my problem is getting the bullet to the lands.i dropped a 55 gr.bullet in the chamber i am guessing it stops at the lands and measured form the back of the bullet to the end of the chamber and came up with 2.414..ok my brass was 1.750 my bullet is .684 in length this is 2.434 total.i guess my question is how far does the bullet need to be seated in the brass ?seems like my bullet is gonna be a long way from the lands.should i stick with the length listed in my reloading manual?thanks for any help.. johnny

Johnny, What 55gr bullet are you using?

It looks like you have a long throat. Take an empty case and barely run it into your resizing die just enough to squeeze down the mouth of the case so that you can push the bullets base into it. Now with the bullet barely held by the very edge of the mouth, load the round into the gun and close the action slowly. This should get you the exact length to the lands of the barrel. Measure how much of the bullet is in the case and go from there. I like a minimum of .22" in 22 caliber cases.

i got my bullets from midway,they are called dogtown i think.

I have the same rifle same problem. They made the chamber so you could shoot heavy bullets even though the rate of twist is to slow for anything over 55 gr. It also keeps pressures low. I messed around and messed around and finally just seated some one caliber deep in the case and even with the big jump to the lands it started shooting great. You don't always need to try and seat your bullets close to the lands to get very good acuracy. I find mine shoots best with velocities around 3200 fps with Seirra 50gr Semipointed bullets(under half inch@100) And even my Blue Dot loads with 40gr v-max bullets(.37" at 50yds) at about 2800fps shoot well when seated this way.

I try to get at least 1/3 caliber into the case; which would be about .074" for the .224. Sit the bullet at straight on the mouth as possible and rotate 1/2 turn when halfway seated, then finish seating.

I have the Handirifle in 223, and there's NO WAY i can touch the rifling.

I experimented with various lengths, from suggested to bullet nearly falling out...

the BEST groups it ever got was after i sent it back to NEF for a trigger job ...

it's about a 1" gun... somedays more, some less, and fun to shoot...

book max loads, in this gun, have split necks after 3 reloads... same loads in a savage last 10 or more. I think that's due to the designed, as the headspace is good (checked by me and a smith with gauges)

so, find the length that your rifle likes best, and i'll suggest you just start with the OAL's listed in the reloading books
jeffe

Should be no need to touch...Although not the best shooter I own my NEF will do this type of grouping...most days:

< !--color--> You might try the 55gr. Hornady VMAXs, you can seat them out quite far and still have alot of the bullet inside the case, I've got mine at 2.345" about .015"-.020" off the lands and the base of the bullet is even with the bottom of the neck, that and 24grs. Benchmark should be deadly on paper and varmints Jay < !--color-->

I would be careful about revving up the loads for Handi-rifles. I witnessed a blown ejector on a fella's .223 at the range and my .243's action has popped open with loads (slightly) under book max.

Which is a shame as the .243 is known to be a little accuracy-fickle with reduced loads.