[Wiz5347]

Hey everyone,

Recently bought the OAL length gauge and comparator gauge. Tried it out on my .223 Stevens 200 and got this for the dimensions.

OAL - 55gn FMJBT 2.381 - 68gn BTHP 2.3855
Comp length - 55gn FMJBT 2.0155 - 68gn BTHP 1.9695

With these dimensions, it's impossible to seat the 55gn bullets due to the bullets lenth but the 68gn will seat around .227 into the shell (not counting the boat tail). So two questions.

Is it normal for the lands to be that far away?
Is it safe to have an overall length longer than 2.260?

I did make a dummy round for both just to get an idea. The 55gn just barely went in the shell...anyways, both seemed to fit in the magazine and chamber fine. I know that the bullet caliber should equal the minimum amount of bullet seated, which rules the 55gn bullets out for being loaded with any consideration of the lands.

Thanks

Wiz

[30Cal]

Factory barrels are pretty long to the lands in general. As a rule of thumb, I'll make sure I have at least one caliber's worth of the bullet inside the case neck. Other than that, you're generally limited by the length of the magazine.

[Walkalong]

Barrels vary quite a bit. Sounds like you will have a good bit of bullet jump to the lands with rounds that will fit in your mag. That is one of the things match barrels address.

[rcmodel]

Factory barrels are pretty long to the lands in general.+1
Much more then used to be the case.

A long leade, or free-bore reduces pressure, and reduces the liability of the manufacture if someone trys to long-seat a bullet and blows a primer.

In the case of .223 rifles, I think they are coming with something much closer to a 5.56 NATO chamber then a .223 nowdays.

Kinda like heavy triggers, & boiling hot coffee at McDonalds.
It's just the nature of the world we live in today.
There is always a lawyer waiting in the wings with a product liability lawsuit if we somehow go wrong.

rcmodel

[Jim Watson]

It seems normal these days as rc says.
It is quite safe.
There is little point tweaking and fiddling with bullet jump and other fine tuning with FMJ bullets, they are not as inherently accurate as hollowpoints or even softpoints.