Just purchased some Hornady V-Max 35gr 22-250 bullets. According to Hogdon Data...the C.O.L should be set to 2.35. This is not possible because of the short bullet length. If I set the bullet on top of the brass..not seated..it measures 2.34. Suggestions?
C.O.L Problem/Question
- Thread starter Yote59
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Mikecr
Well-Known Member
Why would a book even suggest anything specific?
Just put it wherever you want.
I'll suggest where it shoots best.
Just put it wherever you want.
I'll suggest where it shoots best.
Yote.
I believe "2.35" is the max coal if I'm not mistaken. It's not a hard and fast rule. Some bullets will need to be seated deeper while others can be let out further.
Try seating your chosen bullet one caliber deep. IOW, take the diameter (cal.) of your bullet and seat it AT LEAST that deep. That will be your safe max COAL for your given group of components.
Hope that makes sense.
I believe "2.35" is the max coal if I'm not mistaken. It's not a hard and fast rule. Some bullets will need to be seated deeper while others can be let out further.
Try seating your chosen bullet one caliber deep. IOW, take the diameter (cal.) of your bullet and seat it AT LEAST that deep. That will be your safe max COAL for your given group of components.
Hope that makes sense.
Well....the distance to the lands on my 250 is 2.40. If the COL is at 2.270 that's a pretty good free jump to the lands. As long as it is safe is all I care. Don't think accuracy will be affected that much. I'm a varmint hunter...not a bench shooter.
Thanks for your feedback....!
It is very dangerous to seat a bullet too deep. Builds up pressure...unsafe. Not worried about that with this load....just worried about distance to lands.
Last edited:
Mikecr
Well-Known Member
RELOADING 101
Reloading provides opportunities to think about what you're doing, and learn. Plenty of ways to move beyond simply making ammo that won't blow up, to making ammo that is as accurate as you can make it -for your gun.
You don't have to(and should never) blindly follow cookbooks.
You might notice here that many reloaders adjust seating depths and powder to dial in best accuracy. In all cases a reloader first backs off the powder a bit, with any change, and works upward from this safer point.
Now you might have read somewhere that seating too deep or too far out is dangerous, but none of that is true at all. We do it all here,, We jam bullets into the lands,, We seat bullets as deep as needed for magazines,, We swap primers and adjust our powders with little reference to listed loads(other than starting point). But of coarse we think about what it is we're doing, and back off the charge initially when appropriate, and watch for pressure signs while working back up.
What IS dangerous, is blindly following books, or advice, without understanding..
You might read all the disclaimers and warnings up front in them books.
They are there because all that follows are estimates, and no two finished barrels are the same. Every lot of powders, primers, bullets, and brass, are unique and sometimes considerably different.
NOBODY here knows the specifics of what you're loading. So NOBODY can predict specifically what you should do.
The best suggestions are general abstracts, like mentioned seating a cal deep to begin. And this action assumes you can and would work up in powder from a safe -minimum load, which is NOT dangerous.
I'm a varmint hunter. And so far, every gain in accuracy that I've managed has extended my capabilities.
I see only benefit in it.
Reloading provides opportunities to think about what you're doing, and learn. Plenty of ways to move beyond simply making ammo that won't blow up, to making ammo that is as accurate as you can make it -for your gun.
You don't have to(and should never) blindly follow cookbooks.
You might notice here that many reloaders adjust seating depths and powder to dial in best accuracy. In all cases a reloader first backs off the powder a bit, with any change, and works upward from this safer point.
Now you might have read somewhere that seating too deep or too far out is dangerous, but none of that is true at all. We do it all here,, We jam bullets into the lands,, We seat bullets as deep as needed for magazines,, We swap primers and adjust our powders with little reference to listed loads(other than starting point). But of coarse we think about what it is we're doing, and back off the charge initially when appropriate, and watch for pressure signs while working back up.
What IS dangerous, is blindly following books, or advice, without understanding..
You might read all the disclaimers and warnings up front in them books.
They are there because all that follows are estimates, and no two finished barrels are the same. Every lot of powders, primers, bullets, and brass, are unique and sometimes considerably different.
NOBODY here knows the specifics of what you're loading. So NOBODY can predict specifically what you should do.
The best suggestions are general abstracts, like mentioned seating a cal deep to begin. And this action assumes you can and would work up in powder from a safe -minimum load, which is NOT dangerous.
I'm a varmint hunter. And so far, every gain in accuracy that I've managed has extended my capabilities.
I see only benefit in it.
Thanks for your reply Mike....I do appreciate it. I shot this group this morning from my truck using the mirror as the rest. Not the best conditions...but it seems they will do fine.
boomtube
Well-Known Member
"According to Hogdon Data...the C.O.L should be set to 2.35. This is not possible because of the short bullet length. If I set the bullet ... Suggestions?"
Not really because there is no 'should be' to it. The listed book OAL is what the book makers used to develop the data, it means no more than that. Our rifles are different from theirs; just find what OAL can and will work for you and use it to develop your best load. You can tweak OAL for best accuracy after you find the best charge.
Seating 'one caliber deep' has been meaningless to reloaders for more than a hundred years, proving that old ideas are slow to die! That 'rule' started in black powder cartridge days simply to make sure the bullets would stay seated in thin, soft neck cases back when large caliber cartridges were often carried in hunter's pockets. Since the early 1900s and smokeless powders we have gotten a lot of very good cartridges with necks less than one caliber long!
Don't mix apples and oranges about bullet seating depths; OAL and pressure changes in rifles is totally different from small but high pressure pistol cartridges (such as the 9mm and .40 cals) using fast burning powders. Fact is, seating deeper in larger rifle capacity cases using much slower powders actually decreases the peak pressure while seating closer to the lands increases pressure. Seating deeper in rifles makes for a longer but very easy bullet jump which allows bullets to accelerate before impacting the rifling, then the bullet's own inertia helps it engrave the rifling; that's a proven fact, not a misguided opinion. On the other hand, seating closer to the lands makes intital bullet movement and engraving more difficult which in turn raises start and peak pressures significantly simply because the bullets can't freely move.
Not really because there is no 'should be' to it. The listed book OAL is what the book makers used to develop the data, it means no more than that. Our rifles are different from theirs; just find what OAL can and will work for you and use it to develop your best load. You can tweak OAL for best accuracy after you find the best charge.
Seating 'one caliber deep' has been meaningless to reloaders for more than a hundred years, proving that old ideas are slow to die! That 'rule' started in black powder cartridge days simply to make sure the bullets would stay seated in thin, soft neck cases back when large caliber cartridges were often carried in hunter's pockets. Since the early 1900s and smokeless powders we have gotten a lot of very good cartridges with necks less than one caliber long!
Don't mix apples and oranges about bullet seating depths; OAL and pressure changes in rifles is totally different from small but high pressure pistol cartridges (such as the 9mm and .40 cals) using fast burning powders. Fact is, seating deeper in larger rifle capacity cases using much slower powders actually decreases the peak pressure while seating closer to the lands increases pressure. Seating deeper in rifles makes for a longer but very easy bullet jump which allows bullets to accelerate before impacting the rifling, then the bullet's own inertia helps it engrave the rifling; that's a proven fact, not a misguided opinion. On the other hand, seating closer to the lands makes intital bullet movement and engraving more difficult which in turn raises start and peak pressures significantly simply because the bullets can't freely move.
Thanks for the info....makes sense....and it shows on paper.
