new to 6br norma

I just set up a savage action with a shilen 6br norma barrel, got some brass and bullets and want to start putting together some loads. My question concerns my max coal. I have a hornady guage and modified case and using the 88gr berger my max coal measures 2.235 with very little variance. This seems shorter than I would have expected. I have used my oal guage with several calibers and it seems to measure short with all of them (maybe got a bad guage). Not sure where I should start with this and I couldnt find the the published max coal in any of my loading sources. Any help is appreciated

I have the same barrel. Working with the 105's and my measurements are measured to the ogive so they would mean little to you.

That barrel does.have.a tight throat. You may not be to the lands yet.

I shoot them jammed about.0.010 to 0.015.

I have the same barrel. Working with the 105's and my measurements are measured to the ogive so they would mean little to you.

That barrel does.have.a tight throat. You may not be to the lands yet.

I shoot them jammed about.0.010 to 0.015.

Berger's loading book states 2.441 coal.
My 105's measure 2.380 COAL but I only measure by ogive and that won't help you.

Would I be safe if I loaded to SAAMI max cartridge overall length? (believe to be 2.441 but would double check) Thought I could load a dummy round and see if i chambered without touching the lands

Best bet is to load it a tad firther out to find the COAL where ypu actuwlly touch the lands. That way you can run a ladder on COAL in addition to charge weigth tko optimize your load for accuracy.

Do you have a tight chamber that requires neck turning, this is very common in 6BR rifles. If tight necked, is should be stamped on the barrel, but not all of them are... Make sure that your loaded rounds are not too thick in the neck area for your barrel.

Assuming that you have proper neck clearance with a loaded round, sacrifice a case by slitting the neck on one side only, slit down to the shoulder. Use a thin cuttoff wheel (Dremmel), De-burr slit inside and out, squeeze neck slightly to hold a bullet. Seat a bullet long in the split neck case and carefully chamber it. Assuming you can get to the lands, the lands will seat the bullet deeper into the case. Slowly extract the case and push in on the side of the case when visible in the loading port to keep the bullet undisturbed, continue working the bolt to the rear untill you can remove the dummy round. Measure COAL and repeat untill you get a consistent measurement. Subtrack 0.010 inch and start with that as COAL for that particular batch of bullets.

If this is the first handloads thru this rifle be careful about jamming bullets into the lands, watch for pressure signs. Many guns shoot very, very well with 0.050 inch of jump, each one if different.

Caution, bullets can stick in the throat and may require a cleaning rod from the muzzle to remove. Make sure you don't leave a bullet in the throat.

I love my 6BR, good luck with yours!

Keith