Seating depth/ need advice please

[shekarchi]

Hello all
I am new to reloading and need some advice.
I am using the Hornady OAL gauge in order to find the best bullet jump for the loads I am working up for my 300 wsm and 270win. Both rifles are the Browning A-bolt.
My question is how far off the lands should I seat as a staring point and at what increments should I try first?
e.g. If I am measuring a specific bullet's ogive is touching the lands in the bore at 2.733 inches from the bolt face ; at what length(s) should I seat?
Thanks for your help!!!i

 

[gamestalker]

The way I've been doing it for years is as follows.

I first find zero, which is where the olgive is at the lands, not into them. I do my powder charge work up at zero OAL also, as this is where pressures are the highest. So if your powder work up is good at zero, it will positively be acceptable at shorter OAL's (bottle necks only). If they group well at zero, I will generally back them off .010 to account for olgive inconsistencies, and then call it good. If not, then I begin decreasing OAL in .010" increments until I find the sweet spot.

But not all rifles will allow for such a long OAL, deep throats may not allow for enough bullet shank in the neck, or they may not fit the magazine, or they might not cycle or feed properly.

But in many modern production rifles, a more standardized OAL will function just fine. I recently loaded for a new rifle that absolutely would not allow for zero, or anything even close to zero. And as it turned out, this rifle shoots sub moa with the OAL that fits the magazine.

GS

 

[safarihunter]

Depending on caliber I find that .005 to .010 gives me what I want.

 

[shekarchi]

Thank you gentlemen!
I will try both your methods and report the results.

 

[shekarchi]

The way I've been doing it for years is as follows.

I first find zero, which is where the olgive is at the lands, not into them. I do my powder charge work up at zero OAL also, as this is where pressures are the highest. So if your powder work up is good at zero, it will positively be acceptable at shorter OAL's (bottle necks only). If they group well at zero, I will generally back them off .010 to account for olgive inconsistencies, and then call it good. If not, then I begin decreasing OAL in .010" increments until I find the sweet spot.

But not all rifles will allow for such a long OAL, deep throats may not allow for enough bullet shank in the neck, or they may not fit the magazine, or they might not cycle or feed properly.

But in many modern production rifles, a more standardized OAL will function just fine. I recently loaded for a new rifle that absolutely would not allow for zero, or anything even close to zero. And as it turned out, this rifle shoots sub moa with the OAL that fits the magazine.

GS

Yes after trying your method I have found that heavier bullets will not fit in the mag when set at zero so i am trying the longest oal that will feed from the mag.
I guess however that I can still try to see how these will work by bypassing the mag...