260 Remington OAL

What would make it obvious that I haven't been reloading? And I have had someone set me up and show me how to reload. I have been loading at 2.800 OAL which is SAAMI standard for 260. Being that I am using 140 A-max bullets I know that I can seat my bullets out further than standard (2.800) and achieve better accuracy. I don't want to invest the money in an OAL gauge so I'm looking here for advice on adjusting my OAL. I have been given some good suggestions and am confirming something I read about seating down until the cartridge stops sticking into the chamber (from the bullet into the lands) by using gravity as a check. My thoughts would be that this would make it further from the lands than ideal, but much better than what I've been doing. At no point have I done anything unsafe on a reloading press, only after I receive information that what I'm doing is correct and safe do I proceed. So if anyone can confirm that my "gravity test" is sufficient that would be great. If not I will try various other methods until I find something consistent.
 
I'm having a 260 put together right now and since it's a Remington I know 2.86" is my max magazine length. I will load a dummy round at this length then put in the chamber and close the bolt. When I remove it, I will look for land marks on the bullet. As long as the bullet doesn't stick in the rifling when I remove the case this is where I will start my load development and I know I will not blow up my rifle by being meticulious with my load data.
Never heard of a gravity test so can't comment on that
 
Take an aluminim cleaning rod. Close the bolt ony our rifle, andiinsert the into bore, sliding it down to the bolt face. Mark the end of the bore at the muzzle on the rod. Take the bolt out, and drop a bullet into the lands. Slide either another cleaning rod or a short dowel in behind it to hold the bullet into the lands. Reinvest the aluminum rod you previously marked into the bore. Carefully push the rod up to and touching the bullet. Mark the rod again. Then measure the difference from mark to mark on the rod. I usually do a few bullets to get an average. I think you will find that your magazine will be the limiting factor. If you use it asa single shot you can probably get a good deal closer to the lands. - dan
 
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