OAL

[Rem700CDLSF3006]

I just started making a dummy round today to find my OAL.I seated a 165 gr ballistic tip in a resized case and seated a bullet at 3.42 I pained it and chambered it no rifling marks I can see chambers easy bolt closes easy.
But its like the length of the tip insert on a 165 gr SST longer.the factory round measure 3.22 does this sound resonable

 

[Haxby]

Sure, it's reasonable. I'm guessing that this is a 30/06 bolt action.
Any overall length that
) doesn't have the bullet touching the lands,
) fits in the magazine, and
) feeds from the magazine
is reasonable.
SAAMI or whoever has set 3.34" as standard for the 30/06. If you start there, you might not have to try anything else.

 

[Rem700CDLSF3006]

thank you Haxby I used to reload maybe 7 yrs ago but had a 7MM mag then and the 2 were always close.What took me by suprise on this one is its just quite abit longer than a factory Hornady 165 grain sst

 

[Lennyjoe]

If you don't have OAL gauges, the best way to feel out your rifles OAL with the bullet you choose is to do what you did, with one exception. I barely seat the bullet in the sized case, mark the bullet with a permanent black marker and chamber the round. Extract round slowly and see if the ogive contacted the LANs. If so, check the slide marks on the bullet to ensure the bullet didn't pull out of the case mouth when round was extracted. If it did not, you have the max OAL for that type of bullet. Document the length and work back from that max OAL.

It's crude but effective and many of us have used that with great success.

Welcome back to the world of "rolling your own"...

 

[James2]

With my rifles and pointed soft point bullets, I have found the magazine length to be the limiting factor most of the time. They have to be short enough to go in the magazine and chamber from the magazine. Seldom will they hit the lands if they work in the magazine. Round nose, a different story. We should always make the test though.

 

[Rem700CDLSF3006]

thank you LennyJoe i did that except used a blue marker.. It works through the magazine good cambers easier than a factory round no marks of lands on bullet. And it seems good to be doing it again.Do wish components were easier to find though

 

[Lennyjoe]

My -06 likes the 165 gr bullet .010 off the LANs and 180gr bullets .015 off. The .243 likes .015 and the 22-250 right on them. Every rifle, powder and bullet combo is different.....work them out to get the best accuracy.

 

[Rem700CDLSF3006]

LennyJoe can I ask what type of OAL you have I made a dummy round and cambered it several times painting tip and no rifling marks.I wound up at 3.422.They camber easier than a factory round.

 

[Rem700CDLSF3006]

first 2 30-06 loads

these are my first 2 loads for my 30-06 how do they look? Look abit long to me but not touching lands

 

[gamestalker]

For high powered rifle, looks is not really a factor, as to how long they look that is. I have some chambers with long throats, some with short throats, and I generally seat right up to the lands, or just off a few thou. If I'm loading for a hunt, I can't seat the long throat rounds up to the lands, for obvious reason. So if your not wanting to single load, just make sure they fit the magazine, then play around in the working range of the magazine until you locate the best accuracy.
GS

 

[witchhunter]

Try barely seating a bullet, marking it, and adjust your seating die until it barely touches the lands. It might take 10-15 dummies. Take your time. Measure and mark this in your log as your "zero". I like to start .010 shorter than that. Experiment until you are satisfied with the accuracy, but make sure it fits in the magazine. Then pull bullets on your dummies and load em. Oh, and I never put a primer in the dummies....just so you know they are dummies. Oh, and this measurement will change on every different weight or style of bullet you want to try. If you have several different bullets you are going to try, repeat this with all of them, and note them in your logbook, notebook, whatever you are keeping. Hang in there, this part is one of the most important things you can do for accurate reloads.

 

[Rem700CDLSF3006]

thank you all for the help.it had been several yrs since ive reloaded,I did this before but never had any go this long over what listed OAL was

 

[witchhunter]

Your OAL for a given cartridge can be very different from the SAAMI spec. SAAMI specs the OAL for the cartridge in all guns ever made in that caliber. Your specific OAL is limited to the length of your magazine and your throat depth. Always start low and work up to max, watch for pressure signs if you are seating near the lands as pressure may spike. There are many rifles chambered in 30/06, you must assume that they might all have slightly different sized chambers and throats, even barrel diameters, or rifling. That is why everyone will advise you to start low and work up. Any combo of these things changes YOUR rifle's Max OAL and max load. The good news is, all that range time will make you more consistent, and you will know exactly what your rifle is capable of. Good luck.

 

[kyhunter]

my 700 adl hit the lands at 3.315 with 190 SMK's. I load 190 grain smk to 3.303 all the time. Factory loadings are designed to fit in every chamber/magazine. Some rifles have sorter throats and therefore they load to fit those. If the ogive of a bullet is farther back the "longer" it could potentially be loaded.

 

[gamestalker]

Once I've obtained zero for OAL with specific bullets, I then use the caliper to measure how high the seating plug is off the die body, and how high the die body is off the lock nut for head space, and then write those numbers down in my log book. This saves a lot of time when bumping shoulders and seating bullets.
GS

 

[noylj]

COL. It's COL.

 

[kyhunter]

or COAL. to each his own.

 

[Reloadron]

You may want to give this article a read as it covers exactly what you are doing.

Something I noticed that you did that I would not do is:

I seated a 165 gr ballistic tip in a resized case and ....

I would take a new factory cartridge and fire it once in the rifle you want to load for. This will allow the case shoulder to blow out to your chamber dimensions getting the case shoulder close to where you want it anyway. I want my case as close to my chamber headspace dimensions as I can get it. Resizing is going to "bump" that shoulder back, I don't believe you want that.

Just My Take...
Ron

 

[Flt Simulation]

OAL
No, it can't be that since "overall" is just one word

COAL
Nope, that ain't right either. Again, "overall" is one word

COL
Exactly right! Cartridge Overall Length = COL


School dismissed!

 

[Lennyjoe]

Well I'll be damned.....