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.308 load advice needed

892 views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  312shooter 
#1 ·
loading some .308s for a friend since he lets me hunt his land.
Remington 700
sierra pro hunter 150 gr. sp #2130 bullet length 1.058"
mixed lot of brass length adjusted to 2.010 (right between max and min of 2.005 and 2.015)
using lee dies in Herter's super #3


my question has to do with COAL and seating depth. My Hornady 9th says max COAL is 2.810. If I seat a bullet and chamber it to see maximum the gun will allow I come up with 2.920. Then if I seat it another 0.015 it comes to 2.905. at that length the bullet is in the case only 0.163. Normal rule of thumb I understand is to have at least a full bullet diameter in the neck. At a .308 seat depth there is 0.750 sticking out above brass and have a COAL of 2.766. That leaves the bullet with a 0.139 jump to the rifling, about an 1/8" more than I would like. The most the internal magazine will allow is 2.820

to summarize it
2.920 is chamber and has
2.905 is ideal
2.820 is magazine
2.810 is SAAMI spec

Normally a guy would consider this to be good enough to shoot minute of deer but this guy knows how precise I was with my .270 loads and the accuracy he has seen astounded him.
 
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#5 ·
It seems pretty clear that, unless he plans on breech loading one cartridge at a time, the OAL you need is going to be dictated by the magazine.
 
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