I was loading a few 30-06 rounds today into a ladder test and so what I do is after I found the COAL for that particular rifle and bullet combo using a dummy round, I use that round to set up my sitting die.... so I start reloading and after I check just for fun to see if there was any discrepancy... well there was a quite a bit! But I don’t know why??
Interesting
- Thread starter DGY
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So that is why I made them really close by pulling some out a little and then resetting them little by little and measuring every time.... a bit of a pain in the ass!! I don’t have the fancy gadget that you attach to the callipers that actually measure to the ogive and not COAL.... so maybe I need that?
If you measured from base to tip of the bullet then I can understand it. Bullets vary in their length from the manufacturing process. Mostly from varying amounts of lube while pointing. This is why you should measure the base to ojive. OAL only is used to make sure it fits into the magazine properly but the cartridges need more magazine clearance than the variance of a bullet length.
I don’t have one of them fancy gadget thingys either, what I do if I feel the need to be precise is I use a sized case of the caliber that I am reloading and slide it over the nose of the reload cartridge until it rests squarely on the ojive and measure from base of cartridge to edge of the neck of the resized case. Not very scientific but surprisingly accurate.
You did it right in the first place. The die seats on some part of the ogive, which is does consistently from round to round (or should). If you want to prove it, measure the length of one of your bullets in the box before starting reloading. Call it your "reference" bullet, mark it with a sharpie, and write down the dimension. Once you've established the COAL that you like with the reference bullet, you can repeat the process at any point in the future by setting up your die with a bullet from the box with the same OAL. No need for fancy gauges, comparators, etc.
The bullet tip doesnt touch the lands. So that doesnt really matter other then getting it to fit in the mag.
The part of the ogive that is diameter of your barrel bore is that you want in the same spot on each round. Your reloading die should do that.
If you take 2 identical loaded rounds of ammo. Both set .020 off the lands and you cut 2mm of the tip of one of them. They are different OAL but the same distance to the lands of the barrel still. That tells you the oal isnt that important as long as it fits the mag and feeds properly.
