Sanity Check (or, is Weatherby really unique)?

[DEDON45]

I'm back into reloading after a long hiatus, and I decided I'd see if I could tweak the accuracy of my bolt rifle rounds a bit... I recalled, with my stepfather's 7MM-08, seating the bullet further out than the book called for... about .01" or so off the lands... I determined where the rifling was by barely seating a bullet in an empty but resized case, coating it with a Sharpie marker, and chambering it. It pushed the bullet back in the case and marked the bullet... then I'd do it again, with the bullet seater set to seat it .01" deeper, coat the bullet with sharpie marker ink, and try again... if I got no rifling marks, that's what I would use. Seemed to make a difference in the accuracy...

Now I've got this .300 Weatherby Vanguard rifle (the low end one, not the fancy Mark V version) and I've been testing reloads in it using the 178 grain Hornady A-Max... and I decided to see if I could seat the bullet out further than the book... well, I can't get a mark to show up on the bullet using the technique I outlined above... it's simply not touching anything, even when i start with a cartridge OAL so long it won't fit in the magazine! Then I google and find this: http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-253299.html

It seems that this "freebore" feature basically makes it impossible to seat the bullet close to the lands... is this the case? If so, is it safe to just seat the bullet out so it fits in the magazine (still further out than the book numbers), or is it even worth it?

 

[Bullet]

It seems that this "freebore" feature basically makes it impossible to seat the bullet close to the lands... is this the case?

From what I’ve read I believe the above is correct and that Weatherby is known for this.

If so, is it safe to just seat the bullet out so it fits in the magazine (still further out than the book numbers),

Yes, as long as you keep the bullet into the case as much as the bullet diameter measures.

or is it even worth it?

Only your testing will tell.

I believe if loading longer than what the manual lists for OAL you should work up the powder charge there.