168 AMAX Seated Too Deep?

[beartooth91]

I have a new Cabelas exclusive Savage 111 in 30-'06. This is the one with the grey, laminated stock that's being closed out. Anyway, I am about to start initial loading with new brass. (It hasn't been fired, yet.) My bullet choice is the Hdy 168 AMAX. I am concerned, however, with the seating depth.
Using the Hdy L-n-L gauge and modified case, I'm hitting the lands at around 3.558" OAL, with a comparator. This translates to around 3.173" OAL without the comparator attached. So, a seated 168 AMAX is seated so deep, into the case, the boattail bottom is slightly below the bottom shoulder! And that's with no jump. So, I'm a bit worried about shooting live loads. And I think I've checked and rechecked my measurements about 12 times. The Lee reloading manual lists a minimum OAL of 3.285" for a 168 grain jacketed bullet.
Please help me out. I am not sure what to do.

Thanks

[fgw_in_fla]

I have some 168's I loaded for my '06 the same way and they shoot just fine. It's a long bullet. The chamber is only so long. I really don't think you'll have any trouble with it.

Of course, a little experimentation may be in order. Set a few short, set a few long, shoot, check results, adjust as needed.

Have fun.

Frank in Fla

[beartooth91]

I think my technique needs a bit of polishing....

I just went down and rechecked my measurements. Upon meeting the initial resistance; this time, I pushed a little more firmly on and wiggled the L-n-L gauge rod. Sure enough, there was give and the bullet pushed a ways further into the barrel. I repeated this about a dozen times with two 168 AMAX's, getting repeatable (and more reasonable) measurements of 3.666" - 3.668" with the comparator. That's about .109" difference! Another dummy round, seated .020" back, yielded an OAL of 3.262" (without the comparator) and over the Lee manual's min OAL of 3.230". After chambering the dummy, a few times, I remeasured it to verify no movement from lands contact seating the bullet deeper. The top of the boattail is just above the neck/shoulder junction and the bottom of the boattail is slightly below midway of the shoulder. It still looks a touch short (to me), but, 100x better than this morning.
I can go ahead and load some up.
While I'm guessing the best method of using these L-n-L gauges is the one that gives repeatable measurements; does anyone have a pet, tried and true way of using these?

Thanks

[KRP]

While I'm guessing the best method of using these L-n-L gauges is the one that gives repeatable measurements; does anyone have a pet, tried and true way of using these?

Thanks

I built a gauge using the same principle as the Hornady, I'm still not sure about it. You have to get the feel of it through use. A little wiggle/twist/push to make sure the case is seated in the chamber and then wishing you had three hands to hold the tube and rod, and tighten the set screw at the same time. At least half the time I still use the tried and true method of deforming the neck on a fired case then seating a bullet long and chambering it. Regardless of numbers in the book, work up to your loads as usual and shoot what works the best.

[kelbro]

I still use the tried and true method of deforming the neck on a fired case then seating a bullet long and chambering it.

This works very well. Three to five samples and you've got your base number to start working from.

[helotaxi]

The boat tail being is the case isn't the end of the world anyway.

[stangfish]

Seen this before. With hornady Amax's. Never found the issue.

[Luckus]

I use a hard jam to get consistency and work from there. The first resistance is probably leade and is hard to measure, at least for me. Not sure it's the end all but seems to work for me. If you are trying to set bullets on the lands or very close, I recommend measuring bullets on the ogive and then sorting by length, then measuring oal to ogive on every round to get accurate oal. Luckus

[CharlieNC]

When using the comparator it looks like you did not account for subtracting the 1" length of the fixture, so it becomes 2.666-2.668; the comparator length should be shorter than the OAL. It can be a little tricky to remove a jambed bullet without changing the length; a lot of times the lands want to hold onto the bullet and pull it out when extracting with the bolt, resulting in false long measurements. I gently insert a cleaning rod down the muzzle and incline the barrel slightly off-horizontal when opening the bolt in order to release the bullet from the lands but also being careful not to push it into the case. Usually get consistent measurements this way.