Finding Max OAL for specific bullets

[Mikecr]

your oal to the lands of your rifling will be the same for any bullet, be it a long nose vld bullet or a soft point hunting bullet

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean't. But;
If you're talking about contact distance, you need to understand this isn't true.
It isn't even a constant for same bullets in lot.

Actual contact distance is affected by ogive radius and leade angle. In same lot of same bullets, there is ogive radius variance, and this can throw off all datums.
No doubt some of this is why different bullet types often need tweaking in seating to match another's performance. Or, another bullet may need major seating changes to get same, worse, or better performance. But seated contact distance is only one factor(a very important one).

This is why I suggest the only truth that matters is what the gun tells you.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I have used all the methods mentioned, but found the simplest way was to cut the neck of a case with a dremel or hacksaw blade, resize the neck, seat a bullet long and chamber it. I do this 5 times to get a good average. I then calculate the distance to the lands and use the ogive measurement for EACH bullet and record it as well as making a dummy round.
This method has worked for me over several years now, and is far easier and less fiddly than other methods.

Cheers.
gun)

 

[Bodywerks]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean't. But;
If you're talking about contact distance, you need to understand this isn't true.
It isn't even a constant for same bullets in lot.

Actual contact distance is affected by ogive radius and leade angle. In same lot of same bullets, there is ogive radius variance, and this can throw off all datums.
No doubt some of this is why different bullet types often need tweaking in seating to match another's performance. Or, another bullet may need major seating changes to get same, worse, or better performance. But seated contact distance is only one factor(a very important one).

This is why I suggest the only truth that matters is what the gun tells you.

I agree, there will be differences between even bullets in the same lot as far as the transition from nose to give, but this difference is rather slight - far less than the differences in overall bullet length - this is true also between different types of bullets in the same caliber. My competition bullet seaters with vld seating stems grasp very close to the ogive and result in my bullets behind seated within .001 of desired ogive seating depth. If I loaded every bullet to a consistent base to tip length my bullet jump would vary GREATLY compared to seating at a consistent base to give length.