Fairly new to reloading and am loading a bullet with a cannelure for the first time. As the rifle is a bolt action, it is my understanding that crimping is not necessary. However, when I load the bullet to a depth which agrees to the listed COL, the cannelure is at least 1/8 inch above the cartridge lip. There seems to be enough of the bullet inserted into the brass to make it secure, but all the photos of loaded shells I have seen, show the bullet seated down to the cannelure. This does not take into account the depth of the throat which would result even less of the bullet inserted into the cartridge if I decreased the amount of bullet jump to the lands. So where do I go from here?
Cannelure vs COL?
- Thread starter Jetjock
- Start date
I just fought with this in another thread. I got my new Redding #20 seater - no good. It was 0.004" shorter than the original.
I think the 2.700" length with Hornady #3037 is too short. I shortened the seater a bunch (0.030") and got the OAL to 2.711"-2.717" with brass trimmed to 2.006" (Lee zip trim). These are not match bullets - I blame the variances in ogive.
This is going to have to do - the case mouth is crimped right in the middle of cannelure by the built-in crimp ring.
I think the 2.700" length with Hornady #3037 is too short. I shortened the seater a bunch (0.030") and got the OAL to 2.711"-2.717" with brass trimmed to 2.006" (Lee zip trim). These are not match bullets - I blame the variances in ogive.
This is going to have to do - the case mouth is crimped right in the middle of cannelure by the built-in crimp ring.
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Ignore the COL in the book. They didn't develop their load with your rifle.
YOUR COL is determined by your magazine length. Make up a round that fits the mag with a little room to spare. That is a Max length. Note it in the book. That is a MAX for any round.
Now chamber that round and close the bolt. Open the bolt and examine the cartridge. Does the bullet have 5 or 6 little marks around it from the rifling?
No? You are good to go. Note that OAL for that bullet.
Yes, the bullet has rifling marks. Turn the seater in a half rev, seat the bullet again, and try again. If it does not come out with fresh marks, you are good to go with that OAL. Make a note of it.
If that second round has marks, take a fresh long cartridge, turn the seater in another half turn and repeat.
With each rifle the MAX OAL will be determined either by mag length or the rifling. Remingtons are usually controlled by mag length. Winchester and Savage often by rifling.
YOUR COL is determined by your magazine length. Make up a round that fits the mag with a little room to spare. That is a Max length. Note it in the book. That is a MAX for any round.
Now chamber that round and close the bolt. Open the bolt and examine the cartridge. Does the bullet have 5 or 6 little marks around it from the rifling?
No? You are good to go. Note that OAL for that bullet.
Yes, the bullet has rifling marks. Turn the seater in a half rev, seat the bullet again, and try again. If it does not come out with fresh marks, you are good to go with that OAL. Make a note of it.
If that second round has marks, take a fresh long cartridge, turn the seater in another half turn and repeat.
With each rifle the MAX OAL will be determined either by mag length or the rifling. Remingtons are usually controlled by mag length. Winchester and Savage often by rifling.
i just started loading for a bolt action .308 and only measure to the ogive. i only use COL if i want the rounds to feed via box mag but maintain consistent length to ogive (which would have COL vary a little between each cartridge). i also do not crimp.
I didn't see what size bullets these are. But consider that something as common as a .308 bullet is used in at least a dozen different cartridges. And within that range of cartridges each will have a slightly different spec for how deep to set the bullet. So a cannelure mark on that size bullet is pretty much a useless feature anyway.
Unless..... it may be a mark to indicate where the curve into the tip starts. In that case it would be a "do not insert past this point" sort of marking.
Unless..... it may be a mark to indicate where the curve into the tip starts. In that case it would be a "do not insert past this point" sort of marking.
Ignore the cannelure and ignore the published COAL. Both are entirely irrelevant. You need to measure bullet seat depth to the ogive and measure your chamber to find out how deep to see the bullet.
- Location
- Muskoka, Ontario
I'm running into the same problem trying to reload 110 gr Accubonds in .270. I'm new to reloading and wanted to seat them to the col listed in the Nosler manual so I could use them in two different rifles. Since the bullet is small for the caliber, it sticks way out when seated to the listed col. The canalurre is sticking almost 3/8" above the case. I didn't plan to crimp them. Are these safe to fire like that? I think I read once that the bullet should be seated to a depth atleast the the same as the caliber diameter. Ex. Since I'm using .270, the bullet should be seated .270" or more. But my question is if that rule is for accuracy or for safety reasons and what would you recommend in this situation? Have the bullet seated very shallowly at the col listed in Nosler or should I seat the bullet deeper so it's seated atleast .270" ? If it's the latter won't there be excessive bullet jump to the rifling and could this be a safety issue or cause damage to the rifle or accuracy issues?
I and several others have said to ignor the COAL. So what you should do is IGNOR THE COAL. COAL is useles, worthless and pointless information.
You need to measure to the ogive. Then figure out what length each rifle requires and load to the shortest.
You need to measure to the ogive. Then figure out what length each rifle requires and load to the shortest.
This. Unless you're shooting a real big bore, it just really doesn't matter that much. - dan
