I have been reloading for about a year now. I started out with a 30-06 my father handed down to me, and then I got bit by the reloading bug. I think I do a fair job of it. Zero mishaps to date. I purchased a Savage LRP in 6.5 creedmore about 5 months ago and have been reloading all my ammo. I loaded 149 gr hornady bthp to 2.786 col . Hornady reload manual states a max col of 2.800. They shot ok, not like I expected, but ok. About a 1.00 moa. I then tried 123 gr. Amax and loaded them to 2.709 col with a max of 2.710. I shoot a respectable .478moa. So here's my question. I wanted to try 140 gr again. I purchases a hornady col gauge and I consistently get a reading of 2.636 when the max is 2.800! What gives. Did hornady make a typo in the manual? I have checked it with 3 different bullets from the same box 10 time's each. If the 123 gr check like they should, one would think the 140 gr would have col of 2.799 just touching. Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.
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hornady 140 gr drop COL
- Thread starter cfisel
- Start date
I don't load 6.5 Creedmoor specifically but as a general statement: If you are confident of your measurements with the bullet comparator gauge, I would disregard the OAL given in the manual and seat the bullet based on your individual rifle's chamber/leade. That is the beauty of handloading...honestly I don't usually pay any attention to the OAL listed in the manual. I find where the lands are and set my OAL accordingly (or else load to magazine length if appropriate). Some bullet shapes don't respond much to seating close to the lands; some (like the Amax) shoot much better when loaded close to the lands. Either way I like to know where my rounds are seated in relation to the origin of the rifling.
Ignore the OAL listed in the manual, seat your bullets so they fit-feed -fire in Your rifle.
As for your OAL being less than SAAMI max, could be the Savage chamber.
There have been a lot of reports that Savage is putting out short throated 308 rifles, maybe their Creedmores are short throated as well.
As for your OAL being less than SAAMI max, could be the Savage chamber.
There have been a lot of reports that Savage is putting out short throated 308 rifles, maybe their Creedmores are short throated as well.
Both good advise. But I find it rather odd 1 bullet will seat so close to published specifications and another is so far off. Things that make you go “ Hmmmm“. I'll take the advice and load to what the gauge says and report what the results are. On a side note, when I first got the rifle, I loaded the same bullets (140 bthp) to the written specifications backed off .010. And thinking back, I remember not being able to chamber easily. I guess I was seating using my bolt!