Hey all have been reading posts on this site for a couple of weeks and really enjoy it. I have a question about seating a bullet. Is there a minimum distance that a person should seat a bullet above the shoulder on a boattail. I have a load that has really tuned out for me in my Rem. 700 .270win, but I am only .168" above the shoulder on the boattail. This will be a hunting round. Thanks Jim
Bullet seating minimum?
- Thread starter mjr
- Start date
Typically you would want to seat the bullet the diameter of the bullet.
For example a 308 cal would seat .308 in the neck for good neck tension.
All of that goes out the window when you are trying to "accurize" your round by seating close to the lands.
Some guys (match shooters) only resize .125" of the neck.
I think you should have enough neck tension to hold the bullet in place. The thing I would be most concerned with is having the seating depth change in the magazine from recoil.
A slight crimp might help out
By the way, welcome.
For example a 308 cal would seat .308 in the neck for good neck tension.
All of that goes out the window when you are trying to "accurize" your round by seating close to the lands.
Some guys (match shooters) only resize .125" of the neck.
I think you should have enough neck tension to hold the bullet in place. The thing I would be most concerned with is having the seating depth change in the magazine from recoil.
A slight crimp might help out
By the way, welcome.
as #7 pointed out, general rule of thumb is seat the diameter of the round as a minimum. If you seat too little you will end up with bullets being bumped crooked in your case or being pullud out under normal hunting use.
Also, I was playing with a 300wsm and 110's seating only a 16th or so and I was having a lot of soot bulding on the cases. This can be from not having enough neck tension and seating too shallow allwoing gas to escape around the neck towards the back of the case before the case gets blown out around the chamber wall creating a seal. THis is not a good thing. so in short, don't seat extreamely shallow. I would never crimp any moderate recoil rifle round --- just my opinion. I feel it can adversely affect the accuracy of the bullet by possible tweeking the case while crimping. I'm sure there are good crimpers out there, but I just don't like them.
Also, I was playing with a 300wsm and 110's seating only a 16th or so and I was having a lot of soot bulding on the cases. This can be from not having enough neck tension and seating too shallow allwoing gas to escape around the neck towards the back of the case before the case gets blown out around the chamber wall creating a seal. THis is not a good thing. so in short, don't seat extreamely shallow. I would never crimp any moderate recoil rifle round --- just my opinion. I feel it can adversely affect the accuracy of the bullet by possible tweeking the case while crimping. I'm sure there are good crimpers out there, but I just don't like them.
baltz526
Handloader
- Sep 25, 2005
- 1,074
- 8
in my mind the perfect bullet seating depth is when the shoulder of the boattail is matched to the base of the neck. this way you get max case capacity with full neck tension. then i hope the throat of the chamber and magazine all allow this OAL
