I'm loading some 35gr bergers in a hornet. To get them close to the lands (1.846 OAL)I have 16 thousandths of the bullet in the neck. I know some prefer to have the equivalent of the bullet diameter in the case or .224" in this case. Whats your thoughts?

The "caliber depth" seating is more or less a rule of thumb.
I usually start there and work out. The light weight small calibers do pose a bit of a problem. I just seat them out as far as necessary for good accuracy and a "stable" loaded round so they don't come apart during handing in the field or in the magazine. FWIW, some Turk military 8mm (.323") is seated into the case only .160". It is, however, crimped.

I think you must mean a hundred and sixty thousands (.160") rather than sixteen thousands (.016"), right? Anyway, in my previous post I should have mentioned that the "seat depth" for the 35gr Vmax loads in my Hornet is .165" and I have no problems with stabilty of the loaded rounds.

.22Hornet, neck tension and bullet pull have to do with sealing the case/bore. If you are seating out long and contacting the rifling, then you are probably slightly delaying the bullet movement up the bore and achieving a good seal, and better accuracy. As stated above, what you want is ammunition which handles well in the field and functions well in the rifle.

OOPS, yes I meant .160 Thanks for both replies craigster and 308Sako!

I have also encountered this problem in the Hornet. Not only are factory chambers often long throated, but the bullets suitable for the Hornet are light and short. Add to that, the very thin necks of the Hornet brass and the fact we often get the best accuracy with boat tail bullets. All in all, it can be a fairly wobbly affair. In fact, I have experinced Hornet rounds loosing the bullets when dropped on the floor. No, they were not seated very deeply...

Because of this situation, I have taken to using a Lee Factory Crimp die for my Hornet loads. It firms up the seating (at a given depth) quite nicely.

- mike

try to keep the heel of the bullet at the shoulder/neck junction. a bit fwd won't hurt,..but if very little bearing surface is in the neck, groups can be great at 100yds, but will fall apart at 200yds and past.

sometimes in a factory throat,.you'll have to jump to get good neck tension and still be able to get good groups.

Why would the loads be "great" at 100 yards and "fall apart" at 200 yards????

quote:

groups can be great at 100yds, but will fall apart at 200yds and past.

That makes absolutely no sense to me at all.......somehow defies physics.

Somebody explain the use of a crimp die. Do I have to use a special bullet or can I use any bullet?

I discussed the findings with the gunsmith and he stated he had seen it before. When using a light bullet or in a long throat when you try to reach the lands, leaving very little bearing surface in the neck, you can make a load that will remain stable enough to go 1/2" at 100yds, but after that destabilizes.

if you want to understand it, then try doing a search on why many benchrest rifles have a load with a VLD pill that is horrible at 100yds, but extremely tight at 300yds and further.

It's about RPM's and stability. The bullet barely engaged with the neck can be forced into a spiral by the rifling, but as it enters with it's center of gravity off center due to almost zero neck tension upon release, the spiral will only stay stable for a short period.

This I have proven with a 125gr NBT in a 30-06 where I used the lands to hold it steady as almost no bearing surface was being grabbed. Once it got past 100yds, the groups opend up tremendously.

shoving it back further for better neck tension and allowing it to jump to the lands was the cure. That gave it the extra stability it needed. as per the gunsmith's suggestion.