OAL guage, finding rifling, and marks on bullet

I got a Hornady OAL gauge and bullet comparator today. Still new and some feel to this on, how hard to push. 2.60 is Hornady factory load for 58 gr v-max. I have been shooting this length. I have loaded some 2.61, .62, and .63.


2.63 was a little over what the guage came up with to lands. 2.63 does chamber and does not cause the bullet to seat deeper.

This rifle always closed harder than you would think. So it is hard to put a bullet in and see what depth it closes easy.



So I did the same thing for 700 30-06. Factory 180 3.225. With the OAL guage, I come with 3.4 when I subtract .02 from OAL #.


I am not sure if 30 caliber is just easier to measure, and 58 grain is to susceptable to how it feels. I did do the tests, over and over. some variance.





Below is link to discussion on savage 110 in 243, that I have see marks on when I try to find rifling, even with factory rounds. Maybe needs better cleaning. But it never did close well.


I have watched a read lots of stuff on marking bullet and chambering, neck sizing bullet. But the reason I spent money on OAL gauge, is beacause this savage closes hard. My other savage does not.

Yes I know it is probably just a gizmo, and waste of money.


Also surprised how much the readings can vary when using the bullet comparator. Which may have been more of gizmo. I thought it would help when measureing plastic tipped bullets. But its still varies a bt based on how you hold it. Probably over kill, but slightly better than not using it.




Long winded, have you ever seen rifle lands not all that far from a factory round????

Thanks for reading this far



Savage 110 predator model with medium barrel.
Which is why I I bought Hornady OAL guage. I should get head space gauge, to set my mind at ease. Though it is a brand new gun, and seems a waste.
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f28/marks-bullets-after-chambered-179940/

take out your firing pin before you do anything, and you will get a much better feel for bullet seating, also watch Alex Wheeler's youtube video on finding lands you will have a much better grasp on how things work, I watched this video and it helped me find exact location of bullet to lands by feel

also it's much better to take out your firing pin when you install a new barrel to get the feel of the headspace gauge against the shoulder of the chamber

The weird thing is my 30-06, I can feel, but not my 243. Not sure if bigger is easier to feel. The Hornady OAL gauge is not used with the bolt. Depends a bit on feel. I have checked with the gauge and with sharpie on bullet.

My questions, are more about this one gun. Is it possible the rifle lands are not all that far from factory load?

I get marks on factory loads. Maybe dirt Maybe machining on barrell.

First thing, make sure you have the cased FL sized correctly. It sounds like that may be your problem. You can mark up one of your cases and chamber the case only. That should tell you if you need to set up your die to bump the shoulder back. Move shoulder back .001" at a time, until it chambers with slight pressure. This is best done with ejector and firing pin removed. With them removed and no case, your bolt should drop closed with no pressure.

I just bought a Hornady OAL gauge today, which uses its own case.

I am also getting marks on factory loaded rounds on one rifle. My 30-06 700 using sharpine method or hornady OAL gauge makes sense. My 243 savage doesn't. Whether 243 is harder to feel cause smaller, or something with rifle.

dok7mm said:

With them removed and no case, your bolt should drop closed with no pressure.

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This paticular savage, doesn't close all that great when empty. Stock off isn't better, if I remember correctly.

My post was probably to long winded.

I have one rifle that leaves marks on factory rounds when closing. So I bought hornady OAL guage. It makes me think that I can only increase .01 from factory. I used this gauge on another rifle and it make more sense.

I have also done other methods without the Hornady gauge, and it led me to think the same.

I am curous if smaller calibers are harder to feel. Is it possible a new rifle simply has lands that close? It is a medium barrel, if that makes a difference.

The stock shouldn't make any difference. The modified case is not a match to your chamber. That is where a lot of variance comes in, when finding a touch point on a specific bullet (every different style or brand of bullet will have a different CBTO).

My reference was to your brass first, then to finding your length to just kissing the lands. You do need to establish that you're FL sizing correctly for a good fit to your chamber.

This thread makes little sense as no specific problem has been properly stated .
If you have any kind of hard to close bolt then you need to work out exactly where the case or bullet is touching or binding . Take some rounds and polish them up until they are perfectly clean with fine wire wool . Then chamber and inspect . if any place is binding it will show up as marks on the polished surface .
Then go from there .

you can make your own gage by simply drilling out and tapping the primer pocket, but the best way I seen is Alex Wheeler's method and it has worked great for me

I read and reread your thread. I believe you want to figure out where the lands start so you can seat a certain distance from them.

I used that Hornady OAL gauge for a while. Found, IMO, an easier way. I polish the jacket on the bullet with 000 steel wool. I deliberately seat it long. Close bolt on cartridge, When the cartridge is removed there will be evenly spaced rectangular marks on the jacket. Polish the jacket again and seat a few thousandths deeper. Repeat as needed. Eventually the marks will become squares then shrink till they are barely visible. Simply seat from there. While some can argue that isn't that accurate, you could be .001" into the lands WHO CARES. It is a just a reference point that you can call zero jump. Adjust from there......

I think I understand your question. I don't have an answer on if it would be harder to feel on a smaller caliber or not. It is entirely possible for your new rifle to be a little short in the throat. I have heard of quite a few Ruger American with short throats.

Gord0 said:

I think I understand your question. I don't have an answer on if it would be harder to feel on a smaller caliber or not. It is entirely possible for your new rifle to be a little short in the throat. I have heard of quite a few Ruger American with short throats.

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Thank you, these were my questions. I think my post was to long. People don't read long posts usually.


There was a link to previous thread, where I was getting marks on bullets. So I bought the gauge to see if the marks were actually rifling or crud or maching. It is a medium barrel so wondered if that made some kind of difference.


If I would have loaded to Lyman and Hornady specs, it seems it would be to long.