T3x CTR 6.5 Creedmoor - teach me OALs!

Jayjay1

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Oct 30, 2018
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494
Hey guys,
I´m curious which OALs you are running, especially with Hornady`s 140gr. ELD-M and BTHP.

I´ve read elswhere a guy setting his 140 ELD-M bullet out to 2.910".

I´ve measured my OAL with the cleaning rod method and then pulled off about 0.4" because of safety, did vary only longer, not shorter.
Came up with 2.874" max. OAL.
Same with the BTHP.

With which OAL are you running those bullets in the CTR?
 
I'm sure it was just a typo, but did you pull off .4, .04, or .004" for safety? Decimal places matter in reloading lol.

Usually when people measure distance to the lands, they're measuring off the bullets ogive, not the tip. My 6.5 CTR was at the lands at 2.3" base to ogive with the 140 ELD-Ms (measured with the Hornady tool), which would put the overall length, base to tip, at around 2.922 for my particular rifle. After doing a Berger seating depth test, I'm going to explore the area around .06" off the lands though for my load (haven't settled on my load for this rifle yet).

Edit: I just looked into the cleaning rod method for finding the lands, so I see why you're measuring COAL and not CBTO.
 
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Yes sir, you got me on that one.
.04" of course, because of being a schooled m-cm-mm guy I have sometimes issues with the "translation. :giggle:

OAL or COL, yup, like I wrote above, with 2.874" I was hitting the lands with the 140 ELD-M and BTHP.
 
Haha no worries, I figured you meant .04" but just wanted to double check. Your measurement to the lands seems to be within the range I've seen posted for CTRs in 6.5 Creedmoor, albeit maybe slightly towards the shorter end of the range. If you don't get enough answers here in this thread, you can always try asking in the Tikka thread: https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/tikka-t3-thread.6252615/ (y)