308 win seating depth

[vaeevictiss]

I have a question on seating depth. My rifle is a nearly stock 700 SPS Varmint, barrel cut to 22"(1:12 twist). My current load is a 178gr A-Max on 43.8gr of Varget in Lapua brass, with a OAL of 2.910.

Yea...that seems long but the rifle has a very long throat. That 2.910 is actually only .020 off the lands. Im shooting sub 1/2 MOA at 100yrds.

My question is i have been looking at these..

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/55...r-150-grain-hollow-point-flat-base-box-of-100

Ive been reading that the flat base bullets are better for the 100-300yrd ranges i usually shoot. the thing i am concerned with is the length.

The length of the A-Max is 1.325 so when seated to my length, there is .430 in the case. With the Berger, its length is 1.172 so when it is seated there is only .277 inside the case. Is that enough? or will i just have to seat deeper and be farther from the lands.

I also have no idea what my velocity is with that round, like i said it is nice at 100 yrds, but im thinking that is not enough powder...but when i shot my 44gr load during testing, something didnt "feel" or sound right so i stuck with the 43.8. thanks for any help.

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[rcmodel]

so when it is seated there is only .277 inside the case. Is that enough?

You can't compare a Boat-Tail bullet with a Flat-Base bullet when talking about "how much bullet is in the case".

Yes, the BT is longer the then FB.

But the actual bearing surface in contact with the inside of the case neck is probably about the same if the ogive's are similar.

No part of the Boat-Tail is touching the case neck anyway.

If maximum accuracy is your goal, and you don't mind that they are too long to fit in the magazine, and they fall out on the ground sometimes when you drop them?

Seat with 1/16" inside the neck and touch the rifling leade if you can.

On the other hand?

If practical hunting accuracy and maximum reliability is the goal?
Forget about the lands, the heck with the last gnats whisker accuracy, and seat to the cannulure.

rc

 

[gamestalker]

As long as you are not experiencing any problems when seating up close, there is not reason to worry about doing so. And about the only real concerns are keeping pressures desirable, being that pressures get higher as you get closer to the lands, but as long as you are performing your work up in accordance with that your OK. And second, if your not pulling bullets out of the cases when opening the bolt your OK. Last would be magazine fit, but you haven't mentioned any issues, so I gather they fit just fine.
I too have an SPS, but it's chambered in 7mm RM. I seat mine extremely long, even the 100 gr. varmint bullets are .010" off lands and they only have about 1.800" of shank inside the neck. Never had one stick in the chamber when opening the bolt, and they fit the magazine still. And I can't pull the bullet out of the case mouth by hand regardless of how hard I pull. I once tried to pull one using a Gerber multi tool, and still couldn't get it to budge. So my take on this is if it works, keep doing it.

GS

 

[vaeevictiss]

Yea they won't fit in the magazine but I've always single loaded bolt actions since I was a kid so it doesn't bother me haha.

Thanks for the info tho, whenever I get around to picking up some more reloading goodies I'll try them out.

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