I posted here about a week or two ago about my 257 weatherby that I was having issues with the cases not sealing in the chamber and get blow back residue on the cases. I got the issue solved by add a little bit more power, but my question is this. I have the bullet seated out so much that the base of the bullet only sits about half way down the neck of the case. The bullet is tight and the rifle shoots ok (work in progress) but I just want to make sure that there aren't any issues with seating the bullet out this far. I have never loaded a round with the bullet out this far, the overall length of the loaded round is 3.496". It seems like the farther in I seat the bullet the worse it shoots. Thanks for the help.
257 weatherby
- Thread starter JMUPT
- Start date
- Nov 4, 2004
- 25,559
- 9,657
JMUPT
As a rule of thumb, you should have at least the bullet diameter seated in the case as a min. In your case, .257" min seating depth. Keep in mind that you also have the boat tail of the bullet that doesn't make contact with the case neck.
JD338
As a rule of thumb, you should have at least the bullet diameter seated in the case as a min. In your case, .257" min seating depth. Keep in mind that you also have the boat tail of the bullet that doesn't make contact with the case neck.
JD338
Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
- 17,853
- 6,387
The technique is called "loading long" and in some cases I've seen guys load so long that the rounds won't fit in the magazine.
So long as it feeds properly and the bullet doesn't get knocked around, it's fine to "load long." A lot of guys do it to fit long chambers.
Regards, Guy
So long as it feeds properly and the bullet doesn't get knocked around, it's fine to "load long." A lot of guys do it to fit long chambers.
Regards, Guy
JUMPT,
Is your rifle a Weatherby?
What bullet are you loading?
There is a good article in "Shooting Times" by Layne Simpson covering the .257 Weatherby.
I experienced the same issue in seating long. Group only got worse. Took Simpson's advice and seated between 3.17" and 3.18" and have shot wonderful groups with three different rifle and four different bullets. Have one group of .195" with 85 grain Ballistic Silvertips and several the sub .25" groups with 100 grain E-Tips. 110 Accubonds groups under .50 inch.
Jerry 919
Bend, Oregon
Is your rifle a Weatherby?
What bullet are you loading?
There is a good article in "Shooting Times" by Layne Simpson covering the .257 Weatherby.
I experienced the same issue in seating long. Group only got worse. Took Simpson's advice and seated between 3.17" and 3.18" and have shot wonderful groups with three different rifle and four different bullets. Have one group of .195" with 85 grain Ballistic Silvertips and several the sub .25" groups with 100 grain E-Tips. 110 Accubonds groups under .50 inch.
Jerry 919
Bend, Oregon
Powerstroke
Handloader
- Feb 24, 2006
- 1,800
- 71
As JD stated above with the rule of thumb -
I'm generally not worried about fitting the magazine and have loaded my .257Bee with just that - bullet diameter seated into the case and that's it.
I'm generally not worried about fitting the magazine and have loaded my .257Bee with just that - bullet diameter seated into the case and that's it.
