I'm wondering if I'm doing it wrong. Or better yet, if I could be reloading more right.

When I measure OAL I measure from the tip of the bullet. Accubonds and BTs aren't much of an issue because they're all really close to each other in length. Spin the seater up or down, measure, bingo.

Partitions and VLDs aren't quite so uniform. I sort through bullets to find one of predetermined length and use it as the representative bullet, so to speak. Spin the seater, find the right length, bingo.

But I've read about measuring from the ogive, since that doesn't change, while the tip can be off for a variety of reasons. So the question is, how many of you measure from the ogive, and how do you do it? And who just measures a bullet and calls it good?



P

I use a comparator on what ever I reload for. Used a Sinclair like the one in the link below for years but now have a Hornady.

http://www.sinclairintl.com/reloadi...-style-bullet-comparators-prod83792.aspx

I use the hornady tool and works great

I just measure to the bullet tip and call it good. The other chit is way over rated.. .

I measure to the tip of the bullet, not the ogive. I don't sort bullets or brass. I don't spin the case when I seat them either. I haven't found any accuracy issues. However, I don't shoot past about 300-400 yards.

Hornady for me too. I've found alot of difference in the OAL of bullets relative to the ogive especially Partitions. I've seen 0.030 difference in the ogive locations in 30 cal 180 grain Partitions.

In fact I ran into a problem with them. I load 0.020" off land and groove for my 30-06. The bullets at 3.31 OAL turned out to be jammed into the L&G - which isn't a good thing when you're running a max load. I honestly think it was a fluke box because the OAL with all the other boxes measure 3.280 to 3.285 at 0.020 off.

"ogive measurey thingy"



Obviously, you communicated, readers understood and responded.
No problem.



Jerry

ps - I measure to the boolit tip. FWIW

Where the tip of the bullet sits in relation to the lands is of little consequence.

Where the ogive sits in relationship to the lands is of great consequence.

I long ago learned that the distance from bullet tip to ogive varies greatly within even the same box of bullets. Even with polymertipped bullets.

So I purchased the Hornady tool and measure COAL from the ogive .

I use a Sinclair nut.

Use the Hornady.

Exactly.

That being said, I do both. I use Sinclair comparators mostly, but have Hornady also. I guess it just depends on the rifle/usage. For match loads, I am very particular. For hunting loads, I often just measure tip and go with max mag length......

Sinclair Comparator. Probably overkill for some hunting loads I use.

Not all bullet of the same weight are consistent and a plastic tip will not guarantee you are anywhere close on your jump to the lands unless you seat using a comparator

Example 200 gr Accubonds

My comparator is the steel dial caliper kept on my loading bench. When I want to compare ogives on different bullets, I lock the caliper to halfway between bore and groove diameter for the caliber (as an example, .304 for .30 caliber) then use the caliper's jaws to scribe a line around a bullet at that diameter. This also makes finding a similar seating depth for different brands of bullets easy.

Good idea

Question, why not at .300" land diameter?

I measure to the ogive, but also to the tip if magazine constraints are a factor.

For ogive measurements, I make adaptors for my calipers out of barrel stubs of the appropriate caliber.

I don't have a picture of it, but same idea as this headspace measurement tool, just a smaller hole. It's just a shop-made version of the Sinclair or Hornady tools.

I found that comparing VLDs to BTs and partitions had a different length to lands on the VLDs, which doesnt make sense to me. I repeated several times with an "ogive measurey thingy" that EDtoomanyletters lent me, and it does appear that distance to lands is shorter on the VLDs (should be the same for any bullet of same caliber right?)
I even thought about the longer VLDs bottoming out on the measurey thingy but it would make it longer

Because rifling tapers in the throat. I want the bullet closer to the lands to start with.

Ogive shapes vary a lot between different bullet styles, and are definitely not the same for any bullet of the same caliber.

Keep in mind your seater stem usually does not bear against the part of the ogive that contacts the rifling, so you may see small differences in seated ogive length because of variations from one bullet to the next.

You can just look at different bullets of same caliber and notice the ogive is different. Especially if different weights, but just about any different bullets really. Not sure why anyone would ever assume they were same.....

I've used the Hornady gauge set since it was made by Stoney Point. Finding the preferred land to ogive distance is the final step for all my load work up. I've found that close to the lands is nice, but not necessary in all cases.

As "woods" posted above, I too have found variations in bullet weight and length which transferred into a different COAL to maintain a target "gap". I also found a change in bullet ogive in different boxes of Partitions, which reflected there differing bullet length.

I have found similar differences in Nosler Partitions. Also Hornadys but not as great a variation.

My solution to the quandary is to slowly approach the OAL when seating for each individual bullet using the Hornady OAL tool in my big game hunting loads. Real PITA. Not as worried about small discrepancies in my varmint loads.

To add to this - in some cases, particularly OTM style bullets, one could go nuts trying to figure out the variations in OAL that results from different nose lengths of the bullets. I loaded a few hundred 75gr Hornady BTHP bullets in 5.56 the other night; ogive length was very consistent, but OAL varied from 2.245" to 2.260", and one box required deeper seating than the other to stay within magazine length. If I had been going by OAL alone, it could have been very frustrating, and I've had ended up with two different batches of ammo at two distances off the lands.

I use the same ogive measurey thingy that woods showed in his pictures. A side benefit to that is that the red body can be used with an different insert for a shoulder headspace datum measurey thingy. I use it more for setting up my dies for proper headspace than I do measuring ogives.

I use the Hornady tool and measure ogive. Seems to work well for me.

Just to be different, I use the Forster thingy.

Yep! 👍




Shod

When loading Barnes or other copper bullets I always use the Hornady tool to work up the load. Once I have the correct seating depth for the rifle set on the die I do not keep checking anymore. I have found that seating depth does not change more than a thou or two with them and that change does not seem to affect accuracy noticeably. Got outside of .005 and I have see change though.

Cup and core bullets I set up with the Hornady tool as well, but they are much easier about seating depth.

+1

sounds interesting and available
is there a consistent difference between bore and grove diameters between different calibers?
if not, how does one know those dimensions?

thanx

You can look on the SAAMI (Sporting Arms & Ammunition Manufacturers Institute) website for specifications of each round, but but in general .22 centerfires have a .220" bore and .224" grooves, cartridges from .243 to 7mm have a .007" difference between bore and grooves, and .30 and up have a .008" difference. A .308 Winchester, .30-06 or .300 Magnum will have a .300" bore and .308" grooves.

Same here for my needs.

thank you