I got a box of Hornady 174gr ELD-VT. They are 1.427” long, at least the first 10 I pulled out of the box. If the rest are like that or close then Hornady should pat themselves on the back.
They look odd. The shank is pretty short, like on a 150gr bullet. The nose is loooooong. In my chamber, where a 175gr SMK hits the lands at 2.862”, the VT hits at 2.992”. My mag will accept 2.950” long rounds so I’ll be 40 thou off at least. At that COAL there is plenty of bullet shank in the neck, more than 75%, and the boat tail ends at the bottom of the shoulder inside the case. It will need a dense powder.
I pushed the bullet deeper in the case to see what the minimum seating depth could be and I think it’s 2.800”. At that COAL the beginning of the nose is in line with the case mouth. I don’t like how that looks, however. I think some of the bullet shank should be riding the freebore. But for those so inclined this round can be used in an auto loader.
I’m going to load these on top of my usual charge of AR-Comp and just play with the seating depth to start. I know. I know. You don’t have to say it. I’ll report back in a couple of days.
They look odd. The shank is pretty short, like on a 150gr bullet. The nose is loooooong. In my chamber, where a 175gr SMK hits the lands at 2.862”, the VT hits at 2.992”. My mag will accept 2.950” long rounds so I’ll be 40 thou off at least. At that COAL there is plenty of bullet shank in the neck, more than 75%, and the boat tail ends at the bottom of the shoulder inside the case. It will need a dense powder.
I pushed the bullet deeper in the case to see what the minimum seating depth could be and I think it’s 2.800”. At that COAL the beginning of the nose is in line with the case mouth. I don’t like how that looks, however. I think some of the bullet shank should be riding the freebore. But for those so inclined this round can be used in an auto loader.
I’m going to load these on top of my usual charge of AR-Comp and just play with the seating depth to start. I know. I know. You don’t have to say it. I’ll report back in a couple of days.
