Bullet seating depth in a rem 700p LTR .308

[Blwebster]

Cannot seat bullets within .02 of lands because there would be too little bullet in the case neck to hold it. Have been loading 150 grain Sierras and hornady 165 grain interlocks. But had to set seating depth to 2.750 for the 150 gr and 2.80 for the Hornadys...neither was close enough to the lands meaning lots of jump...(too much freebore). Tried to seat some winchster 180 gr power points to 2.8 but they will not chamber, yet the have not touched the lands either. Had to back down to coal of 2.750 to be able to chamber it.

Only the 150 sierras group well (under .5 moa) while all others open up to around 1.5" groups.

Ideas

 

[FearNoWind]

The focus of your reloading effort appears to be getting close to the lands. Why is that important? I've loaded for rifles that shot their best with some pretty long jumps.

 

[MudRunner2005]

The .308 Win is not a picky caliber, try seating them to SAAMI spec or to magazine length, and adjust powder charges by ladder-testing to find a good load.

 

[Blwebster]

Thanks for your comment. I found that heavier bullets would not group hence wanted to see how close i might get to the lands to try to improve groups. Most of my rifles shoot their absolute best .o2 off the lands, and i was surprised that i could not do so. A gunsmith i know who is involved in fclass shoots indicate the bullet really should engage the lands before it leaves the support of the neck, or potential for decent accuracy may be an issue. I might have to just do as you suggest, but there is another option too.

I had already planned to steel epoxy bed the receiver area, have the bolt worked over and the action blueprinted. If i find consistent accuracy is an issue after that, with various bullets and weights, the first thing to go will be the original barrel, replaced by a 24 inch select match grade barrel with 5r lands chambered and etc the way it suits my prior reloading experience. Jumping bullets due to excessive freebore did not make sense to me, hence my reasoning.

But i am learning.

 

[Blwebster]

Thank you fellows.

 

[Rick Richard]

As others have suggested; let the bullet and the rifle tell you what it likes. I also agree that the the .308 is not a picky load and in most cases shoot best at SAAMI or magazine length. Try experimenting with different loads and see what results can be obtained. I have real good luck with IMR 4064 with mine. It will shoot one ragged hole at 200 yards with 168 grain AMAX.

 

[remington01]

You could always try the 155 gr Berger Hybrids.