.308 168g A-Max Bullet depth

berger

berger

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I picked up some A-max projectiles to try in the 10Tr and discovered that my depth is different, when comparing against the standard Hornady Match 168g projectiles. I have only measure COAL using regular calipers, and the COAL of 2.80 has worked great. Now, the a-max have the plastic tip on them, so there is a difference in COAL. My die has not changed, so when seating a 168g match, depth is 2.8, but when I seat an a-max, the COAL is around 2.87.

Do I adjust the die to seat the a-max to 2.8, or leave it? I know measuring to the meplats is not ideal, but it has always worked in the past. Hopefully that makes sense.

Thanks guys!
 
Have you done a smoke test to see where the bullets hits the lands? My experience is that the Amax's like to be 10 thou or closer to the lands to shoot well. The SAAMI recommended COAL is irrelevant. Some rifles will have the COAL exceeding 3".

If you are uncomfortable doing this, as long as 2.87" COAL loads fine, leave your dies as they are. You will end up tweaking this as you work up your load anyway.
 
Have you tested the bullet loose in a case and closed the action to see how it seats in the chamber... Max COL is a general recommendation and can't account for all bullet designs... longer bullets like A-Max and TTSX often will work best at a longer OAL...
 
Pr589 said:
Have you done a smoke test to see where the bullets hits the lands? My experience is that the Amax's like to be 10 thou or closer to the lands to shoot well. The SAAMI recommended COAL is irrelevant. Some rifles will have the COAL exceeding 3".

If you are uncomfortable doing this, as long as 2.87" COAL loads fine, leave your dies as they are. You will end up tweaking this as you work up your load anyway.
Click to expand...

Mine are well over 3", but then only work for single loads. I'm going to have to do further testing once my W3 arrives and I need, or may want to load out AI mags.

For *** sakes, if you load ammo to do a distance off lands test, do not do it with a live round. Make, and clearly label the round for testing purposes only. No powder or primer.

As others have mentioned, if you don't have to fit a mag, etc, don't worry about book COL and load to what your gun prefers.
 
OK, did the dowl test to figure out where the bullet sits. When I measured the 168g hornady match, I got a reading of 2.803. For the A-max, I read 2.818.
 
Pick up a Hornday Bullet Comparator. You measure off the ogive instead of the tip. A-max and BTHP have different ogive so you can't really compare when you measure to the tip of the bullet.
 
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