Cartdridge OAL versus Chamber

[Coltdriver]

I got my hands on a stoney point OAL guage tonight.

I used it to determine the max OAL possible in my Ruger #3 in .223.

Was I surprised! A 50 grain blitzking did not touch the lands until the OALwas 2.455 inches!

That gives almost a 2 tenths jump from a standard length cartridge! And very little hope of getting to within a few thousanths from the bullet ogive to the lands.

Has anyone else discovered such a disparity between your chamber length and a standard cartridge length???

 

[Steve Smith]

Yes. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, some bullets will have an ogive that is much closer to the rifling at a shorter OAL. Secondly, the gun may be designed to accept longer bullets for long range shooting, OR for the shooter to load the rounds long to fit more powder in. Thirdly, it could just be sloppy chambering.