Has anyone seen massive differences in seating depth to lands when changing bullet types? Like 0.033" different?
So I am trying out a new bullet in my 6XC, 105 VLD Hunting. My normal match bullet is a 107 SMK. Obviously different shapes. Whenever I use a new bullet, I attempt to measure the seating depth to the lands, using two methods. First I pop a primer out of a fired case, dent the case mouth, and use the rifle to seat a bullet into the case. I use a dowel rod in the barrel to make sure the bullet moves backward when the bolt does (lands not pulling the bullet out of the case). I also color the bullet with a marker so I can see if has been pulled out on removal. I use this method to get close, and do it 10 times or more until I get a repeatable result within a few thousandths.
Then I will verify this measurement by seating a new bullet into a sized empty case and chambering it. Pull it out and observe the marks the lands make on the bullet. Then I seat the bullet a touch deeper, polish it just a bit with the rag I use to polish cases(dried Flitz on the rag) and rechamber, looking for new land marks. Continue until they nearly disappear. I have a Redding micrometer seater, which gives me good control over seating depth.
The above process on a 107 SMK results in a length (measured base-to-ogive with Sinclair comparator) of 2.080. When I do it with the Berger 105 VLD hunting, measure with same comparator, I get 2.047", repeatedly. To me, that's a huge difference. Every other bullet I've tried this with was within about 0.010" of the SMK seating depth.
The only speculation I have is that the comparator is grabbing the VLD much closer to the true ogive than it does on the SMK, Berger 105 hybrid, and Hornady 103 ELD-X, resulting in the longer measured lengths for those.
Has anyone ever seen this kind of difference before?
So I am trying out a new bullet in my 6XC, 105 VLD Hunting. My normal match bullet is a 107 SMK. Obviously different shapes. Whenever I use a new bullet, I attempt to measure the seating depth to the lands, using two methods. First I pop a primer out of a fired case, dent the case mouth, and use the rifle to seat a bullet into the case. I use a dowel rod in the barrel to make sure the bullet moves backward when the bolt does (lands not pulling the bullet out of the case). I also color the bullet with a marker so I can see if has been pulled out on removal. I use this method to get close, and do it 10 times or more until I get a repeatable result within a few thousandths.
Then I will verify this measurement by seating a new bullet into a sized empty case and chambering it. Pull it out and observe the marks the lands make on the bullet. Then I seat the bullet a touch deeper, polish it just a bit with the rag I use to polish cases(dried Flitz on the rag) and rechamber, looking for new land marks. Continue until they nearly disappear. I have a Redding micrometer seater, which gives me good control over seating depth.
The above process on a 107 SMK results in a length (measured base-to-ogive with Sinclair comparator) of 2.080. When I do it with the Berger 105 VLD hunting, measure with same comparator, I get 2.047", repeatedly. To me, that's a huge difference. Every other bullet I've tried this with was within about 0.010" of the SMK seating depth.
The only speculation I have is that the comparator is grabbing the VLD much closer to the true ogive than it does on the SMK, Berger 105 hybrid, and Hornady 103 ELD-X, resulting in the longer measured lengths for those.
Has anyone ever seen this kind of difference before?
