Checked out some ogives 308 factory ammunition with hornady bullet comparator. Imi 2.209 average plus minus .015,Winchester 2.179 average plus minus.020, reloads set to chanlure 2.139 average plus minus.001. The reloads are 150gr hornady sst and shoot great.ordered some 168gr hornady amax with no chanelure.now should I keep my ogive to base or try sneaking it out a little at a time.the grouping with the 150gr is more than satisfactory.cant believe that much variation in factory ammunition
That's half the fun in hand loading, you get to play with these numbers. Since you have the tools to measure from the ogive, I would try every which way, just off the lands and work back. You'll be surprised at what you can make your rifle do.
I'd start at about .010" off the lands and then work your way back. Some guns do extremely well with the bullets close to the lands, some do well with bullets .070-.090" off the lands. I have a Remington 700 in .308 Win that I can't touch the lands with a Sierra 168 GR MK, and it will shoot groups at or close to 1/2" with that bullet.
I had an ogive issue with my .243. "Same" bullets, obviously not but they were the same weight and general design so I used the COAL in my book and what a problem it caused. When clambering the round for function a function test I managed to jam the bullet in to the rifling and when I extracted it, the bullet stayed put, spreading unburnt powder all in the action..... What a mess. While most of the time I'm sure we wouldn't have an issue using data from one manufacturer to the other given they are the same weight and share similar characteristics. I just happened to find that one that caused a problem. All's well now and I love the rifle.
But the measurement from the ogive to the base of the casing should be the same whether its a 150gr or a 168gr right? My understanding is to keep the bullet at the ogive the same distance from rifling.
Not necessarily. Different weight bullets will perform differently. You'll need to work up new loads for each bullet weight.
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