Hornady Lock And Load OAL Guage
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There are a lot of discussions of this in previous threads.
In a nut shell, if you are measuring the length of your rounds from the case head to the bullet tip you are not measuring them where the die touches them or where they engage the rifling, that is, on the ogive of the bullet. So, you will see greater disparity in OAL even if you keep the same depth on the die, round to round. This becomes important when you are trying to adjust the distance from the bullet to the rifle lands.
In a nut shell, if you are measuring the length of your rounds from the case head to the bullet tip you are not measuring them where the die touches them or where they engage the rifling, that is, on the ogive of the bullet. So, you will see greater disparity in OAL even if you keep the same depth on the die, round to round. This becomes important when you are trying to adjust the distance from the bullet to the rifle lands.
I've noticed that on some loads of mine that the bolt is hard to close. I'm thinking that I have the bullet too far outa nd I'm probably forcing it in the barrel or into the case so I want to correct that. I've just been going by the manual's OAL so far.
Yoshi
Invictus
I got one this year and it made a major difference in my accuracy.
Excessive OAL may be the problem. Have you inserted and removed a round to see if it has rifling marks?
You could also make a round without a primer and powder and do the smoke-the-bullet bit to see if it contacts the rifling. I don't recommend that for trying to adjust the jump distance but it might help prove that's the issue.
One other thing if you get the Hornady guage. Get a piece of hardwood dowel narrow enough to insert into your bore and several inches longer than the bore. This helps a great deal with "feeling" whether or not the bullet is just contacting the rifling when you use the guage.
If you're carefully measuring your cartridge OAL, and it consistently falls within your manual's maximum specs? And if you say your bolt is still hard to close?
There's a much better than good chance that what you're describing is a sizing die adjustment issue, not a cartridge OAL issue.
https://www.sinclairintl.com/guntech/setting-up-a-full-length-sizing-die-/detail.htm?lid=16134
Last edited:
Screwtop.243
Ouch...that thing kicks
I live and die by my OAL gage. It really helps and also gives you a way to keep track of throat wear. It is a very useful tool. I also highly recommend the Hornady concentricity gauge.
I got the stuff yesterday and loaded some rounds of 7MM Rem Mag using the stuff. I shot about 20 rounds and have to say that it made a difference in accuracy.
I like how this method takes the guesswork out of how your handload bullet works in your rifle.
I like how this method takes the guesswork out of how your handload bullet works in your rifle.
I moved on to trying the stuff out on my Remington 770 308 rifle. It didn't turn out very well.
When I used the OAL tool to measure where the ogive was hitting the chamber it was way off. It was so long that just a small part of the bullet was still in the case and was way over the max OAL in the Hornady manual. I was measuring Hornady's 150 gr. FMJBT bullet.
I then tried it on my 770 in 300 Win Mag and got a similar result.
At this point I'm confused.
When I used the OAL tool to measure where the ogive was hitting the chamber it was way off. It was so long that just a small part of the bullet was still in the case and was way over the max OAL in the Hornady manual. I was measuring Hornady's 150 gr. FMJBT bullet.
I then tried it on my 770 in 300 Win Mag and got a similar result.
At this point I'm confused.
I moved on to trying the stuff out on my Remington 770 308 rifle. It didn't turn out very well.
When I used the OAL tool to measure where the ogive was hitting the chamber it was way off. It was so long that just a small part of the bullet was still in the case and was way over the max OAL in the Hornady manual. I was measuring Hornady's 150 gr. FMJBT bullet.
I then tried it on my 770 in 300 Win Mag and got a similar result.
At this point I'm confused.
I can tell you that when I tried to measure a couple of 03A3 Springfields that I could push the bullet completely out of the case and it would not hit the lands. Other rifles did not show excessively deep throats like this. The K31 for instance was short. It was not throat wear in the first case, these were almost new looking rifles and very accurate. It appears that that is just how they were built.
Screwtop.243
Ouch...that thing kicks
I moved on to trying the stuff out on my Remington 770 308 rifle. It didn't turn out very well.
When I used the OAL tool to measure where the ogive was hitting the chamber it was way off. It was so long that just a small part of the bullet was still in the case and was way over the max OAL in the Hornady manual. I was measuring Hornady's 150 gr. FMJBT bullet.
I then tried it on my 770 in 300 Win Mag and got a similar result.
At this point I'm confused.
Don't fret. You will have this with some rifles, in which case, the OAL gauge will not be of much use. I have it with my Savage Predator in .204 Ruger, which are known to have long throats. What I do is seat the bullet as shallow as I can where it will still reliably feed from the mag, preferably with at least one bullet diameter of bearing surface into the case neck.
Major03
Ultimate Member
I moved on to trying the stuff out on my Remington 770 308 rifle. It didn't turn out very well.
When I used the OAL tool to measure where the ogive was hitting the chamber it was way off. It was so long that just a small part of the bullet was still in the case and was way over the max OAL in the Hornady manual. I was measuring Hornady's 150 gr. FMJBT bullet.
I then tried it on my 770 in 300 Win Mag and got a similar result.
At this point I'm confused.
This doesn't mean the tool isn't working as designed. It just means that those rifles have a very long throat, which isn't atypical for military and/or commercial "off the rack" rifles.
Obviously in that case, you're bullet is going to jump quite a bit and there isn't much you can do about that.
Major03
Ultimate Member
You’re using the correct modified cases that are designed for the gauge for the appropriate caliber right?
Striper69,
The above advice is sound. And since you have the tool now, I would recommend using cases fired in your chamber on the gauge. Hornady, when they bought Stoney Point to get that and a couple other designs, used an atypical thread to prevent end users from doing this but, if you have access to correct tooling, your measurements will be more precise. I was forced to do this as I load multiple chamberings that Hornady does not offer modified cases for (and I am a tinkerer by nature). My experience using my own wildcat cases thus modified led me to make cases for even my "SAAMI" chambered barrels. The consistency of measurement tightened up compared to the Hornady made modified cases. Using a case from your chamber eliminates wobble in the tool and allows for increased precision.
Good shooting.
The above advice is sound. And since you have the tool now, I would recommend using cases fired in your chamber on the gauge. Hornady, when they bought Stoney Point to get that and a couple other designs, used an atypical thread to prevent end users from doing this but, if you have access to correct tooling, your measurements will be more precise. I was forced to do this as I load multiple chamberings that Hornady does not offer modified cases for (and I am a tinkerer by nature). My experience using my own wildcat cases thus modified led me to make cases for even my "SAAMI" chambered barrels. The consistency of measurement tightened up compared to the Hornady made modified cases. Using a case from your chamber eliminates wobble in the tool and allows for increased precision.
Good shooting.
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