I am attempting to load some Berger bullets, 168 gn VLD's for a Remington Model 700. I have asked Berger what the COL should be and after several emails, all I can get out of Walt Berger & company is the published max COL of 3.340".
Some time ago I ordered a Hornady OAL gage and finally got the modified case this past week (Thanks Andrew!). When I insert the tool with the berger bullet and set the gage I come up with a length of 3.536" to the lands. The specific bullet I am using measures 1.280" in length and most of the primed cases measure around 2.490" so if I am doing my math correctly I have approximately 0.2340" of bullet seated in this case while touching the lands. In my short relaoding career I have understood that one should strive for at least a calibers worth of seating depth. I know whatever I do I have to check to ensure they will fit the magazine and chamber correctly.
With all this being said, what would those of you with this type of experience in reloading suggest I set my COL to? My initial thought is to start with 0.050 jump to the lands but this gives me less than a caliber worth of seating.
This is my first time messing with a custom COL, I want to be safe and would really appreciate your help.
Some time ago I ordered a Hornady OAL gage and finally got the modified case this past week (Thanks Andrew!). When I insert the tool with the berger bullet and set the gage I come up with a length of 3.536" to the lands. The specific bullet I am using measures 1.280" in length and most of the primed cases measure around 2.490" so if I am doing my math correctly I have approximately 0.2340" of bullet seated in this case while touching the lands. In my short relaoding career I have understood that one should strive for at least a calibers worth of seating depth. I know whatever I do I have to check to ensure they will fit the magazine and chamber correctly.
With all this being said, what would those of you with this type of experience in reloading suggest I set my COL to? My initial thought is to start with 0.050 jump to the lands but this gives me less than a caliber worth of seating.
This is my first time messing with a custom COL, I want to be safe and would really appreciate your help.