Re: 165 SGK Seating Depth
There are always loads of questions on seating depth. What is the correct seating depth for your rifle? How long is a piece of string? See there is no right or wrong answer.......ponder that one a while.
Now as to your question:
1) You have a Remington 700 5R. Which is/was made in the following calibers: .223 rem, 308 Win and 300 Win Mag. Which do you have?
2) So where do you start with load development if you don't know the correct COAL for your rifle?
Well, first since you have a repeater it would be nice if your rounds actually fit and feed from the magazine box. So the first thing you do is measure the inside of your mag box with a caliper. If it's a 308 in a Remington 700 it will measure something like 2.825" for example. You then subtract .010" and you max COAL therefore becomes 2.815", again for example. (assuming of course you using a long enough bullet to keep at least one caliber length in the neck, excluding the boattail)
This does two things, it ensure your loads will feed from the magazine, and bullets lengths tend to differ by + or - .005" and you will be allowing for that.
Once you have that max length, you cannot make your loads longer, unless you change your max box of course. Then work your loads up, try different powder et al, all with the same bullet length.
If you cannot get an acceptable load, then dink with your bullet length and go shorter, as you cannot go longer, without making magazine changes.
Bob