Long Bullets

[Educated Redneck]

Just starting out here. I own a Browning A-Bolt Stainless Stalker 300 WSM. My brothers shoot the same caliber, but in a Savage 16 and Remington 700. We are entering the custom ammunition realm and want to know if we can shoot the larger/longer bullets such as the Berger VLD 210 gr. and/or Hornady A-Max 208 gr. bullets??? Is any gunsmithing involved to do so? Any special instructions to the handloader? Any info on any of the above guns is appreciated. All are bone stock guns (for now).

Thanks,
Jake

 

[lightflight]

The general answer is yes you can.

 

[Dosh]

Jake, tried the 210's in my hunt pals Savage 26" 300 WSM. Not too impressive. The 185 Berger VLD shoots outstanding with H4350. Many others on the forum report the same. This load is devastating on elk. He has not tried the A-Max.

 

[azsugarbear]

Much of this answer depends on how long the throat of your rifle is and whether or not you want to use the magazine (which will restrict length of your COAL).

 

[WildRose]

Much of this answer depends on how long the throat of your rifle is and whether or not you want to use the magazine (which will restrict length of your COAL).

.... . and twist rate.

 

[Educated Redneck]

Twist rate on the browning is 1:10". The loaded bullets fit fine in the magazine. How do I know if the throat length is long enough and if it is not, what is involved in fixing it, or is it best to just bump down to a shorter bullet? The goal is maximum energy and BC, but you already new that most likely by my bullet selections in question. Being naive, I don't want to make a rookie mistake so I thought Id seek the knowledge and experience of others who already done what I hope to do.

 

[azsugarbear]

VLD style designs tend to have some of the best BC's. However, most VLD's like to be seated close to the lands. This usually (but not always), means that the bullet will be too long to feed through a magazine. If this is the case, you can either single load, or install a Wyatt's extended box magazine.

Factory ammo will always have a shorter COAL in order to fit all types of rifles. You will need to start reloading in order to get where you want to go. I think the best alternative is to compromise and try to find some ammo loaded with Nosler AB's. They can tolerate more of a jump into the lands and don't give up too much in the area of BC's.

 

[Educated Redneck]

I ordered a pack of 4 different custom hand loads to test, all in 208gr A-Max and Norma brass. And certainly once I figure out what my gun likes, I won't go back.

The bullets fit the magazine (only about 2 mm of clearance, but clearance non the less) and cycle just fine. Soooo, it sounds like I'm not making a big mistake IF the bullets shoot accurately. Am I correct that the modifications people make to accommodate the longer bullets consist of a new magazine and bottom metal addressing feeding problems? OR, do some folks need to either modify the throat of the barrel or be forced to chose a shorter bullet because of accuracy problems, perhaps both??? I'm trying to avoid the throat work and smaller bullets if possible. Sounds like in my case with the bullets feeding fine, I'm not making any mistakes IF they're accurate, but what if they are not. Is that a gunsmith or rebarreling thing if I'm set on using a longer barrel or is the lack of accuracy something that can't be overcome without switching bullets. BTW, I really appreciate the info folks are sharing (my first forum membership ever).

 

[azsugarbear]

The best thing to do at this point is go shoot some and see how accurate they are. Every rifle is different. Lots of things can effect accuracy.

If your rifle's throat was cut long (lots of freebore), the only way to change it would be to have a smith recut/rechamber the barrel. Some $$ involved there. The less expensive way is to load your bullets long. They may not fit into the magazine, but be just right in terms of jump to the lands.

Here's what I would do: Load a round extra long, then color the ogive/bearing surface with a black (any dark color will do) Sharpie. Then carefully (very gently) try to chamber the round. Stop when you fell resistance. It will probably be too long which means you will not be able to close the bolt. When the round is extracted, the color will be gone from where the bullet touched the lands. Seat the bullet a little deeper in the case, freshen with the marker and try to close the bolt again. Keep doing this until their is no/slight resistance and you will have your max COAL with the bullet touching the lands. You will need a comparator to measure from base of bullet to ogive. Measuring bullet from base to point is not very accurate as bullets come in varying lengths.