I'm sure it's a dumb question for those of you that know, but I don't...

Do I load one with a long COAL and chamber it?

I use the Hornady (previously Stoney Point) modified case and the bullet I'm going to load for. It will allow you to get a total length of the cartridge in question with the bullet you are using to where the rifling begins. Once you know that length you can begin experimenting with different COAL's to find the spot where your rifle likes that bullet placed. You can check youtube videos for demonstrations of use. I hope this all makes sense.

It does help. Thank you.

Same here. There are other ways, but the system above is the easiest I've found. If you don't want to invest the money right now, try this. Take a fired case (not resized) and press the mouth of the case on the bench slightly denting it. Now take the bullet you are wanting to load, color it completely with a black magic marker and insert it slightly into the dented case. It should insert with a little resistance caused by the dent in the case. Just get it slightly started into the case. Chamber the case with the bullet inserted slowly and close the bolt. Open the bolt and extract the case. The bullet will either be seated to contact length or will be stuck in the chamber. If so, carefully knock it out with a cleaning rod (or a bounce or two on the floor). The marker will be scraped off the bullet by the dent in the case mouth. Re-insert in the case to the scrape line and measure the overall cartridge length with your caliper. You now have the maximum length at which the bullet will touch the lands and can adjust accordingly. Hope this helps.

If you can, buy the Hornady system. It is not very expensive (about $30.00) The only drawback is that you need a modified case (about $5.00) for each cartridge you load.

I use Sinclair's version of the Hornady tool. It's about the same price as the Hornady but doesn't require modified cases for each cartridge (but does require once-fired brass from the firearm being measured).

Sinclair bullet seating depth tool

You can also go low-tech like mentioned above. I've never heard of denting the case, but have heard of those that will split the case mouth with a dremel: one or two cuts down the case mouth to the shoulder using a fine dremel wheel. Seat the bullet long. Slowly chamber. Carefully back out and measure.

I've never done it that way, but it seems to be a popular (and cheap) method.

If you do order from Sinclair I'd also recommend their hex-nut style bullet comparators.

Sinclair Hex Style Bullet Comparators

So you can record your COAL against the bullets ogive rather than the tip (Hornady also makes a tool for this too).

That's how I've been doing it for years, it works just fine and you don't need any fancy/extra/costly tools. Steve, judging by how your 9.3x63mm shoots in the other thread it shows you can achieve excellent accuracy without much fuss...Proves the KISS approach works great, even in reloading...

Thanks guys!

http://www.longrangehunting.com/for...h-w-hornady-oal-gauge-115247/index2.html

One thing not mentioned in the post above is that if you are not using some tipped bullet and still use lead tipped bullets, that lead gets very easily deformed. If you measure the COAL using that deformed bullet, you may get varied results.

I use a neck resized empty case, blacken the bullet with black marker.

I then seat the bullet longer than know it should be.
I drop the round in the chamber and GENTLY try to close the bolt.

The bolt will stop, if you have a gentle hand ,when the bullet contacts the lands.

Figure out how much your seating stem moves per one full turn.

This is easy once you know how many threads per inch the stem has.

My 30-06 RCBS die moves .005 inch per 1/8 turn of the stem.

Repeat the above step in RED, while incrementally seating the bullet deeper. You decide how much of each increment. I do .010.

When the bolt closes, you are just off the lands. I add another.010 -.015 and go from there. The blackened bullet serves as a visual check to see if there are scuff marks on the bullet from the rifling.

This is all for not, if that round won't fit in your rifle's magazine. If it won't fit, I usually start by checking the magazine length and seat the bullet .030 less than that.

This isn't the only way, but it works for me.

You must be retired...

T, don't be so damn cheap. Get the Hornady setup and be done with all this voodoo witchcraft,

It appears you just started re-loading, and you're likely going to be doing it for a few more decades, for multiple rifles.

Divide the 35 bucks for the Hornady set up, by multiple rifles, by 20 years.

It's pennies per year.

The system is simple, fool proof, with results within .002, or better, every time.

Size, split, insert bullet, chamber, measure with comparator, seat to the measurement. I call that a kiss, anything longer is jammed, (0.002, 0.003, etc).

Easy peasy.....

I'm not cheap. I just didn't know how to do it. that's all. It's not trouble to acquire tools. I'm VERY new to this and still sorting it all out.

Tzone, I also have the Hornedy, formerly Stoney Points gauge. I really like it. Very easy to use.

Reckon some people forgot what it was like to load for the first time.

Try this out tzone. It's a pretty simple, short video that should help.

Thanks JG. That was helpful.

Bunch of these on the windowsill of my reloading room. Easy, cheap, and they work.

I have the straight Hornady tool for bolt action rifles and several modified cases as well as a drill and the oddball sized tap to make your own modified cases with fired brass. It's all so absolutely unnecessary, but kinda interesting in a tool-centric way. I would love to sell as a package. Following good advice on here, the simple bullet slip method has proven more repeatable and reliable IME. With a slot cut or not. Can use a collet neck die to put a tiny bit of squeeze on a fired case neck, or not. I really fought the idea that the tool was not the way but finally gave in and grabbed the Sharpie.

Boltface to ogive is good. Base of a random piece of brass to ogive not so much.

I don't own any 'fancy' tools. Do it with a case and a bullet.

My feelings exactly. Only thing that I do different than the split neck picture is that I split a little further down the shoulder. East to adjust with your fingers, the amount of pressure you are putting on the bullet to keep it from sliding or make it slide easier. miles

For years I used a piece of 1/4" wooden dowel, a sharp pencil and a set of calipers to measure distance to the lands. Close the bolt on the rifle with empty chamber, drop the dowel down and make a mark at the muzzle. Next, drop your bullet (not loaded ammo!) in the chamber and ensure it's seated using a pencil. You have to hold the bullet in place. Next, put the dowel in the barrel against the bullet tip and make a second mark. Measure between the two and that is the max overall length for that bullet.

Obviously there are lots of ways to make errors using this method. Like most things in life, attention to detail will help yield consistent results.

I will say that I bought a sinclair tool several years ago to do these measurements and it works pretty well. Does it the same way and from the breech. But I got by using the dowel for many years and for hunting rifles, it worked fine.

I've had best results with split case method. The Hornady tool gave varied results since the cases are not sized and don't necessarily chamber the same as a case with the bolt closed on it. I had 2 Hornady/Stoney Point cases that were slightly oversized and didn't fully chamber. This gave dangerously long col measurements. Split case is dead simple and quicker IME.

This!

The only difference in my technique is that I use a cleaning rod with a caliber size patch tip on it. Drop the cleaning rod to the closed bolt face and wrap a piece of masking tape around the rod exactly at the muzzle. Then put the bullet against the rifling. I put pressure on the pencil to hold the bullet on the rifling with one hand and push against the nose of the bullet with the cleaning rod with the other. That way I can move the bullet back and forth to position it exactly where it engraves. Then I let the cleaning rod rest in the bore and measure from the muzzle to the masking tape. That is the max COL.

Not saying that this will not work, but there are lots of steps that could open the door for things to go wrong. A slip case only has a couple of things. One is not enough tension so that the bullet is loose and will not stay put. The other is the case is too tight on the bullet and it is forced tightly into the lands and tries to stick there and pulls out slightly when removing the case. This will leave noticeable marks on the bullet base. The tension is easily adjustable to prevent both of these things from happening. miles

That's the method I use.

Same here

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