Bullet hitting lands

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photog_shooter

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I'm having a bit of an issue here. I reloaded some ammo and I made the OAL approx 0.2" shorter than the specified OAL length I've found online (several different sites all showed the same specs). I went to load a round at the range and the thing got stuck (obviously didn't shoot the thing). When I pulled the bolt back, the extractor ended up pulling the cartridge out but the bullet stayed behind. Anyway, fast track to when I get back home. I use a cleaning rod to push the bullet out and upon closer inspection, I see that the bullet dug into the lands about 5mm or so.

Ok so logic would state that I should remedy this issue by reducing the OAL, but I'm already shorter than the specs state for this cartridge. Any ideas? Is it safe to reduce the OAL by that much below the listed specs for the cal?

I have no doubt that the rifle itself is up to spec, it's made by a VERY reputable manufacturer. I'm trying to avoid giving specific details about the gun itself as I don't want to slam such an amazing firearms manufacturer and I'm sure that the issue lies within the ammo.
 
Published maximum OAL for a cartridge is meaningless information. You need to measure and find the max OAL for YOUR rifle/bullet combination to determine how far you want to seat from the lands.
 
Just curious what bullet you used? The shape (ogive) of the bullet will decide how long you can load them. Some bullets have a more rounded, blunt shape and will hit the rifling at a shorter overall cartridge length.

This is the main reason people have to be careful when they decide to rebarrel a rifle and choose to have the chamber throat customized to fit a specific bullet with a long gradual ogive shape (VLD style). When you do that you may end up with a rifle that can't use common factory ammo or other styles of bullets. Can make the rifle hard to sell because of it, or unsafe to pass on to family members that don't understand and don't handload.

I would think that a factory cut chamber should be able to handle most common bullets loaded to SAAMI specs, thats why I'm curious about the type of bullet you used.
 
When I reloaded 308 for my mg34 I figured I could use the same rounds in the m305 but nope I had the same issue the rounds were too long
I had to push the bullets in a little bit more for them to work in the norinco
the shape and type of bullets will make your oal different too
 
The next question is are you sure on your measurements? Possibly made a mistake and loaded them long?? Must have taken some effort to jam them that hard. 5mm is a lot . If the neck tension is really light, I would expect the bullet to move in the case as well with a hard jam.
 
You definitely need to measure the max cartridge overall length for your gun with the bullet you want to use. Theres a few different ways of doing it, but I would start there.

And some more info on the cartridge and bullet would be interesting.
 
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A bullet comparitor and OAL gauge is what you need. Most times the specs from any good reloading manual will allow you to make safe to fire ammo. But some rifles have tight chambers and you may have to shorten the COAL to have them cycle and fire in a particular rifle.
 
Purple shoulder said:
Using book col this shouldn't have happened. This incident makes my spidey senses tingle. Be carefull op.
Click to expand...

He's not really providing much info... says the gun is made by an "amazing gun manufacturer", then says it's a wildcat which he got OAL from some unknown bullet maker website, but for a different bullet then he has.
I don't think there is much point in trying to assist this fellow as he doesn't want to provide information, yet clearly is a novice loader.
 
I should record this response. I seem to make it about once a week, at least.

The OAL in the book is just a mention of what THEY used in THEIR rifle. It means NOTHING about what you seat your bullet to (unless they borrowed your rifle for their testing).

The OAL for your rifle is determined by your mag length and the chamber throat in YOUR rifle. Each rifle is different. And the throat erodes as you shoot it, so each year you might find you have to seat your bullets longer.

Go back to the bench and load a round. Now turn the seater a quarter rev deeper, and seat the bullet some more. Does this chamber ok? probably not.

Load another round and seat the bullet another quarter rev deeper and try that. Keep doing this until a round chambers without rifling marks. Each quarter rev seats the bullet about 12 thou deeper.

Then load one more round, seated another quarter rev deeper and measure it. That is the max OAL for that exact bullet.

Make a note of that OAL in your log book. It is about 20 thou off the rifling. Now take all the "long" rounds and seat them to the new setting.

I do this with live ammo if I have a rifle I trust. I live on a farm and have a "safe' wall to aim at while chambering live ammo. You might prefer to do this with a case with no powder in it.
 
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Everything that "Ganderite" said plus.... USE AN UNPRIMED/UNPOWDERED CASE for all your seating tests!
 
When reloading with a new bullet shape or brand I always make a dummy round with just brass and projectile. I size the case and lightly seat the bullet way over COAL and then chamber the round slowly. As the cartridge goes in, the bullet is pushed into the case by the lands. I then remove the cartridge and measure. Now I know the exact max COAL for that bullet/rifle combo. I tend to seat the bullet a few thou. short of COAL so the bullet has a little " jump" before engaging the lands. Good luck, be safe, avoid distractions.
 
With the exception of a couple of actually helpful posts (thanks Ganderite and Hand of Zeus), this thread has been nothing but pointless bashing. I've reloaded thousands of rounds without issue before. I've only ever posted in this sub-forum before in the "what have you reloaded today?" thread and asking for a couple of recipes. This was my FIRST actual issue, so to those haters out there, YES I DO KNOW WHAT I'M DOING.

As for the info that I haven't given, it was just to protect the firearms manufacture as this forum is full of idiots who love to jump to conclusions and bash people and companies left and right. In any case, it seems like actual info is needed... The gun is a Cadex Shadow chambered in 408 Cheytac. There is little to no info online about this caliber when it comes to the COAL. Oh and thanks 9.3mauser, you're right, it is Spitzer Boat Tail and not Soft Point, I was half asleep when I wrote that bit and the Spitzer thing didn't even cross my mind at the time.
 
photog_shooter said:
With the exception of a couple of actually helpful posts (thanks Ganderite and Hand of Zeus), this thread has been nothing but pointless bashing. I've reloaded thousands of rounds without issue before. I've only ever posted in this sub-forum before in the "what have you reloaded today?" thread and asking for a couple of recipes. This was my FIRST actual issue, so to those haters out there, YES I DO KNOW WHAT I'M DOING.

As for the info that I haven't given, it was just to protect the firearms manufacture as this forum is full of idiots who love to jump to conclusions and bash people and companies left and right. In any case, it seems like actual info is needed... The gun is a Cadex Shadow chambered in 408 Cheytac. There is little to no info online about this caliber when it comes to the COAL. Oh and thanks 9.3mauser, you're right, it is Spitzer Boat Tail and not Soft Point, I was half asleep when I wrote that bit and the Spitzer thing didn't even cross my mind at the time.
Click to expand...

SPBT is soft point boat tail
https://www.prvipartizan.com/rifle_bullets.php
Not knowing how or why you need to measure the max oal for your rifle and ammo combination is a sign of inexperience.
Good luck.
 
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