New to CBTO Loading & .222 Remington

[GasGuzzler]

After diagnosing and overcoming the mechanical issues (*see below) with a Savage 340C in .222 that were causing over-pressure (with OEM and handloaded ammo) and using the Hornady Cartridge Headspace Comparator measuring tool to set my dies to bump the shoulder back enough (** see below), I am at the stage where I need to find the seating depth. I don't have any other centerfire bolt actions and all my rifle and pistol loading has been to book OAL (*** see below).

I sliced a resized case neck with a Dremmel, started a Sharpie colored bullet long, and chambered it using the bolt five times. There are marks from the rifling on the bullet (very small but they're there). I am using the MidwaysUSA bulk version of the Hornady (CLICK HERE TO SEE SIMILAR) 55 grain, V-MAX ballistic tip flat base bullet. That gave me the OAL to the rifling of 2.179". To make it easy and sticking to the 0.003-0.005" jump I settled on 0.004" or an OAL of 2.175". Then I got to worrying because the SAAMI spec is WAY shorter (even Hornady book says so) at 2.130". I also have read that up to 0.020" of jump could be fine. I will not be working up a load. It is not my rifle. I will be trying to find a load that is accurate enough and safe. After buying $100 of tools I don't want to spend more on tools, just want to hear others' experiences.

Yes, the 2.175" OAL fits the magazine and I can take a base to ogive measurement at this OAL to use as comparison to subsequent rounds I load.


* Although the bore and chamber looked clean to the naked eye, results proved I had a significant carbon ring. A thorough (over a week's time) took care of the mechanical portion.

** The brass I was using was previously enjoyed by someone in a different rifle. The vintage dies I had could not get the should back where it needed to be to fit my chamber. I bit the bullet and got a new full set of Lee dies and got the shoulder bumped 0.004".

*** Exceptions are bullets with no load data and I worked up a load for my Ruger P95 that is well over length and therefore over-charged a bit.

[RBHarter]

So it goes with older gear . It gets worse when the 1972 dies are smaller than the 2015 chamber . In my case it's almost like my 7×57 was finished with a 280 Rem reamer , the bolt closes firmly on new unfired brass and FL formed brass . The 1949 FN surplus is quite free chambering, but the sizer die hits the shoulder before it hits the neck on fired brass . A neck die should fix that for me .

In your case it may have been the shell holder. While I've never seen a situation where swapping std shell holders made a significant difference I did have a rifle that I had to hold in cam over to get it sized enough . Redding makes a set and individual shell holders to set bump and change it the top face of any shell holder can be ground to "fix" a long die . If one shortens a die remember to break the entrance face it's hard on brass if not done .

[Ranch Dog]

I've always given the rifle what it needs as long as the magazine function allows. Sometimes, the magazine is the limiting factor.

If you are not shooting the rifle, I'm not sure to tell you how to proceed other than telling the individual that will be shooting it not to allow the use of the ammo in any other firearm. That would be true for reloading any cartridge with lengths outside the SAAMI spec. Forcing a bolt closed with a decreased overall length will make an impressive bang when the trigger is pulled.

[GasGuzzler]

Do you think I should go shorter (closer to SAAMI) than 0.004" off the lands? Like maybe 0.010-0.015"? It would still be longer OAL than SAAMI.

[Ranch Dog]

Do you think I should go shorter (closer to SAAMI) than 0.004" off the lands? Like maybe 0.010-0.015"? It would still be longer OAL than SAAMI.

I don't know. I've never prepped ammo for a rifle I won't shoot. The load work tells me what the rifle likes. I don't think there is a way to guess it. I would probably break the length into logical increments and start shooting. As you move the OAL shorter, you are changing the pressure generated, so it is tough to decipher what is causing what without using something like Quickload to adjust the powder charge to keep the pressure at a similar value.