22-250 bullet seating depth

[SJB]

evening all,

just getting in to reloading and trying to work things out for myself with lots of reading and youtube but going down the inevitability deep rabbit hole that this subject carries with it.

i have a 22-250 which i am starting reloading with first before i move on to my 6.5CM

i have seen lots of info on chasing the lands and i have been checking this on my browing x bolts but where my lands are would mean that the bullet would only be seated a few thousands of an inch. obviously i do not want the bullet touching the lands but if i drop back say three thousand of an inch to allow for this there is still only minimal bullet within the brass.

i guess my question is what is the minimum seating depth of the bullet in to the brass? ive seen a couple of things that say it should be seated to a depth equal to the calibre so .22 inches on 22-250 is this correct?

until now i have always been shooting hornady 55 grain V-max factory loads and these have been tack drivers through this rifle. so should i just load to the same depth as the factory or play around with this.

any advise on this would be very much appreciated.

many thanks in advance, Sam

 

[jb1]

I would start off with book recommended OAL. It seems you have a good idea with the factory rounds, I'd go eith that and see.

 

[Malxwal]

Can't remember where the wisdom came from, but was told don't bother with anything other than standard book COAL with 22-250.

 

[Will the chippy]

What are you trying to achieve? Faster? Cheaper? More accurate?
I'd try to replicate your factory load, so same bullet and cartridge overall length.
Change 1 thing at a time so you don't get all muddled up. Start with charge weight, usually this is enough to get you where you want to be, then you might want a different bullet and so on and so on.
36grain of viht 140 is a recipe many on here will use to good effect and std COAL.
It's now considered a hot load of you look at new viht data. So start low and work up.

 

[sauer]

As what malxwal said

Was advised by muir for .22-250 just load to given COAL to tip as given for that bullet

I did so with vhit data.. and was damn good load

Paul

 

[SJB]

What are you trying to achieve? Faster? Cheaper? More accurate?
I'd try to replicate your factory load, so same bullet and cartridge overall length.
Change 1 thing at a time so you don't get all muddled up. Start with charge weight, usually this is enough to get you where you want to be, then you might want a different bullet and so on and so on.
36grain of viht 140 is a recipe many on here will use to good effect and std COAL.
It's now considered a hot load of you look at new viht data. So start low and work up.

This was my thoughts to replicate the factory load to start with and then progress from there. but its really only for foxing and has been very good with the factory loads. thank you for the advice

 

[Grannysmith]

Use a factory round to set your die then just crack on

 

[Eric the Red]

Welcome to the dark, slippery slope of reloading. Chasing lands and building sexy looking bullets is great fun - but there is a massive 'so what' to it. You can end up putting more powder in to achieve nothing other than it looking ........longer.
I was always told, and it has stood me in good stead, to have a minimum of the calibre sitting in the neck - so for a 224 calibre, at least .224 (after the boat tail if you have one)...etc. AFTER having made sure it fits in the mag...! So max mag length is also an important consideration. There's loads of load data out there for 22.250, so go steady, be consistent - and be prepared to ride the helter skelter...!!!

 

[Greenmist]

Depends on the bullet and the rifle, as to setting at factory coal, are you really getting the best out of the round? Is the rifle old or have you measured correctly, the lands seem quite far out from your description. When I develop a load I load to the lands and work back, although I have the advantage of using a slightly longer bullet

 

[Miki]

Are you reloading with Hornady 55gr VMax bullets ?
How long are they (total length) and how long to the Ogive ?

The 22-250 spec COAL is 60mm so with a case length of 48.6mm you would need 11.4mm of bullet 'sticking out'.
I don't know the length of your bullet so can't tell you the seating depth although this will change with differeing bullets.

I load my 22-250 with a 55gr Sierra (#1350) bullet at a seating depth of 5.24mm giving me a COAL of 60.66mm.
A Speer 45gr bullet I load is seated @ 5.15mm

My rifle is different to yours, my lands will be at a different distance relative to the boltface.
I tend to load with a jump of around 30thou and to be fair my loading is likely to be within +/-5thou, so my distance to the lands is approx 30mm or 0.762mm.

Does it make a difference in the field shooting foxes, probably not, I am around 2" @ 200M off sticks or the bonnet of the landy.
Load to COAL or to be the same as the factory/ready-rolled and see how you get on.

 

[SJB]

Are you reloading with Hornady 55gr VMax bullets ?
How long are they (total length) and how long to the Ogive ?

The 22-250 spec COAL is 60mm so with a case length of 48.6mm you would need 11.4mm of bullet 'sticking out'.
I don't know the length of your bullet so can't tell you the seating depth although this will change with differeing bullets.

I load my 22-250 with a 55gr Sierra (#1350) bullet at a seating depth of 5.24mm giving me a COAL of 60.66mm.
A Speer 45gr bullet I load is seated @ 5.15mm

My rifle is different to yours, my lands will be at a different distance relative to the boltface.
I tend to load with a jump of around 30thou and to be fair my loading is likely to be within +/-5thou, so my distance to the lands is approx 30mm or 0.762mm.

Does it make a difference in the field shooting foxes, probably not, I am around 2" @ 200M off sticks or the bonnet of the landy.
Load to COAL or to be the same as the factory/ready-rolled and see how you get on.

i have got nossler BTV 55 grain Spitzers 20.64mm total length - 10.38mm to the ogive

i think this is all sterring me to laod similar to factory loads and play with powder. magazine length doesnt measure to give me much more than a couple of mm more than the factory loads anyway.

so think i have my answer.

many thanks

 

[Outback]

Try and crono your factory bullets , then load your own the same , with same bullet to coal and same ogive to base every thing will cycle through mag and your done . simples !

 

[jb1]

@SJB
You will end up chasing rainbow's I promise you
You will be trading in your £20 vernier caliper for some £2000 Mitutoyo.