Seating a 58 gr V-Max in .243

I tried to use my Stoney Point C.O.L. gauge and the bullet is too short to get a reading, to reach the lands the bullet is completely out of the case. I tried a 70gr Ballistic Tip and it was also too short and the 95gr BT was touching the lands and was barely in the neck. Does anyone know what length I should seat the 58gr bullet using a Comparator?
The gun I am using is an old push fed Winchester Model 70 made in 1964 with a heavy varmint barrel that my father in-law gave me a couple of weeks ago, he bought it off some guy 12 yrs ago and has never fired it. Could the barrel be shot out causing this to happen? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
The new short 55 and 58 grain bullets weren't out when this rifle was built and it's probably throated for 85 plus grainers.

I shoot the 55's in mine with good accuracy (Rem 700). Just follow basic reloading rules and seat one caliber deep to start with. Your not going to get these short bullets out near the lands.

Once you shoot it you'll know if your rifle likes these super light bullets or not. Mine does and I'm pushing them to 3950 or so.
 
I am loading the Moly coated 58gr V-Max in my NEF 243 with Varget. I seat them so my OAL is 2.650" seems to be workin.

The dang ol bullet, like you say is about out of the case to hit the lands so I just went with a standard OAL for the 243.
 
It sounds like you need to check the throat and see if you need some barrel set back. That long a throat may be due to erosion. Even the older long bullet rifles had to be with in max COAL for the chambering if your 95 grainers are barely in the neck of the case to reach the lands I would say that erosion has occured but if it is a varment type barrel a good smith should be able to set it back enough to chamber what ever you want.
 
Seat them deep and don't worry about the distance to the lands.

Hornady factory ammo is at 2.595", and that's a good OAL.

Unless you have a custom chamber, you can't get to the lands with this bullet anyway.

The light, fast varmint bullets seem to prefer a deeper seat. If they dislodge before the powder is well ignited, this may cause an upset of the bullet's concentricity as it bulges into the chamber end gap (gap between the end of the brass case mouth and the end of the chamber, usually around 30 to 40 thousandths in length).

These bullets seem to do best with plenty of neck bearing. There are a couple different theories as to why this is--but many folks have proven that about 2.595" to 2.600" with the 55 thru 60 grain weight bullets in the .243 is the way to go.

So seat them deep and you'll almost certainly see better accuracy...

Dan
 
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