In regard to my other post about the 257 Ruger with the long throat.
When seating a bullet, you should have at least the diameter of the bullet in the neck.
Now, if your using a boat tail bullet, do you count the taper of the boat tail as part of that dimension? It's in the neck, but not actually in contact with the case.
In other words, having to seat bullets way out, would I be better off with a flat base bullet?
Thanks, Dave

Depends what you're trying to achieve . roger

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
Depends what you're trying to achieve . roger

I have to seat the bullet out as far as possible, to get close to the lands. Do I count the taper part of boat tail bullet, when trying to have at least .257" of the bullet seated into the case?
It's not touching the brass, so it's not helping to hold the bullet in the case.
I hope this makes since.

The "one diameter rule" is a guideline and certainly not an absolute....For me it's a starting point. One could load to 1/2 diameter too and be just fine.

Personally, I'm not all that hell-bent on loading close to the lands.....none of my rifles are bench rest guns!

There are quite a few reasons for a "1 caliber" seat...and a major reason is for bullet alignment...the neck holds the bullet in alignment with the bore of the barrel... more or less.

Another is to keep the bullet from moving under recoil. One cal seems to be a good compromise as anything over or under the total neck length doesn't do a thing...again more or less and totally argumentive and in some cases VERY argumentive.

If your seating die will seat the bullet straight...within a few thou runout then all you really need is enough to hold the bullet against handling, recoil and bouncing around in the magazine...usually 0.003" difference less than bullet dia on the resize will hold all but the larger cals with heavy bullets, that's why I use bushing dies for the most part.

Some of my varminting and target loads only have the bullet stuffed 0.050" into the case...some are so lightly held I seat them long and close the bolt gently...the bullet pushing against the lands seats the bullet.

USUALLY the smaller the cal the farther away from the lands...most of my 22 cals like 0.015" to 0.030" jump and as the caliber increases the amount of "jump" decreases...BUT...you have to work that out for YOUR rifle...I've had a few 22 cals that wouldn't shot a specific bullet unless it was jammed INTO the lands that amount.

For the 257 R I would start at 0.025" off the lands, fire a few 3 shot groups and add 0.005", fire a few more...if the group size gets smaller I would add another 0.005" to see which way the group goes and so forth...or visversa if the group gets bigger when I added the extra length.

It ALL depends on just how accurate your ammo is, how well you prepped the cases and other components, how well you can hold...etc, etc, etc.

The tail of the boat DOESN'T touch the neck brass so it ISN'T counted as far as the holding is concerned, but I still try to keep the tail above the bottom of the neck as it STILL takes up space in the "powder compartment".

As far as what good a boat tail is concerned, you don't really get any value until 300 yds and beyond. The best way to understand this is to break out the ballistic tables and study them and compare the energy and drop values between a flat base and a boat tail.

Many bullets today have some sort of a "boat tail" like Nosler BT's have...basically I use bullets that I know are already proven in the accuracy department...I don't need to continually reinvent the wheel, so to speak.

For hunting, COL depends on the lands, most important, and then what length the magazine will handle. For target or varminting work I load single rounds so magazine length doesn't matter much, I load to the lands or to the point of highest accuracy and velocity.

If you, the rifle, and the ammo are only capable of 2" accuracy, WHERE the bullet is in relation to the lands is only academic. If the rifle and the ammo are tuned well and YOU can hold well enough to shoot a quarten inch 5 shot group, THEN where the bullet is in relation to the lands is very important.

Bullet seating only becomes relevant and meaninful only if all the other components are working together as a system otherwise you are chasing a ghost and will waste a lot of components...but you will get a lot of trigger time and might become a better shooter so all is not lost.

Make sure your Ruger is "blueprinted" or at least properly bedded and the crown is not damaged. Bench prep your brass, weigh sort your bullets, THEN, MAYBE you can tell the difference in a 0.005" change in length in your groups, otherwise....

Luck

When I reload for a long throated rifle, I usually seat the bullet so that the base of the bullet sits where the neck of the case meets the shoulder. That's assuming I have enough room in the magazine for that OAL. I don't try to get the bullet out as far as possible.

If you are having trouble getting the 110 accubonds to shoot well, try a 100 grain bullet or a 120 grain. I think you might be putting too much emphasis on the long throat. It could be something else, like you need to try a different bullet weight, or a different powder.

If this is a hunting gun, you need to make sure the OAL you choose feeds well through the magazine. If the OAL is too long, it can cause feeding problems or if the bullet isn't seated deeply enough, the bullet won't be secure during rough handling. My advise is don't worry about getting so close to the lands if this is a hunting rifle. If your primary concern is bench accuracy, then you could spend more time tinkering with the OAL. My hunch is the long throat isn't the primary issue with getting your rifle to shoot accurately.

I have tried 4 different bullet weights, and 3 different powders. I think moving the bullet out 1/4" closer to the lands might help. I'm going from an OAL of 2.900" to 3.150"
I'll see what happens if it ever stops snowing, and I can get to the range.

You haven't given much information about your rifle or groups, your level of expertice OR your required level of accuracy...so evaluating what needs to be done is sorta like saying "my Chevy won't run"...some might think it's the engine, others the tranny...It might just be up on blocks, no wheels or out of gas.

Early Rugers were notorious for having two things...either the barrel was lousy because of cheap, outsourced barrels or they were exceedingly accurate because of....who knows.

I can guarantee you will be chasing your tail worrying about the seating depth if the barrel is touching the wood or the receiver is twisted because of a lousy fit, the scope is loose or damaged, you are shooting off hand or all the other problems associated with an untuned rifle and ammo.

Seating depth is not caliber specific, it is ubiquitous to ALL calibers...use the "FIND" button to search for "bullet seating" on this forum and several other...there is tons of information out there. Re-reading the section on reloading in ANY reloading manual will also give you the answers you are looking for.

Luck