Newby bullet seating depth questions

[utbrowningman]

I've just starting the reolading hobby. I've read a few of the books, (ABC's and Metallic Cartridge Reloading) and have the Lee manual. I just reloaded some once fired brass last night with 49 gr. of IMR4895 behind a Remington 150 gr. MC bullet. I seated the bullet to so that the case mouth came to the middle of the cannelure. Sorry, I'm at work and don't remember the OAL but shorter than the maximum. Is it fair to say the heavier the bullet, the longer OAL it will be? I started thinking about this after reading posts of how deep to seat the bullet and how to size the length to be just shy of the lands. This lead me to think that with my .30-06, there is such a wide variety of bullet wieghts that surely they are not all the same OAL. Is seating to the cannelure a good place to start? In the absence of a cannelure, how do you determing the seating depth? I'm not inerested in a target rifle but one that is accurate enought for mulies/elk and varmint fun. Do I really need to worry about seating a few thousandths of a inch before the lands for my purposes?

 

[rcmodel]

Is it fair to say the heavier the bullet, the longer OAL it will be?

No.
A 165 grain BTSP might easily seat to a longer OAL then a 220 RN.
It all depends on the shape of the bullet

In the absence of a cannelure, how do you determing the seating depth?

It tells you where to start in every reloading manual.
Just find the data for the bullet brand & weight you are using.

Is seating to the cannelure a good place to start?

Yes.
You can't go wrong there.

Do I really need to worry about seating a few thousandths of a inch before the lands for my purposes?

No.
Some of the most accurate commercial ammo in the world is Match & Varmint grade ammo from any of the big manufactures
.
They have no clue where the lands are in every match & varmint rifle ever made.
So they seat to an OAL that fill fit & feed in any magazine on any rifle.

rc

 

[rfwobbly]

Mr Browning Man -

Good info from RC there. For you, do all the above, and after trimming make sure to chamfer the inside of the case to remove any machining burrs. Those small burrs will keep you from seating the bullet perfectly in the case neck.