I've been reloading for some time now and especially for my LMT MWS. Most bullets I've been reloading for my 7.62 LMT MWS I usually double check with my hornady bullet comparator and overall length gauge and typically I've had no problems seating bullets to mag length.... well, I finally ran into a bullet, SMK 165gr HPBT, that not only was well under mag seated coal, but well under the 2.750"coal recommended in sierra's manual!!!! I ran 10 total tests with the above bullet touching the lands and I came up with an average MAXIMUM OGIVE DEPTH of 2.253".... with a bullet jump of .015" = seated reloaded ogive of 2.238 OR about ~ 2.715ish coal !!!!
few times I read some people just "load to mag length" for semi-autos.... well, just letting those few know... you can NOT do this with some bullets on the market with semi-autos..... heck, even the recommended 2.75" COAL in the sierra manual would've been too much!
if I would've reloaded to the manual of 2.75" coal (cartridge over all length) = would've been .035" OVER! pushing the bullet back into the brass when loaded.
if I would've reloaded to mag length of 2.810" coal (tested with overall length gauge in my .308 PMAG) = would've been .095" OVER! pushing the bullet wayyyy back into the brass when loaded.
I figured I would share my findings! As always, double check with your own rifle before reloading! Different rifles with different bullets will come up with completely different ogive measurements!
Take it easy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phQdxDwe804
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCPgKNp8i7o
BTW, the straight hornady overall length gauge JUST clears my LMT AR-10 style upper by about 3/16" of an inch... no problem in ar15 style rifles and the "curved" overall length gauge is not needed (this way it can be used for both bolt-action and semi-autos). Also, if your bullet gets stuck on the lands when pulling out the length gauge, then I use the string end of my bore snake to knock the bullet back out (works every time without damaging the barrel crown).
few times I read some people just "load to mag length" for semi-autos.... well, just letting those few know... you can NOT do this with some bullets on the market with semi-autos..... heck, even the recommended 2.75" COAL in the sierra manual would've been too much!
if I would've reloaded to the manual of 2.75" coal (cartridge over all length) = would've been .035" OVER! pushing the bullet back into the brass when loaded.
if I would've reloaded to mag length of 2.810" coal (tested with overall length gauge in my .308 PMAG) = would've been .095" OVER! pushing the bullet wayyyy back into the brass when loaded.
I figured I would share my findings! As always, double check with your own rifle before reloading! Different rifles with different bullets will come up with completely different ogive measurements!
Take it easy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phQdxDwe804
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCPgKNp8i7o
BTW, the straight hornady overall length gauge JUST clears my LMT AR-10 style upper by about 3/16" of an inch... no problem in ar15 style rifles and the "curved" overall length gauge is not needed (this way it can be used for both bolt-action and semi-autos). Also, if your bullet gets stuck on the lands when pulling out the length gauge, then I use the string end of my bore snake to knock the bullet back out (works every time without damaging the barrel crown).
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