Quote Originally Posted by Cmgoff View Post
I have never had much luck with the Hornady oal tool. Measurements were always inconsistent and never inspired confidence.

My recommendation is to make a dummy round (no powder and no primer) that has the bullit loaded long, long enough that you know it will not chamber. remove firing pin and ejector from your bol

Now you can incrimenaly seat the bullit deeper until it Chambers without resistance. I have had repeatable results to .001".

This technique is much easier if you have a micrometer bullit seater but can be done without

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It can be, and has been since before all the (need to have) tools were ever created.
As stated above, load a bullet in an empty unprimed case, leaving the bullet long in the case and then
close the bolt on it to jam seat the bullet. Then keep adjusting the die down till you can barely see the rifleing marks on the bullet.
Smoke the bullet with a match or use a sharpie on the bullet.
Save the final version for a dummy round for that bullet for future die adjustments.
Makes no difference on exact case length trim as the o a l is what your looking for.
No comparator or any other special tools needed, just a case, a bullet, and the gun.