A few questions: First of all, when you are measuring OAL with a ballistic tip, is it from the bottom of the casing to the plastic tip of the bullet?

I was just getting ready to seat my bullets for the first time and I though I'd do the old dummy casing with a bullet in it and push it into the chamber until it just hit the lands. When I pull the shell out and could see that the lands just started to touch, the bullet was barely in the casing. When I use the recommended oal of 2.350, the bullet is seated farther into the casing that the UMC hollow points I was first shooting to get some brass. Could it be that my casings are super short?? What should I do for my first reloads? I don't think the bullet should be seated farther than the factory rounds, but they will if I stick to the 2.350 from tip to base. Please help.

Why confuse yourself...

make a dummy round, with no primer and no powder...

barely seat a bullet into the case...

put it in the rifles magazine, and point the barrel up in the air or down at the ground...

shove the bolt forward and it will seat the bullet until it is touching the lands..

put it back in your die, and then adjust the seater plug until it contacts the top of the bullet.. then lift up the ram, take out the case and adjust your seater plug down about 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn....

then you are set to go...

quit trying to figure out 1/zillionth of an inch off the lands...it'll drive you nuts unless you are an engineer and live for this kinda nutty stuff...

The overall length is significant with regard to magazine length and throat length.To establish the max. length for YOUR RIFLES MAGAZINE is a no brainer. Seat the bullets just out far enough till it COMPLETELY clears in the magazine all the way to the bottom of the magazine and up again.

I'll throw in with Seafire's throat length determination with one exception. Slit the neck of the dummy case so there is a relatively small amount of tension on the bullet. Too often if you don't ,you jam the bullet into the rifling and as you open the bolt the bullet stays in the barrel. fact.

Often you will find if your throat is deep enough the MAGAZINE length will be the determining factor. In this case when you measure the OAL you may find that the published OAL is smaller than what you measure and that's just fine. In general the published OALs are intened as a specification for those making commercial ammo and rifle magazines roger

Looks like the man said he had already done this. One caution, in some cases, it is possible for the bullet to be jammed in the lands and not come out or, perhaps in your case, be pulled slightly out when being extracted. Check this by chambering a round slightly shorter than the first one. It is certainly possible to have a long throat, especially in a single shot rifle like your BVSS.
Peter.

Hey Dubs, Here is the Method I use: OCL to ODL. It sure simplifies adjusting the Seating Depth.

You do not need to waste money on any "Thingys" and easy to replicate measurements.

Best of luck to you.

quote:

Originally posted by Hot Core:
Hey Dubs, Here is the Method I use: OCL to ODL. It sure simplifies adjusting the Seating Depth.

You do not need to waste money on any "Thingys" and easy to replicate measurements.

Best of luck to you.

You rock Hot Core. I now see where my problem was originally. When I was trying to do the old chambering a dummy cartridge with the bolt, my neck was too tight and that's why I wasn't getting an accurate reading. I was jamming the bullet too far into the lands. That trick you linked me too worked sweet and you know you are right on with the measurements!!! Thanks again.

quote:

Originally posted by dubs22-250:

quote:

Originally posted by Hot Core:
Hey Dubs, Here is the Method I use: OCL to ODL. It sure simplifies adjusting the Seating Depth.

You do not need to waste money on any "Thingys" and easy to replicate measurements.

Best of luck to you.

You rock Hot Core. I now see where my problem was originally. When I was trying to do the old chambering a dummy cartridge with the bolt, my neck was too tight and that's why I wasn't getting an accurate reading. I was jamming the bullet too far into the lands. That trick you linked me too worked sweet and you know you are right on with the measurements!!! Thanks again.

PS. Do you think I should pull it off .025 of the lands since I'm just dog hunting??

quote:

Originally posted by dubs22-250:
... Do you think I should pull it off .025 of the lands since I'm just dog hunting??

Hey Dubs, First off, just as you mentioned, if the Neck is too "tight" the other Method can fight you. Some split the neck with a hacksaw or Dremel tool and do fine with that Method though. And some take a Fired(expanded) Case and just squeeze the Neck a bit to hold the Bullet. Always nice to have a couple of extra Methods available.
----

Selecting how deep to Seat a Bullet can be a bit tricky. I just reread Seafire's, Bartsche's and Peter's posts and each one of them has excellent points:
1. It is possible to get too concerned about it in the beginning.
2. It needs to fit in the magazine if you want it to be a repeater.
3. If out too far, the Bullet can get stuck in the Lands and make a mess when you pull the Case out.

But, 0.025" Off-the-Lands is a fine place to start if it fits in the magazine. I normally use Seating Depth to Fine Tune the Harmonic once I find it. Sometimes it helps to change the Seating Depth a bit and sometimes it gets worse.

Some rifles do well with the Bullets way off the Lands. I have one which does just that. But it is a Trial and Error process to see what achieves the level of accuracy you are happy with.

Seafire's point is very appropriate and one that is easy to forget when thinking about "New" Loads. I know I'm guilty of it myself.

Good Hunting and clean 1-shot Kills.

Thanks for taking the time to write....and yes, you do have to start somewhere. My OAL is 2.45 from plastic tip to base. Magazine would probably hold a 3.0 lol! I can see how slight diffs in bullet weights or manufacturers could change that setting each time. I'm not that far off the factory round I shot to get the brass. I have a dog hunt in 3 weeks and I just have to be good up to about 300 yards. I am so fortunate to live 20 mins from the COSSA range in OR which give me a 100-1,000 yard target setup. This will really help me know where I'm at 50-400 yrds. After that....I just let them go. It can get tricky picking off a dog between 2 prized cows!!!