Boat tail need be seated deeper to get one diameter of grip by the case. So do i go for the boat tail seated far from the lands? or for the flat tail seated closer to the lands?

Last edited by shu; October 17, 2001 at 05:37 PM.
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Old October 17, 2001, 03:31 PM   #2
Clint Tickler
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Hi Shu. I have a VLS in .308 also. As is typical with a stock Remington rifle the freebore will be long. I pay more attention to seating the bullet into the case so that the base of the bullet is close to the shoulder. I do this for my loads in the VLS, my 788 in .308 and my Rem 700 .06. Boat tail or flat base although I use mostly boat tails. For me accuracy suffers when I don't have enough grip on the bullet. One of my better loads in the VLS is 46 grs of RL-15, Fed 210m primer, and a 155 gr Hornady A-max. This jumps .096" to the lands but it groups in the .3's and .4's consistantly. 48.5 grs of RL-15 and a 125 gr Nosler BT gives me equal groups and it's jumping .172"! I use to worry more about how close to the rifling I was too and I know there are a lot of folks who have great success in doing it that way. I just know what works for me. Now if you were to have a smith set that barrel back you could seat your bulletrs deeper and be close to the lands. Good luck and enjoy that rifle! I sure like mine.
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Old October 17, 2001, 09:27 PM   #3
shu
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Thanks. Am rather new at reloading; still stumbling around with all the variables.
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Old October 17, 2001, 10:27 PM   #4
Clint Tickler
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Shu, I've been at it about six years which makes me somewhat of a neophite myself. I find myself learning something new all the time. I think a key is to find what works best for your particular gun and you, and to be safe of course in developing your loads. By the way I didn't get that accuracy from my VLS until I free floated the barrel and adjusted the trigger.
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