I finally got around to using my Stoney Point OAL gauge for my .308. I was measuring the Sierra Match King #2200 168 gr boattail bullets for my Rem 700 VLS.

I ran the gauge in along with the brass and bullet. I eased the rod in and as soon as I felt the bullet catching, I stopped. I pulled the gauge out, set the bullet back on top of the brass/gauge and measured with a caliper. It said 2.950. I did it 4 more times and the same measurement.

Lyman lists the OAL for this bullet at 2.775. Could that be right? 2.950 seems awfully long. I did noticed when I extracted the bullet out of the barrel, there were some scratch marks on the bullet from catching the lands.

I also did the same thing with some 150 gr lead point bullets and got an OAL of 2.800. Lyman lists the OAL as 2.755.

Any comments or help is appreciated.

In many rifles, the magazine length will determine your OAL. I have a M700 & I know 2.9 will not function thru your mag. Load to a max. of 2.800 & that's as close as you can get to the lands unless you single load.

BTW, long, tapered match bullets tend to seat longer due to that slim nose profile. Your rifle sounds like it's in spec.

Doesn't sound at all unreasonable. For example, my current favorite toy is a 300WSM (Win. model 70), with recommended OAL basically the same as a 308...and I normally load just short of the lands. For a 168 SMK that is about 3.05" and for a 180 NBT that is about 2.95". So, your freebore is slightly less than mine...and it works fine in my magazine. I don't know what a 700 will handle.

OAL is totally dependent uppon your firearm.