oal and hornady oal guage

I have been measuring my oal by painting the bullet I am going to use with a sharpie starting it into a once fired case closing the bolt on it and measuring tip to case head. Now no probably not the most accurate method so I choked up the cash and bought a hornady comparator set a hornady head space set a oal guage and modified 22-250 case. I've watched several videos and done lots of reading on how to use the oal guage but I must be doing something wrong. One measurement will be 2.040 and the next is 1.998 and everything in between. I'm use Berger 64 grain hollow points. Not cheap bullets. I'm very gently inserting the bullet till I feel it stop. Am I missing something? At this point the guage seems a lot less accurate than the sharpie method. Really stumped and could use some help. Everything I've seen and read on it makes it look so easy but I'm ready to throw it in the trash.

i feel your pain. the method i finally ended up using goes as follows. you will need a dowel that is long enough to insert into your barrel so that it will reach into the action.

1. insert the bullet into the modified case so that it is deep enough into the necking so that it looks like you seated it waaay to deep.
2. insert the oal gauge into the rifle
3. push the dowel into the barrel until you can feel it touch the bullet.
4. make sure the nut on the gauge is not tightened
5. while holding the dowel with your hand (really the dowel and the end of the barrel) tip the rifle so the barrel is pointed at the ground. The rifle should be vertical pointed downwards.
6. slowly pull/release the dowel out of the barrel
7. gently tighten the nut on the guage.
8. now just make the rifle horizontal and use the dowel to push the bullet/guage out of the rifle.

this is the best technique i came up with. it takes some patience and a "feel" that comes with practice to get the oals consistant. I usually start writing down the oals until i start seeing a number more than once. then i assume thats the correct oal.

hope that all makes sense! good luck!

make sure the case is tight on the tool,put the bullet in the mod case deep enough that its not touch the lands,insert the case/tool into the chamber with the thumb screw tight went the case is all the way seated loosen the thumb screw and slowly push the dowel in until you feel it touch the lands,stop and tighten the thumb screw,pull the case/tool out push the bullet out with a cleaning rod drop it back into the mod case and check you measurement(the riffle does not need to be facing barrel down because the bullet will stick in the lands)the two most important things are to make sure you push the bullet into the lands using the same amount of pressure and when measuring make sure you also use the same amount of pressure on your calipers. take 5 to 10 reading(10 being better)and go with the most consistent measurement.

Ya see I must a tried 30 bullets and I honestly didn't have a single one stay in the lands. Does that mean I'm not applying enough pressure?

I would bet your trouble is that simple.
When I set one up I typically measure 3-5 times and never have more than a .002 variation but I have to un-stick the bullet every time.
You do not need to pry or hammer on it but it needs to be "firmly planted" in order to get consistent results.

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Originally Posted by D.ID

I would bet your trouble is that simple.
When I set one up I typically measure 3-5 times and never have more than a .002 variation but I have to un-stick the bullet every time.
You do not need to pry or hammer on it but it needs to be "firmly planted" in order to get consistent results.

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OK maybe that's it. I assumed if I did anything more than just barely laying it in there that I would be cramming it in the lands and through in it off. I'll try to set them in a little firmer tonight

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Originally Posted by yotehtr1

OK maybe that's it. I assumed if I did anything more than just barely laying it in there that I would be cramming it in the lands and through in it off. I'll try to set them in a little firmer tonight

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how nany rounds do you have through this riffle? also every brand of bullet will not be the same measurement to the lands but im sure you knew that.

Give this a try....... Scuff your bullet with steel wool or a fiber pad. Just enough to take the shine off. When the bullet touches the lands it will have small bright spots made by the bullet contacting the lands. This will tell you if you're using enough pressure on the rod. If you find more pressure is required you can prevent the bullet from sticking in the lands by applying a little case lube at the part of the bullet that will be touching the lands. ...... Quite often a bullet that doesn't stick in the lands will result in the bullet being pulled out of the case slightly which yields erratic measurements........ Oh, and it helps to hold your mouth just right :)....... BTW the marks you find on the bullet should be almost square on a newer bbl. The marks will be more oval in shape if the throat is beginning to wear.

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Originally Posted by LongRange

how nany rounds do you have through this riffle? also every brand of bullet will not be the same measurement to the lands but im sure you knew that.

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The gun has a few hundred rounds through it. I honestly haven't done a good job keeping track but at least 300 I'm sure and ya I was using the same bullets every time I tried to check. Same lot and everything.

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Originally Posted by gotcha

Give this a try....... Scuff your bullet with steel wool or a fiber pad. Just enough to take the shine off. When the bullet touches the lands it will have small bright spots made by the bullet contacting the lands. This will tell you if you're using enough pressure on the rod. If you find more pressure is required you can prevent the bullet from sticking in the lands by applying a little case lube at the part of the bullet that will be touching the lands. ...... Quite often a bullet that doesn't stick in the lands will result in the bullet being pulled out of the case slightly which yields erratic measurements........ Oh, and it helps to hold your mouth just right :)....... BTW the marks you find on the bullet should be almost square on a newer bbl. The marks will be more oval in shape if the throat is beginning to wear.

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Didn't think about scuffing a bullet. Thanks for the tip! That's a good idea.

If you painted a bullet with a sharpie would that work as well as scuffing a bullet or is there an issue doing that?

Suggest you try both the sharpie & scuffing. You be the judge.

Glad I'm not the only one who had this trouble. It was driving me nuts

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Originally Posted by yotehtr1

The gun has a few hundred rounds through it. I honestly haven't done a good job keeping track but at least 300 I'm sure and ya I was using the same bullets every time I tried to check. Same lot and everything.

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I was just wondering because if that barrel was burnt out that could cause the bullet not to stick but only 300 rounds that's not the problem.

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Originally Posted by LongRange

I was just wondering because if that barrel was burnt out that could cause the bullet not to stick but only 300 rounds that's not the problem.

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Ya 300 pretty mild rounds too. I've been playing with bullets in the 50 to 64 grain range and haven't had anything over 3600fps go across my chronograph.

Yep got it figured out now! I wasn't applying enough pressure. I was going till I could just barely feel a little bump and stopping. Well I don't know what that is because if I apply just a little more pressure there is a little dead spot with no resistance and then a very nice solid wall. Once you get the feel for it it's real easy. As soon as I figured that out all of my measurement only varied by .001. Thank you guys very much! That was the problem I wasn't actually getting to the lands.

Thanks for posting this. I was having the same problem, and after reading this post it works great

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Originally Posted by icker96

Thanks for posting this. I was having the same problem, and after reading this post it works great

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Good you got it figured out too then! Ya once you get the feel for it it's pretty simple. Had me ready to trash it the other night lol

I'm not going to lie, it had me feeling like an idiot!

Ya same here. Did a bunch of reading and watched a few YouTube videos who all said how easy it is and I was getting all kinds of crazy measurements