I also do not jam , l find it better all around. Talking from a bolt shooter, no bolt galling the locking lugs or pressure problems. Store bought Match ammo is set at the standard settings & hand loaders try to copy the accuracy of the round. Granted may get a little better by going longer or shorter with going to extremes.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Seating depth
- Thread starter RedSkyFarm
- Start date
Don Fischer
New member
Simple. First I measure from the bolt face to the tip of the bullet, I use a cleaning rod but a wood dowel would do the same. Then I load a dummy round to that length and run it into the chamber. The bullet will contact the land's and it is easily seen by looking at the ogive when you remove it and you'll feel it when you close the bolt. Same dummy round, make about an then turn down with the seater die and run it in again, you should still get land marks on the bullet. Continue turning down the seater die until you can no longer see land mark's on the bullet. You'll likely not feel the land being touched the lase couple time's but they will be, look for the land marks. Pretty easy! You could, if it matter's to you, measure the last point you touched the lands and seat the bullet whatever you want deeper. I have never done that. But if the bullet tip move's down .050", so will the ogive!
Forgot. Each time you run the round into the chamber again, use a piece of0000 steel wool and wipe off the land marks.
Forgot. Each time you run the round into the chamber again, use a piece of0000 steel wool and wipe off the land marks.
Last edited:
Don Fisher, I drill the flash hole/primer pocket on a fired case, I sized the neck for bullet hold because I do not have a tension gage and then I chamber the transfer in the chamber and push the bullet out of the case until it stops against the rifling. AND THEN? I am through, I remove the transfer and install in I'm my press with a seating die. After raising the ram I adjust the die 'not to crimp' and then adjust the seater plug down to the bullet. And now? I have my seating die adjusted to 'zero' off the lands.
If I want to seat 'off the lands; I lower the seating stem/plug, but, If I forgot to zero my height gage/stem above the die I start over because a reloader must learn to zero his gages.
F. Guffey
Side note, I have made shop calls, seems shooters/smiths have a problem with step sequences, I have found rifles with very long free boars, a few that were so long the bullet came out of the case before the bullet hit the lands. It is always time to move on to a longer bullet when trying to determine what they were thinking when the rifle was chambered. Some time they ask me what they were thinking and I have to say, "I do not know". I always think they read some material by Weatherby and did not understand what he was talking about.
F. Guffey
If I want to seat 'off the lands; I lower the seating stem/plug, but, If I forgot to zero my height gage/stem above the die I start over because a reloader must learn to zero his gages.
F. Guffey
Side note, I have made shop calls, seems shooters/smiths have a problem with step sequences, I have found rifles with very long free boars, a few that were so long the bullet came out of the case before the bullet hit the lands. It is always time to move on to a longer bullet when trying to determine what they were thinking when the rifle was chambered. Some time they ask me what they were thinking and I have to say, "I do not know". I always think they read some material by Weatherby and did not understand what he was talking about.
F. Guffey
I started target shooting with a stock Remington 700 LTR 308 caliber. The barrel had so much free bore the bullet would be almost out of the case neck before it hit the rifling. Shooting a 168 gr Sierra Match King bullet over IMR 4064 powder. I just stayed in the range of 2.800 oal played with the powder charge. Once I changed the barrel after 4000+ rounds through the barrel, had it completely blue printed with a M24 Rock Creek 5R 11.27 twist 21" barrel . Different ballgame, very little free bore. I reload with a .002 jump .002 bump. Works for me . F/L size & trim every time. With a mild load IMR 4064 . Love shooting a 308. That gives me .004 wiggle room all around, never liked resistance when chambering a round.
Last edited:
Here's a simple way to determine seating depth that has served me well for almost 40 years. Remove the bolt and drop your desired bullet into the chamber. Lightly tap it into the lands with a cleaning rod, just so it won't fall out. Be careful not to tap it too hard or you'll seat it deeper than you want it to be.
Now run the cleaning rod into the muzzle until it touches the bullet. Keep the rifle standing upright, muzzle pointing up.Take a fine-tip "Magic Marker" and rest tip on the crown of the muzzle and rotate the rod so that a line is made on only roughly half way around the rod. That is where your bullet engages the rifling. Knock the bullet out with the rod.
This next part takes a bit more time but as you get familiar with the idea, it goes faster. Seat your bullet into an UNprimed, empty resized or new case longer than you know it should be. Chamber that round; it should go in with slight resistance. If it won't chamber, seat the bullet slightly deeper. Once chambered, place the cleaning rod back into the muzzle until it hits the bullet. Now make a line around the entire rod. Withdraw the rod and you should have only one black line, meaning you matched the spot where the bullet is touching the rifling. Measure that round with a Stoney Point or Hornady tool that measures from the ogive to the base of the case and that is the size of your cartridge. I label that measurement, "OAL-OG."
Let's say it measures 2.215 inches. Seated 0.01' deeper, it would measure 2.205 and that bullet would be 0.01" off the rifling (lands). A 0.15" seat would be 2.200". And so on.
Be aware that you need to do this with every new bullet you want to use in that rifle. If you tested a 150gr Remington and you want to try a Speer 150gr, you cannot seat the Speer to the same depth as the Remington. You need to repeat the process with every different bullet in that rifle as the ogives differ in their position on the bullet. I note a poster mentioned Barnes recommends seating no closer than 0.05." I personally believe that's because the process in making all copper bullets causes a slight change in the ogive position in the same lot number, so a seat of 0.01"might produce some rounds that are right into the rifling. That's just the thought that occurred when I was loading my .270 with Barnes and I measured every loaded round and found a great deal of inconsistent measurements. Many of the rounds had to be adjusted up or down to get the same OAL-OG.
Let me add a word about hunting rounds. If you have a 1 inch group at 100 yards, it may grow to 2" at 200 and 3" at 300 yards. If you have a quarter-inch 100 yard group, those 200 and 300 yards groups will be 4 times smaller. Now you may only need a 6 or 9 inch group to kill a deer at 300 yards but I still load all of my rounds with the smallest group possible just to keep the target impact variation as low as possible in case I'm having a bad day and a super buck shows up.
Now run the cleaning rod into the muzzle until it touches the bullet. Keep the rifle standing upright, muzzle pointing up.Take a fine-tip "Magic Marker" and rest tip on the crown of the muzzle and rotate the rod so that a line is made on only roughly half way around the rod. That is where your bullet engages the rifling. Knock the bullet out with the rod.
This next part takes a bit more time but as you get familiar with the idea, it goes faster. Seat your bullet into an UNprimed, empty resized or new case longer than you know it should be. Chamber that round; it should go in with slight resistance. If it won't chamber, seat the bullet slightly deeper. Once chambered, place the cleaning rod back into the muzzle until it hits the bullet. Now make a line around the entire rod. Withdraw the rod and you should have only one black line, meaning you matched the spot where the bullet is touching the rifling. Measure that round with a Stoney Point or Hornady tool that measures from the ogive to the base of the case and that is the size of your cartridge. I label that measurement, "OAL-OG."
Let's say it measures 2.215 inches. Seated 0.01' deeper, it would measure 2.205 and that bullet would be 0.01" off the rifling (lands). A 0.15" seat would be 2.200". And so on.
Be aware that you need to do this with every new bullet you want to use in that rifle. If you tested a 150gr Remington and you want to try a Speer 150gr, you cannot seat the Speer to the same depth as the Remington. You need to repeat the process with every different bullet in that rifle as the ogives differ in their position on the bullet. I note a poster mentioned Barnes recommends seating no closer than 0.05." I personally believe that's because the process in making all copper bullets causes a slight change in the ogive position in the same lot number, so a seat of 0.01"might produce some rounds that are right into the rifling. That's just the thought that occurred when I was loading my .270 with Barnes and I measured every loaded round and found a great deal of inconsistent measurements. Many of the rounds had to be adjusted up or down to get the same OAL-OG.
Let me add a word about hunting rounds. If you have a 1 inch group at 100 yards, it may grow to 2" at 200 and 3" at 300 yards. If you have a quarter-inch 100 yard group, those 200 and 300 yards groups will be 4 times smaller. Now you may only need a 6 or 9 inch group to kill a deer at 300 yards but I still load all of my rounds with the smallest group possible just to keep the target impact variation as low as possible in case I'm having a bad day and a super buck shows up.
I first start with the brass sized .0015 - .002 check by installing just the bolt housing. , firing pin assembly & ejector so light the case just stays on the follower. I fire one at a time and brass is easily put back in the box. Brass is sized & trimmed to the same measurement. Then I seat a bullet alittle long to touch the lands, reseat just off the lands no marks & also can feel with bolt close & lift. I check this way with every new lot of bullets. Takes some time , makes for accurate reloads. Starts with the brass.