Help with OAL and O-Give for .308 Remmy 700

timbeech

Well-Known Member
I got a Hornady OAL gauge and bullet comparator so I can finally find out my OAL and seating depth for my .308 Remmy 700 SPS Stainless

The tool gave me an OAL of 2.342", which would give me an ideal seating depth of 2.322" to 2.302" for a 20 to 40 thou jump to lands. This is using 150gn SBT Sierra GameKing Heads (#2125)

When looking at this on my modified case etc it doesn't seat the round into the case that deep, certainly not enough for my liking. I read that you should seat a bullet at least the same as it's diameter.

My current loads have been produced to the max COAL given in my Sierra reloading data (base to tip), but measuring these using the bullet comparator shows them at 2.195" base to O-Give. This is currently giving me a 147 thou jump to lands, I expected this to be big.

Has anyone else got a Remmy 700 in .308, what seating depth / length to O-give do you use? If 20-40 thou jump to lands is ideal why isn't this possible with my rifle and bullet combination?


Thanks,

Tim
 
No I have not got a Remington 700 but that is beside the point here. The problem seems to be the ogive and it's shape which varies between bullet designs and makes.

In my own handloading experience i have never found the best precision on target with bullets seated out close to the leade. On several of the rifles i own it's not possible to get anywhere close to theleade with some bullets and retain the bullet into the case neck yet on of these rifles is about the most consistently precise in grouping with the 130 Grain Hornady SP in .308". The rifle is chambered in 30-30 and throated for the 170 Grain Winchester bullet.

Another is a 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser which is throated for the 160 Grain RN bullet and it shoots the 120 Grain Speers rather well.

My advice is don't get too hung up on this minimal jump and try it with the bullet seated wih it's base level with the should/neck juncture and they try different loads with the bullet seated out a fraction more until your happy with the grouping achieved.
 
+1 to BH.

I worry less about bullet jump than I do about consistent case prep and my focus is on loading as close to identically as I can achieve.

Use of the Lee Factory crimp die twice with a 1/4 turn between zaps has done more for repeatability than anything I ever tried with ogive-land distance.

All I can say is that it works for me.
 
All 3 of my rifles have the bullet seated >200 thou - all 3 will shoot .3" It has been written that rifles can have at least three 'sweet spots'. I prefer to seat my bullets deep enough to minimalize the amount of air in the case. If there was only one sweet spot and that happened to be within 40 thou of the lands as many reloaders think, I am sure the rifle manufacturers would have (as a start) made their magazines longer.
 
+1 to BH.

I worry less about bullet jump than I do about consistent case prep and my focus is on loading as close to identically as I can achieve.

Use of the Lee Factory crimp die twice with a 1/4 turn between zaps has done more for repeatability than anything I ever tried with ogive-land distance.

All I can say is that it works for me.

Yes, yes, and double damn yes.:thumb: I agree 100%.~Muir
 
I dont know where the lands are on half my rifles!!

I work up starting loads with consistent seating depth of over the calibre dimension
Find the charge that suits the best and then if it needs it increase or decrease seating depth to fine tune.

it amuses me that people use the lands and reference them to within 0.005" but the starting edges of the lands on a well used rifle will at best be a rounded, cracked and irregular edge with all the lands having slightly different start points.

your "0.020" off the lands" at day one will not be the same dimension after 1000 rounds!
 
I dont know where the lands are on half my rifles!!

I work up starting loads with consistent seating depth of over the calibre dimension
Find the charge that suits the best and then if it needs it increase or decrease seating depth to fine tune.

it amuses me that people use the lands and reference them to within 0.005" but the starting edges of the lands on a well used rifle will at best be a rounded, cracked and irregular edge with all the lands having slightly different start points.

your "0.020" off the lands" at day one will not be the same dimension after 1000 rounds!

Ahhhh have to say this but I doubt many "stalkers" will see 1,000 rounds through their barrels. A lot of modern cartridges will burn the throat well before this 1,000 round count as well.
 
I've got a Remy 700 and use 150gr Gamekings

load data
2.215 to o-give
Powder vit n140 44.5gr
brass lapua
primer cci

Super accurate load in my rifle and the deer don't argue.

Hope that's what your looking for

Jonny
 
I've got a Remy 700 and use 150gr Gamekings

load data
2.215 to o-give
Powder vit n140 44.5gr
brass lapua
primer cci

Super accurate load in my rifle and the deer don't argue.

Hope that's what your looking for

Jonny

​Brilliant thanks. I've worked my load to 44.5 - 45gn of Viht N140 so that's a nice check too
 
I got a Hornady OAL gauge and bullet comparator so I can finally find out my OAL and seating depth for my .308 Remmy 700 SPS Stainless
R
The tool gave me an OAL of 2.342", which would give me an ideal seating depth of 2.322" to 2.302" for a 20 to 40 thou jump to lands. This is using 150gn SBT Sierra GameKing Heads (#2125)

When looking at this on my modified case etc it doesn't seat the round into the case that deep, certainly not enough for my liking. I read that you should seat a bullet at least the same as it's diameter.

My current loads have been produced to the max COAL given in my Sierra reloading data (base to tip), but measuring these using the bullet comparator shows them at 2.195" base to O-Give. This is currently giving me a 147 thou jump to lands, I expected this to be big.

Has anyone else got a Remmy 700 in .308, what seating depth / length to O-give do you use? If 20-40 thou jump to lands is ideal why isn't this possible with my rifle and bullet combination?


Thanks,

Tim

I dont have a remmy, Ive a winchester but I thought the same with my 150 gamekings. However after the .6ish" group ot shoots with varget Im not going to complain.


Nutty
 
if its a new ish rem they put in free bore 190 VLD just reaches lan's just load em to saami ,i found you this it may help from a remington rifle site
Q
# In my Remington 700 VLS chambered for .308 Winchester, a cartridge
# loaded to an OAL of 2.8250" will just touch the lands. SAAMI spec says
# maximum overall length for .308 Winchester is 2.800 inches. Is a
# cartridge loaded to 2.8060" OAL safe in this rifle, even though that
# OAL would exceed SAAMI spec? In other words, is my chamber cut a bit
# on the generous side?) END.
A( The SAAMI spec is so that all cartridges will chamber and work through the
magazine of a gun. If your gun will take a slightly longer cartridge and
work throughthe action, it is safe for your gun. The spec is sort of like a
maximum cartridge length and mimimum rifle length.
The shape of the bullet could come into play also.
A long skinney bullet may not touch the lands where a round nose bullet
might for the same overall lenght of the round.

You usually only get into trouble by making the overall lenght shorter as
far as not being safe. That mostly hapens with the hand guns . If the
bullet is seated too deep the pressure will rise somewhat.
 
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I got a Hornady OAL gauge and bullet comparator so I can finally find out my OAL and seating depth for my .308 Remmy 700 SPS Stainless

The tool gave me an OAL of 2.342", which would give me an ideal seating depth of 2.322" to 2.302" for a 20 to 40 thou jump to lands. This is using 150gn SBT Sierra GameKing Heads (#2125)

Forget the OAL measurement: it's irrelevant not that you are measuring on the ogive. It is only relevant as to whether your ammo cycles in your magazine.

When looking at this on my modified case etc it doesn't seat the round into the case that deep, certainly not enough for my liking. I read that you should seat a bullet at least the same as it's diameter.

That's not a hard and fast rule, though its good practice. So long as the bullet is secure, that's what matters. Trim your cases to the same length (as far as possible) and use a Lee Factory Crimp die to nip some tension onto the bullets. I tend to trim my cases to 0.005" below the stated maximum length as that gives the die something to crimp.

My current loads have been produced to the max COAL given in my Sierra reloading data (base to tip), but measuring these using the bullet comparator shows them at 2.195" base to O-Give. This is currently giving me a 147 thou jump to lands, I expected this to be big.

It depends is the answer to that. How well do they shoot? Forget the OAL. Seat your bullet to be, say, 0.030" off the lands, if possible, and see how they shoot. It may be that your rifle has a long leade (unrifled throat) in which case you will just have to live with it, or shoot heavier (hence longer) bullets or more rounded nose bullets.

BTW, it's ogive, not o-give.

-JMS
 
I got a Hornady OAL gauge and bullet comparator so I can finally find out my OAL and seating depth for my .308 Remmy 700 SPS Stainless

The tool gave me an OAL of 2.342", which would give me an ideal seating depth of 2.322" to 2.302" for a 20 to 40 thou jump to lands. This is using 150gn SBT Sierra GameKing Heads (#2125)

When looking at this on my modified case etc it doesn't seat the round into the case that deep, certainly not enough for my liking. I read that you should seat a bullet at least the same as it's diameter.

My current loads have been produced to the max COAL given in my Sierra reloading data (base to tip), but measuring these using the bullet comparator shows them at 2.195" base to O-Give. This is currently giving me a 147 thou jump to lands, I expected this to be big.

Has anyone else got a Remmy 700 in .308, what seating depth / length to O-give do you use? If 20-40 thou jump to lands is ideal why isn't this possible with my rifle and bullet combination?


Thanks,

Tim
So.... how do the SAAMI spec loads shoot?
Don't hurt your brain about jumps. You know your max - although you'll likely hit mag length before you get to it - and you know your min.
Start with min, see how it goes and work up if you need to.

My stalking .308 produces same accuracy on SAAMI as it does just on the lands (pacnor barrel).
The SAAMI produces a higher velocity at a given charge and easily fits the mag. Guess which I use.

Moral of the story is keep it simple, more shooting, less brain hurting :)
 
I have a Remington 700 PSS in 308 and due to it having a long throat the A-Max bullets I use for the range which are 20 though of the lands have to be single loaded into the chamber as they will not fit in the magazine.
I also load Hornady interlocks for stalking which I load to fit the magazine.
The rifle still shoots 1/2 MOA with the interlocks and just a little better with the A-Max.
Don't get to uptight about the bullet jump for some reason the Remington 308's shoot well with hand loads using Vithavouri N140.

Some light reading...... The Remington 700 PSS

Lapua 243
 
Thanks for all the responses. The pretty clear message has been received as understood.

The OAL gauge is in the toolbox and I'll stop over thinking and get out shooting :)
 
I have a similar problem with Tim, who posted his issue with the Rem 700 in 2013.

“I got a Hornady OAL gauge and bullet comparator so I can finally find out my OAL and seating depth for my .308 Remmy 700 SPS Stainless

The tool gave me an OAL of 2.342", which would give me an ideal seating depth of 2.322" to 2.302" for a 20 to 40 thou jump to lands. This is using 150gn SBT Sierra GameKing Heads (#2125)

When looking at this on my modified case etc it doesn't seat the round into the case that deep, certainly not enough for my liking. I read that you should seat a bullet at least the same as it's diameter.

My current loads have been produced to the max COAL given in my Sierra reloading data (base to tip), but measuring these using the bullet comparator shows them at 2.195" base to O-Give. This is currently giving me a 147 thou jump to lands, I expected this to be big.

Has anyone else got a Remmy 700 in .308, what seating depth / length to O-give do you use? If 20-40 thou jump to lands is ideal why isn't this possible with my rifle and bullet combination?”

Does anybody know the answer?
 
I have a similar problem with Tim, who posted his issue with the Rem 700 in 2013.

“I got a Hornady OAL gauge and bullet comparator so I can finally find out my OAL and seating depth for my .308 Remmy 700 SPS Stainless

The tool gave me an OAL of 2.342", which would give me an ideal seating depth of 2.322" to 2.302" for a 20 to 40 thou jump to lands. This is using 150gn SBT Sierra GameKing Heads (#2125)

When looking at this on my modified case etc it doesn't seat the round into the case that deep, certainly not enough for my liking. I read that you should seat a bullet at least the same as it's diameter.

My current loads have been produced to the max COAL given in my Sierra reloading data (base to tip), but measuring these using the bullet comparator shows them at 2.195" base to O-Give. This is currently giving me a 147 thou jump to lands, I expected this to be big.

Has anyone else got a Remmy 700 in .308, what seating depth / length to O-give do you use? If 20-40 thou jump to lands is ideal why isn't this possible with my rifle and bullet combination?”

Does anybody know the answer?


Don't chase the lands?
 
Yep, don't overthink it. I went through all the OAL Gauge process and then found that the so-called "magic jump" loads didn't fit in the magazine, let alone cycle. I now load the .308 to fit the mag. They're a few thou longer than factory, and a good few thou shorter than the OAL gauge suggested. They group within half an MOA and have accounted for a good number of Deer and fox, so all's good. I leave the OAL gauge stuff for the .243 and the 6.5 rangework.

Given that factory rounds are miles away from the lands and yet still group well, just shows how forgiving a round the .308 is.
 
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