This is my first time trying to figure oal. I did the sharpie trick and came up with .266 on the first one and on the second came up with .253. That's the space from the ogive to the brass. I then tried it this way where I I measured from the tip to the base and did it 5 times each with different numbers but very close. The median for the five is 3.6258. Then when I added from what book said is 3.34 and added the ogive marks came up with 3.6125 and 3.606. Its a Remington 700p stock. I'm running the 208 amax and h1000 powder and I'm fairly new and trying to be safe. So I was thinking of running it at 3.60 just to be a little on the safe side. Also did I do everything right with trying to figure this out?
- Thread starter nitronova
- Start date
Re: Oal help
Am I to understand you do not have a bullet comparator?
First off the sharpie trick works much better if you have a special case split on both sides down to the shoulder. The smoked bullet works better than a sharpied bullet. To do this old school measuring you need a comparator first, a split case, and a small set of vise grips with padded jaws. Come back when you get those things and I will tell you how to measure land engagement on a budget. This is the second time I have give out this link today:
http://www.sinclairintl.com/.aspx/pid=34262/Product/Sinclair_Hex_Style_Bullet_Comparators
Am I to understand you do not have a bullet comparator?
First off the sharpie trick works much better if you have a special case split on both sides down to the shoulder. The smoked bullet works better than a sharpied bullet. To do this old school measuring you need a comparator first, a split case, and a small set of vise grips with padded jaws. Come back when you get those things and I will tell you how to measure land engagement on a budget. This is the second time I have give out this link today:
http://www.sinclairintl.com/.aspx/pid=34262/Product/Sinclair_Hex_Style_Bullet_Comparators
Re: Oal help
Ok it seemed simple at first. But now I know I need additional tools. Would the hornady pal gauge be the best way to go?
Ok it seemed simple at first. But now I know I need additional tools. Would the hornady pal gauge be the best way to go?
Re: Oal help
If you meant OAL guage, then yes...that's a good one...but I'm not 100% convinced that it's dead nuts accurate either. It's simply too easy to nudge or bump INTO the lands a .001 or 2 by oopsie.
I usually measure 10 times, drop the high and low and see what kind of consistency I have.
If you meant OAL guage, then yes...that's a good one...but I'm not 100% convinced that it's dead nuts accurate either. It's simply too easy to nudge or bump INTO the lands a .001 or 2 by oopsie.
I usually measure 10 times, drop the high and low and see what kind of consistency I have.
Re: Oal help
We can guess what cartridge you're loading for but it would be best to KNOW!
Since you're measuring base to ogive contact you may safely ignore book OAL. So long as you stay off the lands there will be no 'safety' issues, how far off is up to you but, for noobs, I would feel good if you stay off lands contact by maybe 15 thou as you develop your first loads.
Unless you are trying to seat exactly on the lands, which may not be good, high precision of the contact point is meaningless. All we really need is a close approximation to use as a base line for seating experiments and your measurements are likely plenty precise for that. IMHO.
AFTER you find the best shooting charge you can ease the seating depth in and out in 5-10 thou steps (avoiding actual lands contact) until you locate the best shooting OAL. That OAL will likely be a range maybe 15-20 thou wide, not a specific point, in which the accuracy will remain the same. Load in the middle of that range and small variations in OAL won't matter.
Some bullets/loads like to be very close to the lands but most don't; you may find a jump as much as .125" - or even more - is best! For rifles like yours it seems most do better around 15-30 thou off the lands. However, your long, heavy for caliber bullet MAY like to be really close but no one can tell you that, it will take experimentation.
We can guess what cartridge you're loading for but it would be best to KNOW!
Since you're measuring base to ogive contact you may safely ignore book OAL. So long as you stay off the lands there will be no 'safety' issues, how far off is up to you but, for noobs, I would feel good if you stay off lands contact by maybe 15 thou as you develop your first loads.
Unless you are trying to seat exactly on the lands, which may not be good, high precision of the contact point is meaningless. All we really need is a close approximation to use as a base line for seating experiments and your measurements are likely plenty precise for that. IMHO.
AFTER you find the best shooting charge you can ease the seating depth in and out in 5-10 thou steps (avoiding actual lands contact) until you locate the best shooting OAL. That OAL will likely be a range maybe 15-20 thou wide, not a specific point, in which the accuracy will remain the same. Load in the middle of that range and small variations in OAL won't matter.
Some bullets/loads like to be very close to the lands but most don't; you may find a jump as much as .125" - or even more - is best! For rifles like yours it seems most do better around 15-30 thou off the lands. However, your long, heavy for caliber bullet MAY like to be really close but no one can tell you that, it will take experimentation.
Re: Oal help
Thanks for the knowledge and help guys. It is a .300 win mag.
Thanks for the knowledge and help guys. It is a .300 win mag.
