New load for a new rifle. Seating depth?

Farlsincharge

Farlsincharge

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Well, I FINALLY got my xcr compact tactical in .223. Going to be loading some 55 gr sierra BTSP on top of some varget and benchmark to see what it likes. Where should i start my depth? 10 thou off the lands and go from there? They are going to be fairly hot so I don't think I want them much closer. Has anybody had better luck jumping their .223's more?
This rifle impresses me, I am usually restricted by the magazine for length. This one is nice and large allowing me to play with the depth.
 
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Ream out the neck on a resized case so bullets are just a snug fit, seat the bullet long and chamber it. pull bullet out some with fingers and repeat a few times to be sure of consistency. Measure the OAL of that cartridge and then set my die to reduce it's OAL by however much I want to be off the lands. It's not ideal, but it seems to work.
 
Your method works just fine. I seat my bullet long and mark it with chalk and close the bolt until it chambers and no chalk is disturbed, therefore, just away from the lands. Works great for me in my Rem 700. Sorry I do not know of an OAL, but I would say go the same as you are. You do not want the bullet touching for jacketed pills, just shortly off of the lands is optimal.

Matt
 
Stoney point makes a great gauge just for this.Some guns shoot extremely well with the bullets jammed into the lands.There is really only one way to find out what your rifle likes!
 
I have one of the Hornady OAL gauges and was just wondering how to take the measurements. Once I remove the gauge and pop the bullet out of the barrel (it usually sticks in), I attach a Hornady bullet comparator to my caliper and this is where it gets a bit confusing. I zero the caliper with the bullet comparator installed, right? Then take the measurement to the bullet ogive. Do I then subtract the length of the bullet comparator from the reading?
 
"...start my depth..." At the max OAL given in your manual. Work up the most accurate load, that may or may not be the hottest load, then tweak the OAL after you have a load.
You'll want to re-think the bullet weight too. XCR's have a 1 in 9 rifling twist. It'll like heavier bullets better.
 
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