flagflyfish

I'm trying to figure out a measurement sent to me for a 22-250 handload. He stated:
bullets seated to
2.0195" Case head to bullet ogive.
OA length stated in the Lee reload manual is 2.350, so what am I missing?

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"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier
and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the
service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the
love and thanks of man and woman."

-- Thomas Paine (The American Crisis, No. 1, 19 December 1776)

HotGuns

OA length is the length of the bullet from the base to the very end of the bullet.

Since all bullets have different ogives, bullets with the same OAL but different bullets will seat differently and be closer to or further away from the rifling.
This can and will affect accuracy.

The bullet ogive is the curve of the bullet. This length is different and is where the radius of the bullet curve goes from the flat to the beggining of the curve.

The base of the bullet is parralell. Where it starts to curve is the "ogive".

Clear as mud?

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AR. CHL Instr.

One of Satan's greatest achievements is to fool you into believing that he doesn't exist.

Ram Rod

While the OAL of the cartridge is listed as x.xxx, the ogive is where the bullet measures the bore diameter (in your case for the 22-250) .224". From bullet tip to ogive will be different depending on the weight and design of the bullet. For instance, a 45gr hp, a 53gr blitz, a 55gr vmax, etc..... will all be different in the measurements from tip to ogive. One needs a chamber length gauge with a caliber specific modified case to determine seating depth of the bullet from the lands of the rifling, and that seating depth is from the ogive (which is the part of the bullet that first contacts the rifling). One also needs the caliber specific gauge that would attach to the caliper to determine the case to ogive measurement. Once these measurements are determined, you can use the OAL length you end up with after the bullet is seated using the ogive measurement. I have seated bullets in empty cases I use to keep my measurements and zero my tools for the different bullets I use. They were seated using the ogive measurement for my particular rifle from lands to -.004 to -.006. Now I can use the OAL length from case head to tip of bullet. Remember! The information given you was for a particular bullet! Make sure you are using the same bullet for which the information was given.

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RamRod-----sans remords

HotGuns

That is the key. A different bullet will not use the same measurement.

__________________
AR. CHL Instr.

One of Satan's greatest achievements is to fool you into believing that he doesn't exist.

Ram Rod

So if you do not have the tools for the ogive measurements, stick with the OAL listed in the load book. These are generic measurements designed to work in any rifle chambered for that particular cartridge with safety margins built in. (conservative) Accuracy will also be generic in that instance. Once you get to the point you want to 'tune for accuracy', you can experiment with seating the bullet closer to or further from the lands. As compared to factory loads, usually closer, but not touching the lands. You will then also need those tools I had previously mentioned.

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RamRod-----sans remords

msgt/ret

A simple way to determine seating depth is to seat a bullet in an empty case, be sure to just seat it enough to hold the bullet. Chamber the round and carefully extract it. Using the round you just extracted carefully adjust the seating die to just touch the bullet and backoff the seating stem 1/8 to ¼ turn. I have found this method works well for the best accuracy without pushing the pressures too high. PS: be sure to mark the ammo as to which weapon it is loaded for since chamber sizes do vary from one weapon to another.

HotGuns

And make sure that it is short enough to cycle through the magazine. On some rifles that have a long throat, doing this will make it too long to fit through the magazine.

__________________
AR. CHL Instr.

One of Satan's greatest achievements is to fool you into believing that he doesn't exist.

rocky

I was told to seat a bullet long then, paint the ogive area of the bullet & let it dry. Then carefully try to chamber it. If it rubs the paint , it needs to seat slightly deeper. (so it doesn't touch the lands and grooves )
It takes a bit of time but seems to work well. As said, make sure the round still fits the mag and will cycle properly.

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flagflyfish

Thanks guys! Since I don't yet have the tools that I need to make the measurements, I was going to try Rocky's recipe, I have some of my girlfriends fingernail polish she left in my truck. I take it that the ogive should be just shy of the lands.

__________________
"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier
and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the
service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the
love and thanks of man and woman."

-- Thomas Paine (The American Crisis, No. 1, 19 December 1776)

HotGuns

Actually, black magic marker is the best. Fingernail polish tends to chip off. A good starting point is .010 off of the lands.

__________________
AR. CHL Instr.

One of Satan's greatest achievements is to fool you into believing that he doesn't exist.