Long throats?

[Alderman]

I've been playing around with an OAL gauge trying to figure out how far out bullets can be seated before contacting the lands.
I've checked a couple of rifles so far (6.5x55 and 7x57) that are long throated. So much so that so the bullet bases barely enter the case mouth.
Is this a normal finding for some cartridges?

 

[OU812]

One of my hunting buddies has a 6.5x55 loaded with TSX bullets and I would swear they are only held in the case mouth with glue because there is so much bullet sticking out, and he still does not touch the lans.

 

[RiverRider]

It's pretty common. I have a couple of rifles with long leades, but to be perfectly honest I couldn't even tell you which ones they are.

 

[nvbroncrider]

Yep just remember long is better than too short. Too short can get you in trouble in a hurry.

 

[rick smith]

Too long is more of a problem than too short. Rick.

 

[hubcap]

The word TOO is the key here. Why would one want either one? If the throat is too long it is difficult to position shorter/lighter bullets any where near the lands. If the throat is too short then longer/heavier bullets seat below the bottom of the neck taking up powder space. I suppose either situation could be a limiting factor when picking a suitable bullet. I prefer rather long throated hunting rifles since I normally use longer bullets rather than shorter bullets.

 

[HTDUCK]

I've got a Rem 700 that I swear was built by Roy Weatherby's folks.
To hit the lands I have to seat bullets 1/4 inch longer than the magazine.

 

[Gm weatherby man]

I'm a fan of longer throats, I never worry about the lands, always crimp when I can, usually keep a bullets to factory overall length or shorter, hunting loads is where it's at for me without remortgage on the house to buy components. I don't consider myself that great or knowledgable but practical with a few tricks up my sleeve.

 

[truck driver]

My 35 AI had a short throat and seated all bullets less than factory OAL and I had pressure problems but since I had it lengthened I've had know pressure problems and it still shoots good. My M700 classic has a long throat and it shoots very well also. Roy Weatherby proved that a short throat wasn't need to achieve accuracy and you don't need to jam the bullet into the lands.
I use to think I had to touch the lands with my 257 Roberts but found it wasn't necessary and it will put 5 into 3/8ths " at 100yrds.

 

[Whitesheep]

Yes the proprietary Weatherby's will allow a bullet to fall out of the case before touching the lands. When setting up reloads for my .340 I measured factory loads base to ogive to set up my seating depth for this reason. The large variance in seating depth really surprised me. These same factory loads are MOA or less so how important is seating depth really? Very important IMOH for most "normal" rifles. The issue is quality of the chamber and throat and Weatherby's seem to be pretty good if not excellent.

 

[rodell]

I've done seating depth tests on Weatherby caliber sand it definitely matters, even miles from the lands. Fortunately, the book recommendation or close seems to most often be the perfect spot.

I have measured dozens of rifles, even those from the same manufacturer. Chamber variations are common.

 

[muleman]

I've been playing around with an OAL gauge trying to figure out how far out bullets can be seated before contacting the lands.
I've checked a couple of rifles so far (6.5x55 and 7x57) that are long throated. So much so that so the bullet bases barely enter the case mouth.
Is this a normal finding for some cartridges?

The two cartridges you mention have been around a long time. The 7x57 originally was loaded with very heavy bullets and had a long throat for them. Depending when the gun was chambered and by whom will have something to do with the length of lead. I have owned two 7x57s. The first was throated so that only with a 160gr round nose could I reach the lands and I could load out to 3.3"OAL. The second 7x57 would max out at 3.2"OAL with 150 NBTs.

Scott

 

[1Shot]

I have done a lot of experimenting with the Lee Factory Crimp Die with rifles that have very long throats, mostly old military rifles. The only ones that did not show any improvement in accuracy from the crimp dies use was the Swede Mauser in 6.5x55. I used 5 different Swede rifles and could not improve the accuracy with the crimp die. They all shoot lights out no matter where the bullets are seated with the right loads. All the other rifle showed a good deal of improvement in their accuracy by using the crimp die. My thought is that using the crimp die does the same as loading close to the lands. It retards the bullet from leaving the case mouth just long enough to allow the pressure to peek to achieve best accuracy. The use of the Lee Factory Crimp Die does not destroy the accuracy of match bullets either like the so call experts, bench rest shooters, that I used to clean their plow in the military rifle bench rest matches that I used to shoot.

 

[Bonz]

I seat the 200 TTSX at 3.390" for my 35 Whelen AI (dictated by the magazine), 3.475" is OAL with the bullet touching the lands. This equates to .085" off the lands. Barnes suggests .050" off the lands. The 200 TTSX shoots 2.25" groups at 300 yards, tears a large ragged hole with the load at 100 yards with as many shots as I care to pile in there. After a handful of shots, it becomes a waste of powder, primers, bullets and reloading time because it's clear where the bullets are going to land!

-300 yd group (rip in paper by bottom hole from peeling back tape to take pic).
-2014 elk, 241 yds