.224 bullet length

[Idaho]

I have a Savage Model 10 .223 with an 8 twist McGowan barrel that shoots 75 gr A-Max pretty well. Due to magazine length I can't load into the lands. When I do the mv and extreme spreads on my chrono fall within unbelievable limits. I would like to find a heavy bullet with an ogive that will allow me to load into the lands, if there is one. I'm looking at the 77gr SMK right now. Heavier bullet but shorter than the A-Max so I'm wondering if the ogive is pushed out further to the tip. Does that make sense?

Anyone have thoughts? If I can't find someone with a box so that I can get my hands on one and measure the distance to the lands with my Hornady tool then I will just buy a box and run some tests.

Thanks,

 

[BRU15]

What exactly are you hoping to gain by running a bullet jammed into the lands? The first time you have a round in the chamber and have to clear it for a cease fire or some other reason and the bullet gets pulled out of the case when you cycle the bolt back, you'll have a real mess on your hands.

Almost every SMK that I've ever shot (including the 77gr) like to be jumped and they give their best accuracy seated off the lands, not jammed. Anyways, I've never looked for a bullet solely because it could be loaded into the lands, I've always used the bullet that gives me the best accuracy and lowest SD/ES without requiring that I push it into the lands.

Good luck with your search!

 

[Idaho]

What exactly are you hoping to gain by running a bullet jammed into the lands? The first time you have a round in the chamber and have to clear it for a cease fire or some other reason and the bullet gets pulled out of the case when you cycle the bolt back, you'll have a real mess on your hands.

Almost every SMK that I've ever shot (including the 77gr) like to be jumped and they give their best accuracy seated off the lands, not jammed. Anyways, I've never looked for a bullet solely because it could be loaded into the lands, I've always used the bullet that gives me the best accuracy and lowest SD/ES without requiring that I push it into the lands.

Good luck with your search!

I don't want to 'jam' the bullet into the lands. I just want to touch them. As I said, the numbers from my chrono were almost identical for a 10 shot spread and the accuracy was great. But, they are too long for the magazine so they must be loaded one at a time. I put 2 thousands of neck tension on the bullet with the neck sizing die and I don't expect, want, to exceed that and pull bullets by closing the bolt. Just research. Fun stuff never hurts.

 

[Idaho]

Well, I think I've found the bullet to experiment with. A friend who has won a few national matches gave me a couple of the new Nosler 70gr RDF bullets. They easily reach into the lands on my barrel and the cartridge OAL is .11 inches SHORTER than the 75gr Amax bullets. I'm going to buy a box and run some test loads. Let the fun begin.

 

[Idaho]

It's winter, I'm bored, and reading a LOT. I noticed that sometimes you can find a sweet spot away from the lands if you will seat the bullets deeper into the case. My normal handloads are seated .006 off the lands so I set aside 6 groups of three each and seated each group .003 deeper that the previous group and ended up with the last group .021 off the lands. That last set gave me a five shot group that was just a bug hole. Today I took four more sets of three each and seated them all to that same depth .021 off the lands. It was very cold with a strong wind blowing ahead of a storm front but I managed to punch a three shot group that measures .185" center to center!! Repeatable! Yes!!!

 

[Idaho]

This is the three shot group after seating my 75gr A-Max bullets further from the lands. I started at .006 off and went to .021 off the lands to get this 'node'

 

[Killshot44]

You have obviously been bit by the precision bug.

Time to build a bolt action.

 

[Idaho]

You have obviously been bit by the precision bug.

Time to build a bolt action.

Hmmmmm, I don't really need any encouragement. Still............