COAL Help

[xr10065669]

Hello!

I will be purchasing a COAL guage from Midwayusa Monday so I need some help. I am needing to deterimine my bullet length for my 204 and 22-250 and plan on buying a Hornady Lock in load guage. Is this very good? Any other ideas?

Also, I hope they have good directions with them because this is an area I need help with. I know the book COAL, but I want to seat my bullets the right distance off the lands, so it wont hurt the throat of my barrel but also get the best accuracy. If there is a link to a previous thread that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for all your help, hope you had a Merry Christmas and wish a happy New Year to all!

[futuretrades]

stoney point was acquired by hornady. as far as i know the quality is still there. don't know about the 22-250, but in the 204 and a factory rifle, you won't be able to get that close to the lands. but that is not a problem as far as accuracy goes, as most factory 204's seem to like a long bullet jump. with some load work up, i would think you would be able to get groups under .500 at 100 yards. you didn't mention if you will be paper punchin or varmint destroying with either rifle. or if you are shooting a custom gun or a factory gun. makes a difference.
also, with my howa 1500 factory rifle, i am getting groups with my 2 pet loads under .500 at 100 yards, and even with the sierra blitz kings, 39 grain bullets. i have a bullet jump in excess of over .100 in. i cannot get even close to the lands.

[xr10065669]

The two guns that i want to measure are a Ruger Mark II (i believe, its dads gun) with a bull barrel, its all factory. The second gun is a savage LRPV 204 thats all factory. I want them to be as accurate as possible, but will only be shooting prairie dogs with the two guns.

So should I just seat my bullets to 2.250 on the 204 and not worry about seating them to the lands? Will that work for the 22 250 as well?

I appreciate your help, this really helps new reloaders!

[Silverfox]

xr10065669--The OAL (seating depth) of 2.250" is a decent point at which to start your testing of loads. However, you will want to try to find the best OAL by varying that measurement to see what OAL works best in your rifle. Once you get the Hornady Lock and load gauge, etc., you can measure what the comparator length is to get the bullets touching the lands. I think, since both your .204 and your 22-250 are factory tubes, you find that futuretrades is spot on about how looooong the throats are in "most" factory rifles. He is also spot on with his comment that the .204 Ruger usually likes a bit of "jump" before the bullet hits the lands.

You didn't mention whether your Savage LRPV is the new repeater available in 2008 or if it is a single shot. If it is a repeater and you want to use the magazine, you will be limited in the overall length of your cartridge by the length of the magazine. The Ruger Mark II, you say your Dad has, sounds like it is the Target Gray??? Anyway, I'm assuming it is a repeater. Same story there for the 22-250, you will be limited in overall cartridge length by what will fit in the magazine. Once you settle on the bullet you want to use in those rifles, and find the powder that seems to work best, and the powder charge weight that gives you the best accuracy, you can play with the seating depths a bit.

The Maximum O.A.L. is a measurment that works in most rifles--that is it is a length that isn't so long that the bullet is jammed into the lands, which could be unsafe in some rifles. That O.A.L. is not necessarily the "ideal" length for maximum accuracy. You need to spend some time at the range to work up your best loads--powder-wise, bullet-wise, primer-wise, brass-wise, and O.A.L.-wise.

I have several 22-250 rifles. One of them, and old M77 Ruger with a sporter weight barrel likes lots of jump. The other, a Tikka Master Sporter, likes the bullets fairly close to the lands. I have been using the 40 gr. Nosler BT bullets in that rifle and the length of those reloads is so long they will not fit in the magazine. I have to shoot it as a single-shot. That hasn't cost me any coyotes and I have taken doubles with it using it as a single shot.

Here's my Stoney Point comparator and gauge in an old dial caliper to show you what that setup looks like when measuring the comparator length with the bullet solid into the lands. If you look real close at the upper left-hand corner of the photo, you can see the red colored end of the straight OAL gauge and the casing you see is a modified 22-250 casing screwed onto the straight OAL gauge. When I first started using the comparator, I used to zero the caliper, then install the comparator body and the insert. That meant my caliper was reading approximately 1.0045" before I placed the loaded cartridge in it. I finally decided to zero my caliper out AFTER installing the comparator body and insert so my measurements now give me the distance from the base of the casing to where the ogive of the bullet comes to rest in the comparator body insert. I also retired the dial caliper and use all digital calipers now.

[xr10065669]

Silverfox,

Thank you so much for your help, if it wasnt for you then i wouldnt be able to make it through these times when I am stuck!

Yes, the Ruger is a target gray model and is a repeater as well is the Savage 204. My Savage LRPV 22 250 is a single shot so I will be able to play with those a little more like you said since it does not have a magazine.

Thanks so much for explaing the OAL. I am new to the reloading, but found my load for the 22 250 and wondered if I could help the accuracy just a little more seating my bullets closer to the lands. The pictures you always post help tons. I plan on ordering my Lock N load guage tonight and picking it up at Midway tomorrow.

I will do lots of testing at the range and keep on trying different seating depths!