First try at reloading, Bergara

[45-70]

Will try this again to see if it works, shot it today

 

[sdporter]

How far? What rifle? Not too shabby!!!

 

[45-70]

.308 Bergara b- 14 Hunter I wrote on the target 200 yds

 

[snapbang]

Excellent.

 

[Idaholewis]

Good Stuff Bob! If you can find a Can of Hodgdon Varget, DEFINATELY give it a Try, That is the Best Powder i have used in my .308 Win, I SWEAR By Varget in the .308, With Nosler Ballistic Tip 165 Grain Bullets

Also, Try seating off the Lands 30-50 Thou. There are Specific Tools for it, But an easy way to get Very close is to use 1 of your Fired Cases from your Rifle. Without doing anything to the Fired Case, Simply Dent the Case neck SLIGHTLY at the Mouth, Just hold the Case and push down slightly on a Bench Etc. Til you can see a Small Flat Spot at the Case mouth. Now Blacken one of your Bullets with a Marker Etc., Get it Started in the Case. Now Chamber it in your Rifle, Push the Bolt Forward and Fully Close it, Now Eject it, Most of the Time the Bullet will be Stuck in the Lands, Simply use your Cleaning Rod down the Muzzle and bump the Bullet, allowing it to Fall on a Rug, Towel Etc.
You will see where the Dent Spot in the Case Neck Scratched the Black off the Bullet (Gilding) Now push the Bullet Back in the Case right to where the Scratch is, Measure your Overall length with your Calipers. Do this Same Test 3 or 4 Times, Writing down the Overall Length each time.
Now Set your Bullet Seating Die to Seat the Bullet about 30-50 Thousandths Deeper than that Scratch, This is Referred to as “Bullet Jump to the Land’s”

MANY times You can tinker with Seating Depth and REALLY Dial a Load in

Like i said, There are Specific Tools for this Job, i own & use them, But i have done the Method above for MANY years to obtain the Same thing with STELLAR Results.

The most important tool is a Bullet Comparator, It takes a Measurement from the Ogive of the Bullet instead of the Tip, The overall length of a Bullet using the Tip can be inaccurate, The Bullet Comparator attaches to your Dial Calipers.

I have this one, This set comes with The .30 Cal (.308) insert. You can also Buy just the Comparator and the .30 Cal (.308) insert
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101273351
This is what the Comparator looks like attached to your Calipers, just a simple Knurled Brass nut with your Thumb and index finger snugs it up against the Caliper Blade

 

[AlaskaStillwaterBows]

I tried doing that with my Sako A7 long range in 300 win mag. The magazine wont let me load bullets that are that close to the lands, unless I load one at a time. My bullets are jumping a 1/4" from my magazine to reach the lands.

Hopefully the new Bergaras are making longer box magazines. I love their new rifles they are putting out.

 

[45-70]

I tried doing that with my Sako A7 long range in 300 win mag. The magazine wont let me load bullets that are that close to the lands, unless I load one at a time. My bullets are jumping a 1/4" from my magazine to reach the lands.

Hopefully the new Bergaras are making longer box magazines. I love their new rifles they are putting out.

tell you the truth i just as soon load single shot , been doing it so long with my Sharps

 

[45-70]

Thanks Lewis, been looking at the comparator

 

[sdporter]

I don’t own a Bergara rifle but, I have handled one, and I like the feel of it. I didn’t catch that was a 200 yard target. I didn’t have my glasses on when I saw the post. That is beyond “not to shabby”. Nice job!

 

[45-70]

I don’t own a Bergara rifle but, I have handled one, and I like the feel of it. I didn’t catch that was a 200 yard target. I didn’t have my glasses on when I saw the post. That is beyond “not to shabby”. Nice job!

I'm hoping the load will repeat it self

 

[snapbang]

I like to load so the bullet so they touch the lands as you close the bolt. I don't crimp.

 

[Idaholewis]

I like to load so the bullet so they touch the lands as you close the bolt. I don't crimp.

I do this with my Cast Bullets in my Centerfires, But never with my Jacketed. When the Bullet is “Jammed” in to the lands their is more Pressure Built vs a Slight “Jump to the Lands” as i describe above.

 

[edmehlig]

I tried doing that with my Sako A7 long range in 300 win mag. The magazine wont let me load bullets that are that close to the lands, unless I load one at a time. My bullets are jumping a 1/4" from my magazine to reach the lands.

Hopefully the new Bergaras are making longer box magazines. I love their new rifles they are putting out.

That's generally the problem with clip-fed rifles. So instead of possibly having a half inch group (maybe less), you may wind up with a 1" group or slightly less. Which is still good enough for deer hunting!

 

[snapbang]

When the Bullet is “Jammed” in to the lands their is more Pressure Built vs a Slight “Jump to the Lands”

Agreed, you do need to back off your powder a little. In 35 years of cartridge loading I only had 1 primer flatten. I rarely load near maximum because an extra 100fps is no where near as valuable as a tight group.

 

[sdporter]

I would look for nodes with powder charge first, and then find nodes within those nodes, based off of seating depth.
Eric Cortina says to go in .003” increments. He has an interesting YouTube channel. Might be worth checking out.

 

[shiner200gr]

Correct bullet seating in the centerfire benchrest game thusly......burnish the loaded bullet with steel wool so that any contact with the lands will show up easily. Carefully chamber the round by hand. Close the bolt on the loaded round then extract it being careful not to let the bullet contact anywhere. When the bullet shows the lands making even SQUARE marks on the bullet, it is seated to optimum length for accuracy. If the marks are longer than they are wide, back off until they are square.
As stated above, chamber pressure will be a bit higher than if there is a ":jump", and many bolt action rifles do not have a long enough magazine, but this is seat for those who demand the most accuracy of their rifles.
Single shot rifles, or bolt action varmint rifles that are loaded one at a time will really respond to this seating.

 

[Idaholewis]

Correct bullet seating in the centerfire benchrest game thusly......burnish the loaded bullet with steel wool so that any contact with the lands will show up easily. Carefully chamber the round by hand. Close the bolt on the loaded round then extract it being careful not to let the bullet contact anywhere. When the bullet shows the lands making even SQUARE marks on the bullet, it is seated to optimum length for accuracy. If the marks are longer than they are wide, back off until they are square.
As stated above, chamber pressure will be a bit higher than if there is a ":jump", and many bolt action rifles do not have a long enough magazine, but this is seat for those who demand the most accuracy of their rifles.
Single shot rifles, or bolt action varmint rifles that are loaded one at a time will really respond to this seating.

My Rem 700 Varmint in .308 is a Single Shot due to my Loads being to long to fit in the Magazine from Seating as described above, I am perfectly fine with it, All i need is 1 Shot with that Rifle I shoot it VERY accurately to 1,100 Yards

 

[Idaholewis]

This is worth watching, Erik Cortina ABSOLUTELY knows what he’s doing, and he say’s to NOT worry about “Chasing the Lands” That it’s Stupid (I stil do, because it works for me)

Part 1


Part 2


You CAN’T intelligently Argue with Mr. Cortina’s Success, Check this 5 Shot 1,000 Yard Group out The first 4 Shots measure .3, The 5th Shot opened the Group up to 1.3“ MANY can’t do this at 100 Yards

 

[shiner200gr]

If "chasing the lands" (his terminology) is stupid then that means there's one heck of a lot of NBRSA members that are totally ignorant.

 

[snapbang]

It is true that most rifle magazines are not long enough to accept a cartridge where the bullet is loaded to touch the lands. (or the throat is too long, deep) I likewise chamber a single round at a time with no cartridge in the magazine. The first shot is the only one that counts.

For shorter varmint bullets that will not reach the lands I still load them as long as possible without the bullet falling out of the cartridge. Done this for 35 years. Always felt the closer the bullet was to the lands the easier it was to get accuracy.

works for me.