SmallCaliberCentral

Okay....just measured to the lands in my howa 1500, 204 using the hornady oal guage and bullet comparator. I'm coming up with 2.083 using a 40 gr. berger. Does this sound like it would be in the ballpark??? When I figure out OAL, I take my bullet measurement from tip to tip (undersanding that this can vary)...I got .682. The length to the bullet ogive was .314. So, to get an overall case length of 2.451, I took the difference b/t the ogive and overall bullet lenth and added it to the 2.083. Is this the correct way to determine OAL?

I don't have the time to calculate measurements and compare but........

Lets make it simpler. Using your Hornady oal guage set the bullet to the lands. Remove the comparator from your calipers and measure the COL. Thats your COL to the lands with that particular bullet. As you said it will vary slightly with different bullets from the same lot.

The comparator is more accurate of course and variations should be around .001 after seating with your die.
Personally I never rezero my caliper as the instructions dictate. I see no reason to bother. Its an arbitrary number simply for my notes.

I had a Howa 1500 in .204, I'm surprised that you can get it anywhere near the lands.

The only way I can get to the lands in any of my three 204's, is with my custom M700 that I had a reamer specifically ground for to actually reach the lands. No factory 204 Ruger has a throat cut with a SAMMI reamer that allows the bullet to reach the lands; most will have a substantial jump around .100" or thereabouts......looooong.

If you can touch the lands in a factory 204 Ruger, better check to see if the bullet is still in the case!

My measurement of 2.083 was to the bullet ogvie (using comparator). My overall case length needed to get to the lands was 2.4 and change...which, in my opinion, would not leave near enough bullet in the case. Therefore, I understand that I won't be able to get close to the lands....just looking to see if my math was close as I'm new to reloading or if what I'm saying makes sense.

well you confused the $hit outa me. all i know is that i checked the oal on my howa 1500 in 204 with a 32gr. hornady vmax. if i went to the lands i only have about .030 of the bullet in the case. the way i seat this bullet now leaves me with about .125 jump to the lands, and will shoot under 1/2 in at a hundred yds. with a 39gr blitz king, i am a little closer to the lands, but i have to load one round at a time because the shells will not fit into the mag box. even with this bullet, i am calculating a jump of better than .085. and with this load i can group under 1/2 in at a hundred. in other words go with what works for the gun and bullet, and don't worry about getting close to the lands. the 204 seems to like a longer bullet jump than a lot of other cartridges.

by the way, i have a little over .200 of the bullet in the neck.

My OAL length is 2.387. This shoots very good in my gun and fits in the Mag.
If I were to go all the way to the lands it would be 2.407