Howa 308 OAL too long?

Vleder

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Messages
22
Location
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Gents,
Just started the reloading game and last night a buddy and me started out (he has been reloading and was helping me). We measured my Howa Supreme Varminter 308 win with Sinclair seating gauge and Hornay Lock n Load gauge and got the following (strange?) readings.


(All were the average of several readings, in some case 6 -10 just to double check)
Lapua (new) cases.

Nosler Accubond 150g - 1.220 inch
Sinclair and Hornady throat readings - 1.719 and 2.939 respectively, thus
OAL 1.220 + 1.719 = 2.939 (as confirmed by Hornady reading)
Thus COAL 2.939 - 0.020 (back off for safety starting load) = 2.919 COAL???

This seems excessively long for a 308 150g load? Is there any danger in this length? Pressure? Compared to a "standard" length of 2.810? Did we do someting wrong? Is it safe to load this or should I reduce length a bit more for starting load?
Same procedure gave COAL of 2.878 - 0.020 = 2.758 for Nosler Custom Comp 155g.
Anyone with similar experiences?
I searched on the web and it seems the Howa does have a fairly long throat so I guess if this is OK my question is is this COAL safe to use?
 
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