Reloading for a rifle question

[Old Grumpy]

I am interested in reloading some rounds for my .30-06. I have loaded rounds for my .30-30 with fair resuts so much of the basic methodology is familiar to me. My question is this:

If I do not go through the process to determine how much freebore I have and just use recommended OALs for the specific bullets I choose will I have problems?

I will be shooting these rounds out of my Rem Model 700 at 100 yards. I plan on loading them for paper punching not hunting. I will not be exceeding 100 yards (due to range restrictions and personal choice).

I know accuracy is affected by too much freebore and pressures can be affected by too little freebore.

What do you think guys, will it work without measuring the freebore or should I go to the expense of determining the freebore (I'd almost need to take it somewhere because I don't have any specialized equipment)?

Grumpy

 

[45lcshooter]

Ive never measure mine in the 10 rifles i reload for. I always went by the OAL. Never had issues.

 

[interlock]

it really depends on what you expect accuracy wise.... bearing in mind most decent factory rifles will shoot sub moa with factory ammunition... the limiting factor in my shooting is my shooting.... if you want to shoot f class or are really pushing the limit then the oal will be important to you. once established then you will need to work up your load for that "setting".
i hunt, i expect to shoot 1 - 1.5 inch groups with my hunting rifle, ammunition and scopes. there are loads of compromises in my kit to make it good for hunting.

if you decide to go down the line of optimum oal calculation then there is no need for expensive kit. you can do this by "smoking" a bullet and looking for the rifling marks... but we can get into that later if you want.

keep us posted

 

[USSR]

I know accuracy is affected by too much freebore and pressures can be affected by too little freebore.

What do you think guys, will it work without measuring the freebore or should I go to the expense of determining the freebore (I'd almost need to take it somewhere because I don't have any specialized equipment)?

Old Grumpy,

Believe me, you have absolutely nothing to worry about in regards to having too little freebore. Don't even bother measuring it, as you will only bum yourself out. The factory barreled M700's in .30-06 have long throated chambers. Just seat your bullets so that one caliber is inside the neck and call it good.

Don

 

[mtrmn]

45lcshooter:
"Ive never measure mine in the 10 rifles i reload for. I always went by the OAL. Never had issues."

^^^^^^What he said. Don't worry about it. I just load to max magazine length and call it good.

 

[gamestalker]

For high powered rifle, the OAL, unless you are up close and personal to the lands, will not effect pressures. I like to seat up to the lands and thus have to pay close attention to my work up so as to prevent excessive pressures from developing. But if you just want to seat them at a SAAMI suggested OAL, you'll have no problems other than maybe some minor accuracy issues. At 100 yds. you may not even notice any accuracy issues. Most modern rifles have pretty generous throats these days anyway, so go for it without further consideration.
GS

 

[FROGO207]

I will generally shoot some factory ammo and if it functions OK use that OAL as a start. Then after I vary all other factors for accuracy I will try a bit of in and out with the OAL and if it makes a difference then investigate further. Usually it makes no difference on target so then I will leave it at factory OAL to keep it simple.

 

[Coltdriver]

The number one lesson I learned early on in reloading is that every rifle has a chamber that is slightly different from the sammi spec.

You don't need any expensive equipment to figure out where the lands start with your rifle. Do a little searching on this forum, there are lots of descriptions of putting a bullet in, smoking it with a candle or blacking it with a magic marker.

Very easy to do with nothing more than a sacrificed case and one bullet.

Then you will know what your chamber measures and if you can even get close to the lands or if you are already on them.

I would say knowing the chamber and your intended bullet fit (different bullets will create a different optimum col) is easily the number one factor in getting a good load. Without that information you are guessing from the beginning. So why guess when the answer is so easy to get?

 

[GLOOB]

The ammo manufacturers don't know where the lands are on your rifle. As long as your bullet isn't jamming into the lands, your pressures will be fine.

 

[4895]

I think you would be better served to work your loads up with load book specs, staying within SAAMI specs. Once you find the most accurate group in the myriad of choices, then you can play with seating closer to the lands.

Changing one variable at a time is the best way to know what works and what doesn't.

 

[Doug b]

I'm thinking with that M700 to get anywhere near the lands your going to need a 180 or 200 gr. bullet,no fun at all to shoot off a bench.You might get a better kick (pun intended) out of chasing neck and bullet run out with a light bullet in the 125 to 150 gr. range.

 

[Flatbush Harry]

In my experience, Federal Gold Medal Match in .308 and .30-06 is a good benchmarking round to check initial accuracy potential of a rifle. I then develop loads using the SAAMI COAL. For .30-06, I've gotten my best results in my two bolt action rifles with IMR 4895, 47.0 gr under a 168gr Sierra Match King for my Savage 116 and 48.0 gr under a 168gr SMK for my Win M70 EW. The former has produced 0.2" 3-shot groups at 100 yards while my Winny has produced 0.5" 5-shot groups at 100 yards.





FH

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Freebore, what's that???

I used the OAL suggested in my load manual with a good match grade bullet and was able to produce a sub 1/2MOA load when shot @100 yards. (with 168gr Sierra MatchKing and Hornady Match bullets) That load is made with a full grain below the Max recommended charge of H4350.

 

[poco loco]

I recently found either here or at castboolits an easy and basically free way to find the lands without the tool....

Take a freshly sized case and a heavy for the caliber flat base bullet so it is long enough. Insert the bullet backwards in the case, nose first, and chamber it...Voila, length to lands with no tools and no smoked bullet stuck in said lands which is what happened to me constantly.

It really helped me to find a cast bullet I can shoot out of a super tight, trued. 308 Mauser with a match bbl that was set up for 155 Palma bullets...

Though I do agree with most all who said you will be hard pressed to even get to the lands with a properly seated (at least a caliber in the neck) bullet in a 700.