30-06 How Many Thou of Lands? Results Posted

Having talked to Hornady one time on this very subject, they recommended .015 off the lands, as long as they fit the mag and will chamber with no problem. But then again, every rifle and every round will react differently so you have to experiment. Start with a factory length and then change in small group sizes till you get your best results.
 
waynewjw said:
I've determined OAL for two bullets - Nosler 168 and 180 grain. And they will fit the mag.
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I'm guessing Ballistic Tips? I usually start those lightly seated on the lands, that way there is only one way to go for experimenting.

Bear in mind that one man's "To the Lands" is another man's "40 thousandths jammed"
 
In determining "To The Lands", I dropped a bullet down the chamber followed by a sized case and slowly backed with the bolt. From there, rod down the barrel with markers for empty and chambered, took the difference, 10 times for each of the bullets. I then took the average of all of these and calc'd the back-off in thousands. Not as accurate as using a guage, but I've got to many rifles and don't want to go out and buy more "stuff".
 
waynewjw said:
In determining "To The Lands", I dropped a bullet down the chamber followed by a sized case and slowly backed with the bolt. From there, rod down the barrel with markers for empty and chambered, took the difference, 10 times for each of the bullets. I then took the average of all of these and calc'd the back-off in thousands. Not as accurate as using a guage, but I've got to many rifles and don't want to go out and buy more "stuff".
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I would call that jammed. The basic measuring technique is fine and repeatable, and can be fine-tuned with a couple drill stop collars on the rod. Measure in between the two stop collars with your dial calipers and its every bit as accurate as a Stoney Point tool. You can modify the technique a bit by using a pencil to gently move the bullets to where it barely touches and measure from there. You'd be surprised how far you can push the bullet in after you first feel it touch.
Measured like you're doing I'd back it out about 30 thousandths for hunting load, which is about the distance that a bullet will drive itself into the lands just by dropping it in under its own weight.
 
Dogleg said:
I would call that jammed. The basic measuring technique is fine and repeatable, and can be fine-tuned with a couple drill stop collars on the rod. Measure in between the two stop collars with your dial calipers and its every bit as accurate as a Stoney Point tool. You can modify the technique a bit by using a pencil to gently move the bullets to where it barely touches and measure from there. You'd be surprised how far you can push the bullet in after you first feel it touch.
Measured like you're doing I'd back it out about 30 thousandths for hunting load, which is about the distance that a bullet will drive itself into the lands just by dropping it in under its own weight.
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So you feel that a drop of 3" down the chamber would cause the bullet to dig in another 10 thou?
 
If you lift the muzzle up does the bullet stick in the barrel? Stuck is farther than touching.

It doesn't matter how you measure it when you are only comparing your own results. Its just when other people are comparing their findings that it matters. Its hard to decide how far to start off the lands if we can't first agree on what on the lands means. Which is why I gave you two different answers, one for lightly touching and one for lightly jammed.
 
Dogleg said:
If you lift the muzzle up does the bullet stick in the barrel? Stuck is farther than touching.
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Yes, bullet is stuck, had to push it back down the chamber to get it out. So I will re-do the measurements this weekend, insert the rod barrel end first and then gently lower the bullet and case, followed by the bolt and see what the change in average OAL is. I've been trying to develop a hunting load for my Weatherby Back Country 30-06, and although I've obtained results that are o.k. for hunting purposes, it's nice to further development of a particular bullet and powder combo and also to see if the groups tighten up anymore.

Once I've got the "revised" OAL, I'm going to do some loads in the 180 grain bullets seating back 10,15 and 20 thou and see what accuracy results are like.
 
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Personally I seat as close to resting on the lands as I can, based on mag length and proper feeding, and only back off if I'm not happy with my results. Often mag length is the limiting factor. Also, you obviously also need to have different COL's for different bullets - finding the COL for one bullet in your rifle is not gong to be transferable to others.

The other thing that sometimes comes up too, but is rarely mentioned, is that really long throated rifles (like some milsurps) with long mags may mean you are actually only limited by the length of the bullet - you could seat it farther out as far as the rifle is concerned, but the bullet just isn't long enough to reach the lands and still be held properly in the case.
 
waynewjw said:
Yes, bullet is stuck, had to push it back down the chamber to get it out. So I will re-do the measurements this weekend, insert the rod barrel end first and then gently lower the bullet and case, followed by the bolt and see what the change in average OAL is. I've been trying to develop a hunting load for my Weatherby Back Country 30-06, and although I've obtained results that are o.k. for hunting purposes, it's nice to further development of a particular bullet and powder combo and also to see if the groups tighten up anymore.

Once I've got the "revised" OAL, I'm going to do some loads in the 180 grain bullets seating back 10,15 and 20 thou and see what accuracy results are like.
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You don't have to redo anything, since your baseline is still your baseline and the rifle will decide what it likes anyway. Its only when you compare notes with other handloaders. It also matters when you de-bullet a load a couple of times in the field, that tends to cure a guy of jammed loads.
 
Dogleg said:
You don't have to redo anything, since your baseline is still your baseline and the rifle will decide what it likes anyway. Its only when you compare notes with other handloaders. It also matters when you de-bullet a load a couple of times in the field, that tends to cure a guy of jammed loads.
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I have a few rifles where it is possible to load within magazine restrictions and still hit the lands (my 325WSM X-Bolt for one), I have yet to have a bullet pulled in the chamber though, I have found that the bullet will just push into the case more, then extract with the new seating depth.

I do not load hunting ammo that long though due to being warned by experienced reloaders, it sure would make a mess in the field if it did happen.
 
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