Seating depths

[tim3]

Ive been using the dummy round method (cut neck) and let the bolt seat the projectile up onto the lands with min bolt closing pressure (mod70 243). I can see through the cuts on the dummy case neck that its seating the projectile beautifully at 0.08” so i checked an old hornady book (70’s vintage) and it says for a 70gr i need to seat at .199.

Accuracy isnt my main concern just yet, i will learn that as i get more experienced however am i doing anything dangerous with this shallow seating method ? I just see this method of dummy round with cut neck used so much across the internet. That variance seems a considerable difference to me and thought i’d better ask. Maybe methods have changed & the hornady book is old school.

I only ever range shoot thus no magazine loading allowed where i shoot so sizing for the mag isnt an issue for me at all.

Thank you.

 

[Charles E]

. . . am i doing anything dangerous with this shallow seating method ?

No, you're fine. The only problem you might encounter, esp. if you seat the bullet a bit deeper, is if you try to extract a loaded round. The bullet may pull from the case & stay in the chamber, which will spill powder. That's a mess, not a safety issue.

 

[tim3]

No, you're fine. The only problem you might encounter, esp. if you seat the bullet a bit deeper, is if you try to extract a loaded round. The bullet may pull from the case & stay in the chamber, which will spill powder. That's a mess, not a safety issue.

Ok , thanks for that Charles. I hadn't actually considered extracting & the messy result, however i can certainly see that happening. Maybe i will seat it a thou or 2 deeper.

 

[vicvanb]

I can see through the cuts on the dummy case neck that its seating the projectile beautifully at 0.08” so i checked an old hornady book (70’s vintage) and it says for a 70gr i need to seat at .199.

Can you clarify what you mean by this? Are you saying the Hornady book says to seat the bullet 0.199 inches less than the jam length?