when developing a new load for a new rifle, how far off the lands do you fellas normally start with for bullet seating?

Depends on the gun and the type of shooting I am doing with the ammo. Initally I like to load as long as the mag box and chamber will allow and still be .010-.020" short of the rifling. For hunting I may seat a bit deeper but still depends on bullet shape and style.

I start .01" off, find a good bullet/brass/powder/charge combination, and THEN VARY seating depth by .005" after this, in and out to find the most accurate. Make sure you are using a bullet comparator when measuring your seating depth so it is very consistantly measured off the ogive and not the tip of the bullet since profile can change from lot to lot for the same bullet.

Go to the thread that was brought up a few days ago. It is titled something like 'bullet seating to the lands. Myth?' It has some good similar information.

These will be hunting loads. Win. Mod. 70 270 WSM, new Win. brass, WLRM primers, Magpro powder, 140 Nos. Bal tips. I was just trying to find the best place to start as far as seating depth goes, then once I find the best producing powder charge, I will start tweaking seating depth. According to the previous posts, .01 to .02 off the lands is an acceptable starting point? Oh yeah, the chamber measurements were obtained with the stoney point chamber lenght gauge and bullet comparator. I used three differant bullets, measured the chamber 6 times with each, then averaged these measurements. The individual measurements varied .001 to .004, you seem to kinda have to get a feel for how hard to hold the chamber length gauge, while at the same time how much pressure to push the bullet to the lands. I assume the above is an acceptable method to obtain an accurate measurement of chamber length?

I always start at .010" and mostly always end up there too.

In hunting rifles, I don't really care anymore. All I want is a good, CONSISTENT, reliable load. As long as it has good neck tension, fits through the magazine, and the load is consistent and reasonably accurate, I'm happy.

For my 6PPC, I'm anywhere from .01 INTO to .045 from the lands (the latter with 55 gr. Noslers -- they like the jump, for some reason). HTH, Dutch.