Does 2.9676" COAL Seem Long for 6.5 Creedmoor 147gr ELDM?

[AznTactical]

I am extremely new to reloading. I am reloading 6.5 creedmoor ELD-M 147gr for my Tikka Tac A1. Using a Sinclair bullet seating tool and comparator I am seeing an avg COAL of 2.9676" and BTO of 2.3236". Does this seem right when Hornady's loading book says a max COAL of 2.800"?

ELD-M 147gr length is 1.44" and it's base to Ogive (BTO) is 0.796".

Ultimately I am trying to load my cartridges to .01", .02" & .03" off the lands and have no clue if I'm doing it right.
.01" off the lands COAL 2.9576", BTO 2.3136".
.02" off the lands COAL 2.9476", BTO 2.3036".
.03" off the lands COAL 2.9376", BTO 2.2936".

 

[_Raining]

How much bullet bearing surface is still in the neck when it is loaded to 2.9676"? Most people recommend having at least 1 caliber's worth, in your case .264" still in the neck.

 

[D_TROS]

Seems pretty close but I would not start load that long if looking to load from a mag. Id stay max 2.95 if can. BUT the number seems good.

Curious how you found out where the lands are? Just have to make sure you arnt jamming the load into the lands (that causes pressure)

Interested to see your velocity.

GL
DT

 

[AznTactical]

How much bullet bearing surface is still in the neck when it is loaded to 2.9676"? Most people recommend having at least 1 caliber's worth, in your case .264" still in the neck.

The complete neck will be touching the bullet.

 

[AznTactical]

Seems pretty close but I would not start load that long if looking to load from a mag. Id stay max 2.95 if can. BUT the number seems good.

Curious how you found out where the lands are? Just have to make sure you arnt jamming the load into the lands (that causes pressure)

Interested to see your velocity.

GL
DT

I manually fed the bullet into the chamber loosely then use the Sinclair rod to gently push the bullet until it stops moving forward. There's just enough tension that I just point the muzzle into the air, tap the butt on the ground lightly and the bullet falls out. Trial and error probably over 2 dozen times to understand the "feel".

 

[_Raining]

If the full neck has tension on the bullet then you are fine, as long as you are not accidentally into the lands but even if you are you will be fine as long as you start low and work your way up. What you don't want to happen is working up a load with a jump distance then do seating depth test and start jamming without re-working up to pressure. Heavy bullets are typically long and 147 is fairly heavy for 6.5. I use 180 grain vld's in my 223 and those are long but if I wanted to use 90 grain bullets then I would need to increase my freebore by a lot, to almost being equivalent to 243 win freebore lengths. Also factory barrels generally have long throats. Like was already mentioned, you will be limited by magazine length so if that is a concern then you should start your load there unless you want to torture yourself knowing that a more accurate load exists but you can't use it in practice.

 

[padom]

First that is EXTREMELY long distance to the lands for 6.5cm. This may be Tikka playing it safe as a factory chamber offering which Remington does too.

I've had or have many 6.5cm and they all range 2.855 - 2.875 to lands. This is why 6.5cm became so popular over 260 Remington because you dont have magazine limitations. But you will at 2.96....

 

[AznTactical]

First that is EXTREMELY long distance to the lands for 6.5cm. This may be Tikka playing it safe as a factory chamber offering which Remington does too.

I've had or have many 6.5cm and they all range 2.855 - 2.875 to lands. This is why 6.5cm became so popular over 260 Remington because you dont have magazine limitations. But you will at 2.96....

I just got done measuring COAL using a borrowed Hornady OAL gauge and it's measurements are almost identical to what I measured using Sinclair's tool. I also measured my oem Tikka magazine and the longest cartridge it can handle is 2.949" so 0.020" off the lands is possible.

Additionally I measured my workhouse Savage FCP 6.5 creedmoor. It's maximum COAL with a 147gr ELDM is 2.876". My PMAG's will allow up to 2.875".

 

[Boostinmarc4]

This does seem like a long COAL. Measure your trimmed piece of brass then measure your base to ogive and bullet overall length. Make sure that the coal is brass overall length plus the bullet overall length minus the measurement of the base to ogive of the bullet minus .264 or more...

 

[Pilotscrappy]

My rpr is 2.299 to my lands.. Seems like a mile...however I load my rounds at mag length 2.190 base to ogive and it shoots the 140 and 147 eld excellent.