Members: I have a question concerning the minimum length that a bullet that should extend into the case. I had always understood that a general rule was that the distance should equal at least the diameter of the bullet. But I recently loaded some Speer 180 grain FP into .358 Winchester brass and noted that it seemed that very little bullet was within the neck after seating them at the Speer recommended overall length of 2.67". A little math shows that only 0.19" of bullet is within the neck. They shoot well in my BLR, but I am still concerned that the bullets aren't very deep within the case. Checking on some .308 shells that I loaded with 130 grain Hornady SP reveals that only 0.22" of bullet is within the case after loading to Hodgdon's recommended length. Should I be concerned? Should I start considering crimping, even if the buller has no cannelure or, in the case of the .358, is seated nowhere near the cannelure?

Enough to hold it in the case so it doesn't fall out. One has to be careful so he dosen't jam it into the rifling. Nor bends the bullet sideways in the case from rough handling. For loads that are loaded one at a time and not carried a lot you do not need them seated real deep. On some hand gun rounds with some powders you need some bullet pull to get the powders to burn completely.

I like (1) full dia. or even better, the case neck length.

I've heard several versions of seating depth. One is seat one diameter deep. Thus a 7mm Rem. Mag. would be
seated .284". I've also heard 1/3rd. of an inch given as a standard. I prefer to measure all of my calibers
with a Stoney Point OAL guage and seat out to barely touch the lands. I load everything single shot for
range use so I don't have to worry about the bullet coming loose and dumping powder in my chamber. The
major problem today is most chambers are so long you can't even reach the lands. You'd think the
manufacturers had never heard of SAAMI specs for bullet lengths. One good method to determine cartridge
length is to cut the case neck lengthwise, seat the bullet long and let the bolt closure determine your length.
Then seat a tad more until the land marks on the round disappear. There are numerous methods that work
rather well. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Try contacting the bullet maker(s) and ask them. Let us know what they say.

sonofagun: I will contact Speer and report back - pagris.

Did this come up on another .358 topic? Someone asked about loads and I mentioned that I had them "seated way out"!

Remember that? Then I looked in the Speer book and all along they had suggested a COL just a few thousands less than what it took me thirty years to figure out!

I put those loads on the RCBS CaseMaster and the runout is very good. They shoot good and function and feed well in a 99F and a Ruger 77-1.

Heck the .300 WM does not come close to having one caliber of seating depth! Once one trims a .300 WM to .010" under max it's hardly a quarter of an inch!