anyone use these bullets (#3037) for M1A reloading? they must be designed for a different cartridge (?30-06), because when seated with the cannelure mostly within the case mouth, COL ends up being around 2.720. Hornady manual says COL should be 2.78, but at 2.78 the cannelure is way outside the case. and of course when seating most bullets without a cannelure for an M1A I would just use 2.80"  So how deep should I seat this bullet?

Less than 2.8"

Really for that application you just need it to work in the magazine.  On the ends of the spectrum; you need it to be deep enough to have decent neck tension and on the other end you'll likely never seat it long enough to approach the lands without running out of neck first, not that you would really desire that in an M14 rifle anyhow.

Ignore the canalure.

thanks for the reply. ignoring the cannelure was my gut feeling, even though it makes for ugly ammo. I just called Hornady tech people and they said it was a misprint in the manual, COL should be 2.700 not 2.78, which would seat the cannelure in the correct spot. im a rookie, but it still seems a little short to me. out of curiosity i used my hornady OAL gage in my M1A (not really useful, i know, due to 2.8" limitation). i got 2.827" (to the bullet tip, not using comparator) . the gage instructions say in general a distance greater than 0.040" to the lands will hurt accuracy. maybe I'll load some of each length and see how they do out of curiousity, but my guess is the 2.78 length will fare better.

finally figured out how to post pictures
heres 2.70"
http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af211/WSG30/308/308270.jpg

2.78"
http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af211/WSG30/308/308278.jpg

2.8" is the max length for 308 to run in a magazine but rounds can be less especially in the lower bullet weight ranges.

You are using 150 grain FMJ BTs that are not meant to be loaded to max mag length or seated near the lands.

If you want to play around with single loading 308 rounds that are close to the lands but won't run in mags, buy some match bullets like Sierra MatchKings in 168 or 175 depending on your twist and needs.

A typical rule of thumb is to use the bullet's diameter to determine how much bearing surface to be in the neck.

Actually 2.80" is the SAAMI spec to run OK out of any .308 rifle. Most M1A magazines will feed and function with rounds as long as 2.830".

I would seat those bullets to mid canellure and not worry about OAL. You can crimp or not crimp, whatever your heart desires. I never crimp .308 ammo for my M1A's, my dies provide enough neck tension so the bullet won't set back during feeding.

Make sure you work your load up from below, by seating the bullet deeper you consumed some of the case capacity. 41.5 to 42.0 grains of IMR-4895 should be plenty.

That cannalure doesn't see way off like others I've seen.  I'd seat to cannalure probably.

You could try some of each and see which shoots better.