Hey Guys, I am fairly new to reloading. I’ve done a little bit of it thru COVID but not enough to fully say I have it down. I’m currently working up a load for a proof 26” 6.5 cm. I have once fired Hornady brass and I’m seating a 140 ELD-m. My question is when I look up factory OAL for this bullet OAL is 2.80. I can’t get it seat anywhere close to that. Bolt close is really really really heavy. Do I need to trim the cases? For what it’s worth the action runs on 147s like butter. I’m currently just started to screw around with this and I know something not right. I appreciate any help in advance.
- Thread starter ktm131rob
- Start date
few things, bullet ogive shape can have an effect on the cartridge chambering.
do you have measurement tools for reloading?
you need to measure case length. Also, for the loaded round, not oal but ogive to base length. Also you need to know your rifles internal chamber measurements. Learn how to measure to your lands, few different ways to do this. Know your brass trim length for your rifle not just factory specs.
Having this info will help a ton!
do you have measurement tools for reloading?
you need to measure case length. Also, for the loaded round, not oal but ogive to base length. Also you need to know your rifles internal chamber measurements. Learn how to measure to your lands, few different ways to do this. Know your brass trim length for your rifle not just factory specs.
Having this info will help a ton!
You don't need a tool to measure the DTL/Jam Point/Jump. You can use the gravity method of seating a bullet long, then seating deeper to the point the bullet doesn't touch the lands and stay stuck in the chamber with the muzzle pointed to sky. I can provide more details if you want.
I’d love it to hear it.
Ok but first you need to know if that matters in your chamber! It might or it might not.
tools can tell you sooooo much.
Given that you are reloading and wanting to learn, I would recommend a bore scope. You can look at the brass length to the chamber. You can also look at how your cleaning regimen is going. When you need to clean and if you are done cleaning.
The investment of just a few things will get you a looong ways down the road of learning.
As with anything, first time takes a while, but I have found the DTL for all my rifles this method for so long I can find DTL in a matter of minutes.
Here goes:
1. Clean chamber/throat.
2. Muzzle to sky with buttstock on bench.
3. Load a newly sized brass into the chamber with your pinky finger. Press hard on the back of the case head. It should fall by gravity after release.
- This is a test piece of brass to ensure there are no hang-ups/false reads with the brass to chamber fit.
4. Same piece of clean falling brass, load a bullet longer than usual by say .070" over max listed COAL.
5. Slowly insert the round into the chamber pushing very slowly with your pinky.
- Stop pushing when you feel resistance. This is the contact of the bullet with lands. (Turn off the radio, close your eyes, and snail slow to feel this)
- If you stop at the first detection softness, you can free the round with a subtle rap of buttstock on bench. If not, punch out w/rod from muzzle.
6. Seat bullet deeper by .003 and repeat until the round falls freely with gravity when you release your pinky.
- A bullet will stay in the rifling with even .001" into them. So, when it falls free, you are extremely close to the lands. Likely .001-.002"
7. Record that length with a CBTO gauge and record that COAL for that bullet until you get a CBTO gauge. You must do this for each different bullet type, weight, brand, etc.
8. You will now know how far your bullet jump is when you load. Most people seat match bullets starting .000-020 from the lands.
So I’ll research how to use a bore scope for that. Using a bore scope for this is a new one to me.
With a cleaned chamber and bore, Chamber a piece of brass (unloaded of course) , bore scope down the muzzle (some will audibly gasp at this) to the mouth of the brass and you will see how your brass length is in relationship to the lands.
below shows this along with the Sinclair case trim length gauge.
Case max length - really max length
Hello, I just started reloading and every once in a while come across some matters that arise questions. One of these is case length. When checking case lengths of my Sako range pickups after resizing, I got few that were over 1,765". Couple were over 1,768". I tought that once resizing...
www.snipershide.com This is extremely helpful and makes sense. I tried this everything stuck with my test brass. Do I have a sizing issue?
Yes. Can you push it slowly and identify if it’s the shoulder or web getting stuck? Do you have a new unfired case to try?
No I don’t, I have factory ammo, and 1 fried brass.
So, I had another set of dies, i was using Hornady dies, and an RCBS holder, I cross referenced the number. I went to a set of RCBS dies and now it drops out freely.
I’m at a loss here, setting aside looking for the lands. I took once fired brass. Sized it took and loaded it with the same projectile did it twice. After I took both those cartridges and tested them. Dimensionally the same one works smooth the other does not. Also loaded .015 back from the factory loading. I’m probably causing this issue but it’s frustrating.
Do you have a case gauge? Fire forming brass won't always be 100% consistent. If you use a case gauge it can help to rule out possible things going wrong like not sizing enough.
Are you full length sizing or just neck sizing?
I had a friend only neck sizing and he told me they were all the same (he was having an issue with tight brass and heavy bolt handle) I grabbed my case gauge and some came close and some stuck WAY out. Of course none would fit.
I hate to piggy back on a thread but figured since we are talking about this, I’d throw my process out there for you guys to pick through, and maybe OP and I both learn something.. I do not use many tools and really wonder if there’s any significant danger to what I am doing. I really just bought random stuff and had at it. So here’s my regimen starting with a new rifle.
1. Shoot a box of factory ammo
2. Measure every piece of brass, record length, and trim all to match the shortest..
3. Half ass neck size one piece leaving the spent primer.
4. Place a bullet in said piece but obviously no charge.
5. Barely seat bullet w press and Lube the nose of bullet with case lube
6. Slowly chamber the round with the bolt and then extract.. this is how I get my length.
7. Start with mid tier load and play with COAL until I have what seems to be a GO seating depth.
8. Play with charges until I feel I have found the most accurate charge.
I never check speeds just accuracy
So update, I spoke with someone who walked me thru my issue. Basically I was forming this brass incorrectly. I wasn’t using my forming die correctly and I was focusing on the neck to base dimension and not the shoulder dimension. He had me pull my firing pin and spring and use the “Eric Cortina” method until I bumped the shoulder to work in my chamber. This friend of mine had access to all the tools that were mentioned above. He’s a competitor shooter with a long professional background long range shooting. He explained that although the methods above will yield better accuracy for the shooting we do it’s good enough.
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a case gauge is cheap insurance. A lot of people will say as long as it fits YOUR chamber it's fine. But we all know we will get more guns and that will cause issues. I just found some reloads I forgot I did a few years back.....I have since re barreled that rifle that I was loading for and have two more rifles int hat same calibre....
So how does that work, is it an adjustable gauge you set once you find your chamber spec or do you have one made to match the chamber of your rifle?
So a case gauge is machined the the spec so a properly sized case will fit. If the case you just sized sticks out, you didn't size it enough. If it sits low you sized it too much and bumped the shoulder back to far.
Also the other end will tell you if it needs trimming or not. here is a picture that illustrates it I stole just now from google images
