Measured COAL is more than manual states

[cdherman]

Mega said he used the "OAL gauge" to find the lands and then his OAL was 3.419". The OAL and COAL are usually terms that can be used interchangeably, except Hornady named their tool "OAL Gauge and Comparator" which it is not, but proves confusing. Its a tool to find the CBTO.

If indeed, his CBTO is 3.419" he would have a crazy problem. But he's already corrected the misunderstanding.

Cudos to Hornady for marketing the Stony Point OAL gauges. Sad they did not somehow correct the poor naming.

 

[cajun]

Mega said he used the "OAL gauge" to find the lands and then his OAL was 3.419". The OAL and COAL are usually terms that can be used interchangeably, except Hornady named their tool "OAL Gauge and Comparator" which it is not, but proves confusing. Its a tool to find the CBTO.

If indeed, his CBTO is 3.419" he would have a crazy problem. But he's already corrected the misunderstanding.

Cudos to Hornady for marketing the Stony Point OAL gauges. Sad they did not somehow correct the poor naming.

Ehh the hornady tool measures oal. They sell a separate tool to measure cbto. But the oal tool absolutely measures coal.

 

[Pudgy]

Working up a load for the first time for my 7 Rem Mag with 175gr Nosler ABLR's. I use my Hornady OAL gauge, Hornady Modified case, and a bullet to find my lands. It's 3.419". The manual says COAL of 3.29". This is a McGowan barrel I bought used off of someone a year ago.

What should I check here? Headspace? Did I happen to buy a used barrel that's throated for longer bullets? Should I load some up to 3.419" or a few thou off and send it?

I appreciate all the help in advance!

If your not sure, load a dummy round and check out how it feeds. Me and bro have proof MTR rifles COAL 3,4750 and 1 with proof prefit close to the same.
I load the ABLR .070 off to start development.
Here's pictures. Hope this helps

 

[Philward]

I rarely seat bullets to the manual specs, always based on bullet jam and whether it will fit in magazine. Remington 700 mags have lots of room, 3.7" or so.

 

[7mmTikkaShooter]

Working up a load for the first time for my 7 Rem Mag with 175gr Nosler ABLR's. I use my Hornady OAL gauge, Hornady Modified case, and a bullet to find my lands. It's 3.419". The manual says COAL of 3.29". This is a McGowan barrel I bought used off of someone a year ago.

What should I check here? Headspace? Did I happen to buy a used barrel that's throated for longer bullets? Should I load some up to 3.419" or a few thou off and send it?

I appreciate all the help in advance!

Sounds pretty normal to me. I shoot these bullets a lot. My 7mm RM has an OAL of 3.447" when touching the lands. Nothing special about the chambering as far as long throating etc. The 3.29" SAAMI spec number is all you will find in a book for loaded length. Not sure if you'll find any manual that will publish data for anything longer than that, but in reality the newer long range bullet designs typically push your actual lengths farther. I'm limited by magazine length and load at about 3.355" oal. Fortunately these bullets love jump. Fire formed some brass two days ago with a base charge and was getting sub 1/2 MOA at 200 yards. In my experiences I don't think you'll find best accuracy with these until you get to around 0.030" of jump. For me when I was messing around with this it was around 0.050" if I remember correctly but I didn't do that much experimentation because like I said I'm limited by magazine length. If I were you I'd start at 3.400" and load shorter from there. Unless of course magazine length is an issue for you like me. My biggest question is where did you find them?! I've been waiting I don't know how long for another production run.

 

[RB II]

Happens all the time. Probably a long throat.
How much of the shank of the bullet (not counting the boat tail) is in the neck of cartridge? Usually, you like to aim for around the same as the bullet diameter, so .284" of shank in the neck.

You can fudge the shank number a little, and you can use the gun as a single shot too, but I'd advise against both.

The long throat for long bullets, Berger 195s, can leave a lot of room when trying to load a shorter bullet, Berger 175. I have a 28N setup for the 195 but looking to load the 175s. The 175s will reach the lands but only barely seated in the neck on the bullet bearing surface. To load .25" minimum in the neck would leave .25" jump. So how much jump is too much? Is .25" too much? Would the bullet likely shoot well at all or a waste or time/materials to try? I have never loaded that far back.

 

[Bob Wright]

No sir, the measurement was base to tip. Base to office was around 2.770 I think. I'd have to verify.

Ok, I based what you said here:
" I use my Hornady OAL gauge, Hornady Modified case, and a bullet to find my lands. It's 3.419"."
That's why I asked. Finding your lands is not done with overall length, it's done using the #28 gage picking up the ogive in your Hornady comparator. I wouldn't use ogive and OAL in the same measuring process. It's confusing.
As long as your confident in your result, load away.

 

[megastink]

Sounds pretty normal to me. I shoot these bullets a lot. My 7mm RM has an OAL of 3.447" when touching the lands. Nothing special about the chambering as far as long throating etc. The 3.29" SAAMI spec number is all you will find in a book for loaded length. Not sure if you'll find any manual that will publish data for anything longer than that, but in reality the newer long range bullet designs typically push your actual lengths farther. I'm limited by magazine length and load at about 3.355" oal. Fortunately these bullets love jump. Fire formed some brass two days ago with a base charge and was getting sub 1/2 MOA at 200 yards. In my experiences I don't think you'll find best accuracy with these until you get to around 0.030" of jump. For me when I was messing around with this it was around 0.050" if I remember correctly but I didn't do that much experimentation because like I said I'm limited by magazine length. If I were you I'd start at 3.400" and load shorter from there. Unless of course magazine length is an issue for you like me. My biggest question is where did you find them?! I've been waiting I don't know how long for another production run.

One box I bought at pre-covid prices, and other box I traded a guy a box of 168's. I want to get this sighted in with as few rounds as possible.

 

[megastink]

Ok, I based what you said here:
" I use my Hornady OAL gauge, Hornady Modified case, and a bullet to find my lands. It's 3.419"."
That's why I asked. Finding your lands is not done with overall length, it's done using the #28 gage picking up the ogive in your Hornady comparator. I wouldn't use ogive and OAL in the same measuring process. It's confusing.
As long as your confident in your result, load away.

Sorry for the confusion. I'm new; still learning all the groovy lingo.

 

[richhymas]

Working up a load for the first time for my 7 Rem Mag with 175gr Nosler ABLR's. I use my Hornady OAL gauge, Hornady Modified case, and a bullet to find my lands. It's 3.419". The manual says COAL of 3.29". This is a McGowan barrel I bought used off of someone a year ago.

What should I check here? Headspace? Did I happen to buy a used barrel that's throated for longer bullets? Should I load some up to 3.419" or a few thou off and send it?

I appreciate all the help in advance!

COALis not the same as distance to the lands. That is unique for each bullet. Imagine a bullet that has a very long tip in front of the bearing surface. Thst COAL will be longer. The COAL usually is defined by SAMMI spec and has more to do with magazine length than distance to lands.