Loaded too long?

[juk]

Alright, as a bit of irony to one of my last posts here regarding adjusting CAOL to suit the rifle, I just chambered a dummy round to the exact specs as my first batch of reloads. I noticed that when closing the bolt, there was resistance. Not much, so I closed it all the way down and then ejected the round. The bullet was not pushed back, but had several light marks on it from the rifling I assume. Given the resistance to close the bolt and the marks on the bullet, are my loads safe to fire? It wouldn't be a big deal to seat the bullets back down a hair and I would rather be safe than sorry. For those that don't know I loaded my rounds according to the book of Sierra. 308 bolt action rugger m77 varmint tang safety. loads are 165 Sierra gamekings over 38-43grains of 4064 for a COAL of 2.75". My previous loads with 150 NBTs loaded to 2.8" chamber and fire just fine. No resistance or marks on the bullets. I guess the ogive extends further forward due to the difference in weight between the 150s and 165s.

 

[USSR]

The bullet was not pushed back, but had several light marks on it from the rifling I assume.

juk,

Personally, I wouldn't assume that, given that your cartridge OAL is only 2.75". I don't know of a factory rifle with the throat in that close. The marks on the bullet were probably from somewhere between the magazine to the chamber. Take your dummy bullet out and try just chambering the case. I bet you get the same amount of resistance.

Don

 

[Ol` Joe]

A little coloring with a magic marker and careful rechambering will tell if the bullet is contacting the rifleingor not. The lands will leave small distinct "smears" in the ink. Don`t use the same bullet twice for this as the bullet may be seated deeper when 1st chambered and give a false result the 2nd time.

Every brand and style of bullet has its own geometery, and the ogive of a Sierra 150 gr will match no other brand of bullet nor weight. The same for a Nosler, Speer, ect. Every bullet needs to have its own COL found and recorded for future use.

 

[MutinousDoug]

Unless you are loading on the ragged edge of too hot, having your bullets touch the rifling (will likely) will not result in dangerous pressures. I think the problem will be accuracy: if some bullets are seated in the rifling and some are not accuracy will suffer. Either jam them all into the rifling or seat them down so none of them do. You may be surprised by the difference in bullet OAL if you are shooting HPBT so COAL is not the best measure to determine distance to lands.
Take the bolt our of your gun, drop a round into the chamber and push it home with your finger. Then tip the gun up. If the round doesn't fall out of the chamber on it's own, the rifling is holding the round in place by the bullet ogive.
(This advice assumes you can do the same with a sized, empty case.)
For High Power, I seat all my bullets .005/.010" off the lands. The Schutzen guys seat their cast bullets .010/.020" INTO the lands. Consistency on or off the lands is the watchword.
HTH

 

[juk]

Thanks for the quick replies. I'll try it with just a case. The brass was in spec, but not trimmed. I guess I will have to get my trimmer online. Local shops don't have them in stock. Thanks to all that have "walked" me through this. Its slightly intimidating for a first timer.