Hey guys, I've been reloading for a while now and have been getting decent results however I always read on here about how far off the lands you seat your bullets. Is there a gauge that tells me this? Any information would be helpful.

To get the initial OAL measurement, take a wooden dowel, your cleaning rod (or other rod), place a strip of masking tape lengthwise on it and then slide it down the barrel with the bolt closed and 'cocked'. If you leave the firing pin relieved, it will protrude through the bolt-face and give you a false reading because of the firing pin extrusion. If you neglect to screw something into the end of a cleaning rod, it will allow the bullet tip to go into the hole in the end and again, give you a false reading. You can take a cheap, plastic patch jag and cut it off so that you have a nice flat end that will sit fully on the breechface and also on the bullet tip. Using a ball point pen, spin the rod marking the tape as close to the muzzle as possible. Then pull the bolt out and take the bullet you want to measure and drop it into the chamber, point first and using a short rod, tap it just enough to seat it so that it will not fall out. Now, gently ease the rod back in until you feel it touch the tip of the bullet and mark the rod/tape the same way. The distance between your marks will be the maximum OAL for that rifle using that bullet.

Once the measurement is taken, it is very simple to set your vernier caliper for whatever measurement you want, as in .005" or .010" under and so on and then start seating the bullet and screwing in the seater stem in small increments untill the loaded cartridge just barely clears.

On many (most) milsurp rifles, the maximum or close to maximum OAL will be too long for the magazine, so if you want to use the rifle with rounds loaded into the magazine, you will need to see if your measured OAL load fits and if not, start seating a bullet deeper and trying it until you can get it to fit and function through the magazine without any hang-ups.

" Is there a gauge that tells me this? "

There is the Hornady Lock-N-Load Overall Length Gage. A good (but getting pricey) gauge that finds the 'to the lands' length of your cartridge. From there you seat the bullet however far from the lands you desire. Many suggest starting between .030 and .050 off the lands and working from there. I will caution that you should start with minimum powder charges and work up carefully as playing with seating depth differences is also playing with pressure differences. Along with the Hornady AOL gauge, you will need to buy (some make there own) a modified cartridge case of the cartridge you are loading. Also helps to have a Hornady Lock-N-Load Bullet Comparator. Click on the links to Midwayusa below maybe you can get a better understanding of what this is all about. Jimmy

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=570611

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=348740

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=459683

quote:

There is the Hornady Lock-N-Load Overall Length Gage. A good (but getting pricey) gauge that finds the 'to the lands' length of your cartridge.

That's true. It's good too. In fact, in my opinon, mine is almost as good as the dowel/cleaning rod system described above!

THanks for the excellent and very different examples guys

David

I use 2 tools to check the distance to the lands, shown here with the Hornady tool is the R-P tool


it is essentially a tool made to do what R D McMillan was talking about doing with a cleaning rod except much more exact IMO. You insert the rod down the muzzle to the bolt face and lock the rear collet


then retract the rod partway and insert the bullet to the lands (the Hornady makes an excellent tool for inserting and holding the bullet in place). Then reinsert the rod till it hits the bullet tip and lock the front collet


then measure between the collets


This will give you the overall length. The tool has a brass tip that you can take off to measure 22 caliber rifles


and the collets lock with a allen head which provides good purchase on the rod


I tried the marking of the tape on the cleaning rod before I got the first Hornady tool (then Stoney Point) but the pen mark can be .010" thick and repeatability was a problem, not to mention the difficulty of inserting and holding the bullet against the lands.

The Hornady is also a good tool but it will not be exact. The modified case stops when the shoulder hits the chamber shoulder. Your loaded cases are held by the bolt face away from chamber contact and your actual distance to the lands will vary by that difference.

The R-P tool is available and I got mine for $25.00 a couple of years ago. The contact info is r_reeves61@bellsouth.net and phone number 318-424-7867.

Gentlmen, a very easy and cheap way that i check is by useing an old case and running it through the sizer die. then seating a bullit and pulling it out. I do this several time until i can seat the bullet with my hands but it is still quite snug. I then just barly seat the bullet by hand and chamber it in my rifle closing the bolt completely. You should feel a slight resistance whyle closeing the bolt. Then remove the cartridge and measure the total case and bullet length and you have maximum OAL. Note: Make sure you do not put a primer or powder in the case. Just for you individuals that may not have understood safety first. After you have measured the cartridge all you have to do is subtract from the total value how far off the lands you would like to have you bullet. It is realy quite simple and has worked for me the last 20 years.