I've got to respectfully disagree with the idea of not measuring the distance to the lands.
It's a fact that having a bullet kissing the lands or being jammed into the lands can cause pressure problems or pressure spikes to occur. I do not load to the lands to avoid this problem. What's a safe distance from the lands? I don't know - .005 or .010 is as close as I want to be.
First, from a safety standpoint. Without knowing or measuring how far off the lands a given bullet in given rifle is, it's possible, however unlikely, to seat a bullet, or to tune a load by adjusting seating depth and wind up with the bullet kissing the lands or even being jammed into the lands. With a bullet in a fully resized neck, it's possible for someone not paying careful enough attention to not notice the marks on the bullet - or a slight extra effort in closing the bolt. Unlikely, but possible.
One example I'll cite is in my 30-06. I cannot load Hornady spire points to the same OAL as Nosler partitions. Even though my magazine length allows a longer OAL, if I used that length, or the seating depth for partitions, the bullet would be jammed into the lands and pushed back by the bolt. It's a case where, measure first and then seat off the lands accordingly.
What if you developed a load at a maximun powder charge and velocity in cool weather and unknowingly had the bullet seated too far out and then fired that load in very hot weather. Additional pressure spikes on top of a hot load - not good.
Secondly from an accuracy standpoint and I'll stick with the comment I made previously: "All rifles are different. Some will shoot accurately with a long jump to the lands, others a short jump, some are not so fussy and some rifles will show a huge improvement with getting OAL just right." The quotes I used should lend some merit to the idea that seating a bullet close to the lands is best for accuracy. But again, not always. All mention measuring and using distance to the lands. It would be hard to argue against Speer, Nosler and John Barness aka Mule Deer.
Measuring the actual distance to the lands is an extra step - but it's not difficult. It gives a starting point to bullet seating depth and could avoid potential safety issues. Tuning the load as stated by AussieGunWriter is an excellent approach and good advice. I would also wholeheatedly agree that the best handload will not cure a rifle that has issues.
Best wishes,
fish head
