A question about COAL and lands

[JeffRaines]

So last night I pulled out my new '06 and was trying to get a measurement to the lands using my O.A.L gauge. Using Hornady ELD-X 200gr bullets, I was only able to get 3.310 consistently. I tried loading a dummy round to COAL and coating the ogive area with sharpie so I could chamber it and see if it wasn't my gauge acting funky, but, surely enough I pull it out and see marks where it was pushed into the lands.

I'm not totally new at reloading, but I'm newer. I've never encountered this before. Now, is this a product of the bullet being so long? I realize that 200gr is a little heavy for caliber. Is this a manufacturing issue with the firearm? Just trying to see if its something I should be worried about.

Thanks.

 

[mdi]

I'm sure that someone will have good info for you, but I have a thought. Did you make the round shorter than the measurement you got from your tool? If you found the depth (from bolt head to lands) and then loaded a round to this length, of course it will hit the lands. I'd shorten the OAL .010" from the measurement....

 

[JeffRaines]

I'm sure that someone will have good info for you, but I have a thought. Did you make the round shorter than the measurement you got from your tool? If you found the depth (from bolt head to lands) and then loaded a round to this length, of course it will hit the lands. I'd shorten the OAL .010" from the measurement....

Being that its such a long bullet, I was hoping to be able to make it at least SAAMI max length which is 3.340. My other rifles can usually go .010+ over SAAMI max.

 

[Chuck R.]

Who made the gauge insert??

I normally go with .0020 under the bullet into lands measurement to start, then tweak once I get my charge weight sorted out. I sometimes do get bullets with a slight variance based on my gauge.

Chuck

 

[Sunray]

That chamber is short. It a custom barrel? Anything in the chamber? Like shipping grease.
Even the European CIP(SAMMI equivalent) Max OAL for .30-06 is 3.340".
"...200gr is a little heavy for caliber..." Not for .30-06 it isn't. Hodgdon's site goes to 220 grains. So does Nosler. Federal loads a 220. Sierra makes a 240 grain Match King.
And forget the Off-the-Lands stuff until you have a load.

 

[JeffRaines]

That chamber is short. It a custom barrel? Anything in the chamber? Like shipping grease.
Even the European CIP(SAMMI equivalent) Max OAL for .30-06 is 3.340".
"...200gr is a little heavy for caliber..." Not for .30-06 it isn't. Hodgdon's site goes to 220 grains. So does Nosler. Federal loads a 220. Sierra makes a 240 grain Match King.
And forget the Off-the-Lands stuff until you have a load.

Not custom, stock Weatherby Vanguard/Howa. I was also thinking its short, at least the throat is short as hell. Nothing in the chamber as I've already went through it. It's new, so mandatory gunk clean out.

 

[Orcon]

Well at least you measured your loads before you loaded and shot them. I loaded some 243Win for a Savage recently and blew primers halfway up the load map. The loads were in no measure hot but after some post range measurements I found that the rifle has a very short throat. The 95 gr Nosler BST was jammed at 2.7" the Nosler load data was tested at 2.68"and I had the audacity to load them at 2.74" without measuring the actual tolerances of my rifle.

Find where they hit the lands, back them up a hair and work up.

 

[Barrelgal]

Many years ago when I first started this awesome hobby with my hubby we would try smoking or using a sharpie to indicate land contact, but quickly realized this method was terribly inaccurate. Reasoning being is that hard or soft contact leaves marks, so you never really know if it's jamming into the lands or just touching, especially so if closing the bolt on the cartridge.

This is how I find absolute zero now, I have verified it's reliability by checking against a soft seated bullet and it's with a couple thousandths. But it's important to know that ogive inconsistencies can still get you into the lands unintentionally with most hunting grade bullets.

Starting with a squeaky clean chamber. I seat long using a piece of empty brass that I have verified will freely drop in and out when chambered with my finger, in other words properly FL sized, not necked, with barrel held vertical. I then carefully push the loaded cartridge into the chamber until it just barely sticks to the lands, then tap the barrel with my hand and it falls back out. I seat deeper in small increments until when pushed in as hard as I can it just barely sticks to the lands for a second or so, then drops back out by gravity. I then adjust the stem down another .001" or .002", push the round in hard and if it doesn't stick at all then this is my zero .000" to the lands. I document by measuring from die face to top of seating stem. Then I adjust my seating stem down the number of thousandths I desire off the lands and document that measurement, die face to top of seating stem.

BG