223 40 grain C.O.A.L.

B

Bucksnort1

New member
I have been loading 55 grain bullets with cannelures. I seat to the cannelure then factory crimp. C.O.A.L. is just under 2.600". I want to load 40 grain without cannelures. Do I crimp? What will be my C.O.A.L.?
 
What type bullet? I ask as I did several hundred 40grain hp, Ill have to look at my notes on what coal I loaded to with the hp's. I did crimp being there isnt alot of bullet in the case.
 
Bolt gun.

I have two style 40 grain bullets. One is the Hornady VMax, boat tail, ballistic tip and the other (don't know manufacturer) is a pointed soft point. Neither have cannelures.
 
Personally I use a hornady overall length gauge and seat anywhere from 10 thousands to 25 thousands off the lands, I have never crimped and from what I have read, it is not necessary for a bolt gun and I think if you ask further from other forum members with bolt guns, I dont think many of those reloaders crimp either. Not that I am speaking for anyone else.
 
2.600" is too long. 2.260" is the SAAMI max OAL. From the pointy bit to the flat bit, no ogives involved.
Neck tension should be enough, so no crimping.
Every rifle is different and likes a different distance off the lands. The whole 'off the lands' thing is a load tweaking technique that is not necessary until you have a load. It's arrived at by 100% trial and error. So you can forget about it altogether until you have a load. Then fiddle with it if you feel like it. Doesn't make enough difference to matter anyway.
 
I have two style 40 grain bullets. One is the Hornady VMax, boat tail, ballistic tip and the other (don't know manufacturer) is a pointed soft point. Neither have cannelures.
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The suggested C.O.L. for the Hornady V-Max 40 grain .224 bullet #22241 is 2.200" so that should give you something to work from. As to your other bullet? You can try a C.O.L. of between 2.200" to 2.240" with the latter PSP being a rough guess on my part.

Ron
 
Reloadron,

Your recommendation for the non-Hornady bullet is an educated guess. Am I correct? Are you thinking the boat tail configuration on the Hornady would require a different C.O.A.L.?
 
The Hornady was taken straight from the Hornady 9th Edition manual and yes, the latter was a guesstimate on my part. When you have a bullet of unknown origin we can't use any manufacturer's data, so based on looking at a few bullets similar to your description we venture a guess. Well, I ventured a guess. :)


Ron
 
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