Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles where to start with seating depth ????

hi all , i am starting to reload for a .257wby this is my first weatherby that im loadin for the gun is a wby vanguard so once i pick a bullet and powder where should i start with seating depth should i just go with that particular bullets coal listed in the manual or should i use my oal gauge measure the distance to lands and then adjust from there? i guess what im asking is there a magic number for how much freebore . thanks guys

You won't touch lands more than likely too far....what bullet are you planning on using?

i'd go as long as your magizine will let you go and see if the bolt will close easily. i think it will.

Ed

short is better in the Roy

I always start load development with a seating depth that allows .010" shorter than the magazine will allow. You will need to average the length of about 10 loaded rounds, since bullet length can vary, even from the same box.

For WBY chambered rifles I start with the base of the bullet at the neck/shoulder junction. Rarely move it from there.Rick.

i have some 100 grain nosler ballistic tips some 100 grain sierra sbt gamekings and some 120 speer grandslam i bought the two boxes of 100s for target and varmint shooting i will most likely settle on 120s for hunting or then the 110 gr accubond

I have found the best starting seating depth to be the base of the bullet to the base of the neck. As RickSmith said, rarely have to move it from there. If need be push it in further from there. Flat base bullets usually shoot more accurately in the Wby's. The longer the boat tails spend in the freebore the more time the surrounding gas pressure can act upon the bullets axis as it engages the rifling.

Has proven to be true for the five 7 Wby's I have been thru. Also, the boat tail bullets WILL shoot accurately but not at the higher velocity ranges the Wby's are capable of.

I know this may sound flippant, but on magnum length cartridges I often start by simply seating them so they will fit in the magazine properly...if they "need" to be longer than that, you are hosed anyway....

Likewise on rifles with detachable mags, I seat them so they fit the mag and will chamber...YMMV

Ingwe

"i guess what im asking is there a magic number for how much freebore"

No.

Start load development for anything with the OAL as long as the magazine/throat will allow without being into the lands. When you find the best charge, do another test series with that charge while seating deeper in .010" steps until you find the best OAL.

Don't sweat OAL variation spreads within .010", it won't matter.

That's good, simple, time-saving advice!

I do this myself but for the new guys be cautious with your powder charge when you do this. Start low and work up slowly.
You need to recognize pressure signs!
whelennut

The problem is Weatherbys are "free board" so it doesn't make any difference anyway...You seat the bullet to fit the magazine and you will never reach the lands. It won't make any differnce anyway in the field, were talking silly milimeters anyway from a practical hunting standpoint and I have seen more game lost by experts that stick bullets in the lands and render their rifles unusable for a time or until they get back to camp, and all for an extra 1/4 of an inch of accuracy on a cape buffalo or Eland!

Hmm, I must of learned that trick from you...

Dober

I agree.

My two cents. I've never seen the point in messing with seating depth in hunting rifles. Even if you cut your groups in half (at the range) - from 3 inches to 1.5 at 100 yards for example and that's extreme - it's unlikely it will make any difference in field performance. Dead is dead. Reliable feeding and fist sized groups are all you need.

It's a confidence thing for me. I know that what you're suggesting here is true, but it boosts my confidence when shooting to know that the rifle... apart from the nut behind the butt... can put tight little holes from the bench.

That having been said, reliable feeding can come at the cost of some level of accuracy and that is accuracy worth losing, but aside from that.

As atkinson was saying though, if it is a Weatherby you're hosed anyway so it is superfluous.

As an aside (but related)... are the Howa Weatherbys free-bored like the Weatherby-Weatherbys? If so, are all of them including the standard chamberings like the 270, 30-06, 243, 7mm RM, etc, or just the Weatherby Mag cartridges?

I agree. You will shoot a rifle you haev confidence in more often. Factory ammo is great for people less critical in their demands as it is a compromise for all chambers and vintages.

JW

Yep!!
If you go with a longer OAL, you'll have to seat to mag length later. I don't get the point of testing with bullets close to the lands when the loaded round is too long to work thru the magazine?

Well that's wonderful, but what does it have to do with reloading and seating depth? There are those that would argue that factory ammunition is more reliable for people that are particularly critical in their demand for a properly functioning firearm, but that's another argument.

Good Point Steve,
Seating depth cannot be quoted or recommended for another rifle. My reference to factory ammo is that it is created as a compromise, which means seated deeply so it will chamber in any rifle so chambered and go bang at the appropriate time.

Seating depth has two functions:
1. To aid chambering by being seated with a lesser OAL that both the magazine and the distance to the lands to prevent binding the bullet into the lands when chambered and
2. Need to be altered to determine the sweet spot to maximize the accuracy potential of the cartridge in "a particular" rifle.

This is accomplished by observing the group shape. If the group is a large equilateral triangle, the bullet needs to be seated out in 1/4 turn increments until the group shinks.

If the group puts a couple together and the 3rd out of the group, the reverse it true, the bullet needs to be seated deeper in 1/4 turn increments until the bullet pulls into the group.

If you want accuracy, or at least, the ability to determine the accuracy potential of the barrel, the above step 2, needs to be followed. If accuracy is not a requirement, ( and that has been suggested elsewhere) then factory ammo dimensions or step 1 above will suffice.

JW