i want to seat some bullets out .015 off my rifling to get her a lil more accurate. how low should i start my charges. should i start at minimum charges or hack of a grain or 2?

First off, there's no guarentee that moving closer to the lands will give you better accuracy; however, I would start, assuming you have a well built modern rifle, about halfway between min and max and work up if possible. This also assumes that you have fired your rifle with loads that were close to max w/o pressure signs.

yeah ive been shooting max loads out of it at book overall lengths with no issues.

shouldnt i be starting lower loads though? moving the bullet forward increases pressure.

Caveman, Generally you adjust powder charge first, then OAL.

If you are using a magazine bolt rifle, start with your OAL at magazine length. In a medium cartridge, (say .308 to 30.06 size) work up in 1/2 grain increments. When you have found you most accurate load, start adjusting your oal. There are different theories on this. Some say .005, .01, 1/4-1/2 turn increments, and if you read the Berger site, they have a completely differet method. Pick one and go with it.

Personally I come in with .005 increments.

quote:

Originally posted by craveman85:
i want to seat some bullets out .015 off my rifling to get her a lil more accurate. how low should i start my charges. should i start at minimum charges or hack of a grain or 2?

Start at the suggested minimum loads published in the manual....it don't take long to work up....

I often take five rounds to the range and each of them loaded one grain more than the other.....clearly marked of course. Call it a formality but it's an important one IMO.....I almost always manage to reach book max without pressure signs.

quote:

moving the bullet forward increases pressure.

I've not experimented with overall length nearly as much as many of out posters and hopefully someone will correct me if I am laboring under a misimpression. However, I believe this statement is true only to the extent that the bullets are into the lands. Otherwise, there's ever so slightly more space in the case and pressure will be lower.

LWD

quote:

've not experimented with overall length nearly as much

all the googling i did told me it increased as you moved it closer to the rifling because it didnt have as much of a jump. but then again if you go deeper than the book length it starts to increase as well.