newbie ?? for the reloading experts

[16Bore]

Easiest way to find the lands is to take case and split the neck. Seat a bullet long and chamber it, measure it, repeat a few times. Color the tip with a sharpie and you will see where the lands engage the bullets. Thats a kiss in my book, anything else is a jam. I've found that VLD's like to be into the lands and like the engagement no deeper than the width of the lands. It'll make little squares on the bullet (Sharpied). Some guys go deeper, but now your into bushing dies to get the right neck tension and extracting the bolt could mean a mag box full of powder. If you're not kissing within the mag box, then start at the longest possible length, run up to pressure, then start bringing in OAL to find accuracy (if need be). No need to shoot through 100 rounds of schitt to find shinola....

As for shoots and ladders and round robin stuff, no thanks.......

260 work up 108 Lapua Scenars (mucho badasso bullet), easy to see effects of COAL. Not even close to being topped out and flys like a 120 TTSX, but thats a whole 'nuther story.....

 

[16Bore]

same COAL with Varget

 

[brushape]

I slit a case and stuck the bullet and covered it in soot and seated to the lands a few times with the bolt, once I got an average number I setup my press to seat to just under that distance and that is where they all are

 

[brushape]

also with these classic hunters in my savage 110 I am hitting the lands with a ton of room left in the mag for reference if anyone is considering loading them for their own factory rifle

 

[16Bore]

They were made for magbox woes..

 

[fire arrow]

To find the lands the cheap old way, take a candle and soot up the bullet. Start under what you think your length should be. From there seat you bullets longer until you see the lands on the soot. Increase by .050 until you see the lands, and then adjust by .001 so you can fine tune it. Or just by the Hornady kit, and get there modified case.

Once you get your distance to lands, I would highly recommend doing a max charge test. Start of with a book minimum powder, and work up 0.5 gr until you get pressure signs. You should first see flatten primers, and then start to see swipes. Once you see the swipes subtract 1.0gr and that should max charge for your rifle, powder, primer, bullet. The reason you back off the 1.0gr is to for a safety buffer. If you work up a load while it's cold/cooler out side, and then take it out and shoot it when it's hot, might be on the real heavy side of a hot load. If your bolt sticks and is hard to open that means you are real hot.

Once you get all of this info write down everything in a loading journal, including the weather for latter references. Once you find your max load then go a head and work up the test loads for accurecy. When you find your most accurate load, you can adjust the seating depth, in and out, to see if your load shoots better.

Im not saying this is the "Right Way" to do it. This is how I do it and it is what works for me. Have fun reloading and always work your loads up slowly.

 

[30-338mag]

so after getting the seating die adjusted perfectly for the first bullet to sit .015 off the lands I ran them all through at that length but measuring with my calipers show that the coal varies quite a bit .002-.011" difference. is this length irrellevant as the die is not seating them from the tip anyways?

I would love to get the velocities, I just dont think I will be able to swing the purchase of a chrono anytime soon as im getting major shit for buying what I have lately for reloading already

If your COAL varies you need this to check if that has effected .015" off the lands. I use one of these make sure seating stem doesn't need to be change

http://www.sinclairintl.com/reloadi...sku749002942-34262-66673.aspx?sku=749-002-942

 

[brushape]

went out and fired through the round robin today everything went good, berger listed a max of of 52.6grains and I ran up to 54 with no pressure signs whatsoever. 54 and 51 grains shot all three touching. all the rest were about an inch. all were about in the same basic spot in relation to the aim point untill 53.5 & 54 which were 1" higher and in the same spot. Im thinking I will load 5 more of each 53.5 at ..010, .015 , .020 jump to see if it gets any better before running loading up the rest of the bullets I have and calling it good. temp was 70 in the shade today while i was shooting in the direct sun so i dont imagine seeing any crazy overpressure in higher temps

 

[mtswampfox]

glad you are having success and fun finding the perfect load. now the real fun begins. estimating yardage in real world hunting situations and wind too , amazing what a light breeze at 500 yds will do.and building that benchrest hold in a hunting situation with nothing but your bod to form a solid rest. was always trying to find the perfect load too until learning the wind always blows in sd and wy 10-40 mph but hey its all in fun.........