Length of bullet.

[jakkals]

Does anyone else on here reload for a tikka .243 hunter, how long should the bullet be in overall lenght? Some say to put the head in just slightly and push the rest of the head in with the bolt in the rifle and look for marks on the head and calculate it from there, but i have tried it and cant see marks on my heads when they come out of the rifle. Can anyone help me please.

A second problem i have, once i reload once fired shells my bolt dont want to close, can anyone help me with that aswell please?

Cheers
Frans.

 

[jack]

You can either buy an OAL gauge either Stoney Point or Sinclair, or DIY to determine the distance the bullet is out of the case when it touches the rilfing or lands.
For DIY Get a used case and lightly neck size to get the bullet a sliding fit.
Then insert bullet into case minus primer and it into chamber, insert bolt and lock down. This will push the case and bullet into the chamber and push the bullet onto the lands where it will stop.
Then remove case and bullet without knocking it and measure using a comparator. do it 5 times to get an average.
Then load some rounds with the bullets set at varying distances from the start of the rifling, EG 0.030", 0.060", 0.090" 0.120", 5 of each and see which ones are most accurate. Then fine tune if you want by varying it by 5 thou.
Bear in mind you need a minimum length of bullet inside the case equal to the bullet diameter. For 6mm bullets you need a minimum of 6mm of bullet in the case.

2. Are the cases resized when you try?
Are they trimmed to length?

 

[jakkals]

Hallo Jack.

Thank you for the info on Q 1,I will defenitly go and try it.

Yes i do resize the full length of the case and i do trim all of them to wright length.

Will i maybe need to push the neck of the case more down?

Frans.

 

[User00004]

I put a head just into a case and coloured the head with a marker, I then inserted the inert bullet/case into the rifle through the ejection port as it obviously wouldn't fit into my magazine, I loaded the rifle causing the head to be pushed into the neck of the case. I then ejected the bullet/case and the bullet head was marked with where it came into contact on the lands of the rifling. I measured this then loaded 0.0010" from the lands, this also cleared my magazine for loading, this worked for me......

TJ

 

[jpc333deer]

Hello Jack, When looking for land marks on the bullet head if you polish the head radially with fine wire wool the rifle land marks stand out really well. I am 1942 vintage so a cheap mag glass from WH Smiff helps as well.

On your chambering problem, how close is the bottom of the die to the shell holder on initial set up?

 

[jakkals]

Hello jpc333deer

I will certenly try some of these things.

My bottom of the die just kiss the shell holder,its not tight against eachother or far from each other.

I had a look at rounds that go in well and the ones that doesnt and it does look like the neck is the problem,there is too much shoulder and not enough neck.

Cheers
Frans.