If you know a gunsmith who fits custom barrels you can get a quality comparator tool for free.
They often cut a piece off the muzzle end of a new barrel. Target rifle barrels usually have an inch cut off because the last inch is bell mouthed. Take one of these pieces and ask him to run a chambering reamer into one end of it so the stub has a bit of a chamber throat.
This piece is now a "hat" that can sit on a loaded round. Since it is sitting on the bullet ogive, it will give a OAL based on bullet ogive, not the bullet tip.
If you find your rifle shoot best with a particular bullet with a OAL of 3.45 (while wearing the hat) then you can find the same effective seating depth with an entirely differently shaped bullet.
Pictured is a cheapo made from a piece of barrel and a Sinclair tool (I think it is Siinclair) that has 6 different caliber holes in it. Mine does not include 6.5mm.
They often cut a piece off the muzzle end of a new barrel. Target rifle barrels usually have an inch cut off because the last inch is bell mouthed. Take one of these pieces and ask him to run a chambering reamer into one end of it so the stub has a bit of a chamber throat.
This piece is now a "hat" that can sit on a loaded round. Since it is sitting on the bullet ogive, it will give a OAL based on bullet ogive, not the bullet tip.
If you find your rifle shoot best with a particular bullet with a OAL of 3.45 (while wearing the hat) then you can find the same effective seating depth with an entirely differently shaped bullet.
Pictured is a cheapo made from a piece of barrel and a Sinclair tool (I think it is Siinclair) that has 6 different caliber holes in it. Mine does not include 6.5mm.
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