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Posted: 3/30/2011 1:08:44 PM EDT
| This is a stupid question but would i still use the same OAL as i would with similar 168g bullets?. I ordered the hornady reloading manual but it wont be here for another week. The reason im askig is because i am under the impression that the are hornadys 168 bthp with a ballistic tip, thus raising the OAL. |
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Per Hornady's #7 manual (this is for .308 win, LMK if you're asking about something else) The C.O.L. for both 168 gr BTHP and 168 gr A-max is 2.800", while the 165 gr SST is .750." The SST is the longest ullet of the three too.... (the A-max and SST both have ballistic tips).
I have the book in front of me, LMK if you need something else out of it. |
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Quoted:
This is a stupid question but would i still use the same OAL as i would with similar 168g bullets?. I ordered the hornady reloading manual but it wont be here for another week. The reason im askig is because i am under the impression that the are hornadys 168 bthp with a ballistic tip, thus raising the OAL. Sir, in my humble opinion published lengths of bullets with irregular meplats is somewhat useless information. For magazine fed rifles such as an M!a or an AR-15 you're limited by what will fit inside the magazine. Other rifles like the M1 garand or bolt actions like a Rem 700 are still limited in length if you want to load a clip of eight into the M1 or additional cartridges into the mag well of R700. I typically set up my seater dies initially by seating a bullet until the cartridge will fit into a magazine, check the length with a comparator and seat the bullet an additional .010". While you don't have the same irregularity of length with most ballistic tip bullets I still seat them at the same depth as I do 168gr SMK bullets. I've had Sierra match King bullets vary in length due to the irregular meplat by as much as .010" that's why I seat them the additional distance once I know they fit into the magazine. Smaller caliber SMKs don't vary quite as much as the 168/175gr SMK but they do vary enough that you have to make certain they are all seated sufficiently so the bullet meplat will not hang up in the forward inside edge of the magazine. Lastly OAL really is only of concern if you're trying to seat the bullet at a relative distance within the proximity of the rifle chamber throat. Many shooters seat bullets this way for single loading cartridges when magazine length is not a concern. With the 168gr. match bullets I don't belive you can seat a bullet out far enough to be in close proximity to the rifle chamber throat and have sufficient bullet bearing inside the case neck. HTH, 7zero1. |
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