I am pretty new to rifle loading but do have a good grasp of it and have been making some great rounds so far. My question here is on OAL per round. I know the actual bullets will vary some in length but I am getting some pretty big length changes. I am loading with 175gr SMKs to 2.800 ( trying to at least!) After adjusting my die to the correct seating depth of 2.800 and double checking it with two calipers I started to load. After a few loads and checking each load I have gotten a spread of 2.795 - 2.8085 in loading 10 rounds. Is this enough to mess with my accuracy a lot? I know it is the variance in the bullets and not my setup.
- Thread starter guncrazy72
- Start date
this is normal bullet tips vary in length. that is why some guys measure their lead. then measure off the ogive of the bullet. this is the safest way to load any length but sami. jamming the bullet into the rifling causes extra chamber pressure. it can also pull the bullet out of the case when ejecting a loaded round from the chamber
Thanks for the replies. From what I can gather I should be in the OK OAL with my barrel.
Shoot em and see. I bet they will be fine. All bullets are not created equal!
SMK's vary a good bit in OAL of the bullet itself due to the ragged meplats (tips) on the bullets. As others have told you above, measuring the case base to ogive is the only way to truly know where you stand with jump or jam situations.
Thanks for that link - clearest explanation I've seen, and also told me that my problems using the Hornady tool were not unique, and are due to its design
You probably want to start checking the Length to ogive dimension. That's where the difference can be manageable.
SMKs are like that because they have several machines dumping into the same tub to be boxed from. Basically 1950s technology.
SMKs are like that because they have several machines dumping into the same tub to be boxed from. Basically 1950s technology.
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