arizona hunter
New member
I just read a useful article in the July Guns/Ammo mag. It was written by John Haviland, in it he describes a way to determine your OAL for a particular bullet/cartridge.
Previously I had read of coloring a bullet with a marker or "smoking" it with a candle, but I was never really satisfied with the results, and therefore could not trust them.
Haviland says close the bolt, then put a cleaning rod down the muzzle until it stops. Now mark this point in some way ( I used tape). Now, take a case and lightly fit a bullet into it--way out beyond what the OAL will be, now slowly close the bolt. Take the rod again and lower it into the muzzle, now mark the spot were it stops. The distance between the two marks (for me, between the insides of the two pieces of tape) is the max OAL for that bullet. Interesting thing, is that when I measured the distance between the marks, it was also the same length of the cartridge. This is the MAX OAL for that bullet.
For my 30.06 with Barnes XLC 180's I was .050 off the lands (what Barnes suggests). How I arrived at this was using the "smoking" method 4 years ago, and they shoot great, but I still wondered if I was close to the OAL.
With my old 1942 6.5 x 55, I now know why some loads shoot poorly when loaded at 2.889 instead of out to 2.995 to 3.100-too much jump to the rifling.
All this was very interesting to me this morning before going to work; for some of you it's old news and some others don't care. But I shared this in hopes that some other reloader (besides myself) will find it useful.
Make this a great day.
Previously I had read of coloring a bullet with a marker or "smoking" it with a candle, but I was never really satisfied with the results, and therefore could not trust them.
Haviland says close the bolt, then put a cleaning rod down the muzzle until it stops. Now mark this point in some way ( I used tape). Now, take a case and lightly fit a bullet into it--way out beyond what the OAL will be, now slowly close the bolt. Take the rod again and lower it into the muzzle, now mark the spot were it stops. The distance between the two marks (for me, between the insides of the two pieces of tape) is the max OAL for that bullet. Interesting thing, is that when I measured the distance between the marks, it was also the same length of the cartridge. This is the MAX OAL for that bullet.
For my 30.06 with Barnes XLC 180's I was .050 off the lands (what Barnes suggests). How I arrived at this was using the "smoking" method 4 years ago, and they shoot great, but I still wondered if I was close to the OAL.
With my old 1942 6.5 x 55, I now know why some loads shoot poorly when loaded at 2.889 instead of out to 2.995 to 3.100-too much jump to the rifling.
All this was very interesting to me this morning before going to work; for some of you it's old news and some others don't care. But I shared this in hopes that some other reloader (besides myself) will find it useful.
Make this a great day.