358 Hoosier bullet seating depth

[UncleNorby]

I have a question about seating depth.

I put a bullet in a re-sized case, just enough to hold it in, and chambered it gently. I could feel the bullet being pushed into the case as the bolt was sliding forward and closing. The OAL length of this dummy round is 2.595. Doing the math I know that the bullet is seated 0.130 into the case.

AJ Brown recommended a COAL of 2.500 with this bullet, therefore the bullet is seated 0.225, and about 0.095 off the rifling.

I'm wondering what is generally considered a reasonable minimum starting place for distance from the rifling, and also what might generally be considered "enough" seating depth for the case to grip the bullet.

Thoughts? And Happy Holidays!

 

[Broom_jm]

Presuming that magazine length is not a limiting factor, I like to start about .020" off the lands and seat deeper, if necessary, to find an accuracy sweet spot. This is done after the powder charge testing is complete and is used as a "fine tuning" process. Now, if you were to seat just .020" off the lands, you'd only have ~.150" worth of bullet in the case neck. To me, that wouldn't be enough.

My guess is Mr. Brown is seating the bullet to the base of the neck to get that 2.500" OAL. That is a pretty commonly used method with short-necked wildcats of fairly limited capacity. I would consider having .200" of the bullet's shank seated into the neck, as a minimum. What you might try is seating to about 2.525 and then seat a little deeper, in increments of .005", if you aren't able to find accuracy at that depth.

You've got to find that balance of getting the bullet to come straight out of the case neck...and go straight into the bore. Concentricity is EVERYTHING, when it comes to accuracy. Personally, I prefer to have my chamber cut so that I'm less than .050" off the rifling, with my deepest possible seating depth.

 

[UncleNorby]

Thanks very much for the info. I'll probably seat to OAL of 2.525 next time. Happy Holidays!