How do you tell the correct seating depth in a single shot? In my bolt guns, I seat a bullet way out and chamber it until I don't see rifling marks and then back off a little. A single shot does not have the camming action of a bolt though. Is it just trial and error? Keep seating them until it goes in the chamber and then back off?

Also, is Cartridge Overall Lenght a meaningless concept in a single shot? As long as the bullet is not touchng the lands I can't see why it would matter.

You seem to know the answer already. I set my seating depth for a new load by seating a test round long, chambering it and then putting it back in the seating die. I screw the seating adjustment down with the ram up until it touches the bullet again and then back the ram down and turn the seating screw in one full turn and seat all the loads to this length.

Kyna, in my single-shots, I drop a bullet into the chamber, with the muzzle pointed down, so it can enter the throat and seat itself there. I then take an empty, resized, unprimed case and slip it into the chamber behind the bullet, then take a caliper and measure the length of the case which is protruding from the chamber. I then add 2mm to this measurement, and use that as the FIRST bullet seating depth I use for accuracy testing with that bullet/powder charge combination. I then use a cleaning rod to push the bullet back out if it won't slide out freely when you elevate the muzzle after making your measurements.

Kynadog,

I don't believe the COAL is a meaningless measurement in a Single Shot. If you are going to seat bullets that need a certain distance from the lands you need this measurement, and you may want to know it to taylor your rounds for accuracy.

KYNADOG
The only thing I do differently is to smoke the bullet too make it easier to see the marks of the lands. I like to adjust the seating depth so the lands will mark the soot, but not the bullet. This is just a starting point, the final step in tuning a load is to play with the seating depth in .005" increments. Good luck.