Minimum OAL in 30-06 problem.

[hanleyfan]

The rifle I am loading for is a American ruger in 30-06, The cast boolits are from a NOE 311041 180gr. FN mold, sized to .311 with a lee sizer die, when I loaded a dummy round to find OAL I found in order for the rifle to chamber a round I had to seat the bullet to AOL of 2.960, that well below what my manual states as min. length of 3.001 for a lead 180 bullet. I tried seating to 3.001 and the bolt would not close at all. I did chamber the empty brass without a boolit and it chamber no problem, so I know it is not the brass. My question is it safe to shoot these at this length or not.

[Green Monster]

Have you tried casting the chamber and getting an accurate measurement? Also have you tried sizing the bullet down to .309 to see if it chambers?

[williamwaco]

The correct OAL is the length that will fit in your magazine and feed flawlessly through the action as you cycle the bolt.

[fishhawk]

And another way of saying it is the ogive of the boolit determines the OAL.

[Dusty Bannister]

Lyman cast bullet handbook, 4th edition shows the Lyman 311041 at .309 as being seated to 2.968.
Your NOE 311041 at .311 requires seating to 2.960?

Buy the manual, get the correct data, which is based on the alloy and diameters stated to generate the data. As always, start low and work your way up to accuracy or max load in the book.

[Blammer]

the oh jive? what is it? how do you pronounce it?

you've just opened a
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/canoworms_zps5a75769f.jpg (http://s54.photobucket.com/user/blammer8mm/media/canoworms_zps5a75769f.jpg.html)

[Wayne Smith]

As long as you are shooting normal cast boolit loads don't worry. You will have a small charge in a big case and the projection of the base of the boolit won't make a tad of difference - very unlike the hot pistol loads where very little boolit movement into the case can have big consequences.

You also have no worries if the boolit actually is engraved into the rifling - I shoot my 30-30's that way all the time.

We tend to have a problem when we preach principles to not specificy which cartridge we are preaching about.

[jsizemore]

the oh jive? what is it? how do you pronounce it?

you've just opened a
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/blammer8mm/canoworms_zps5a75769f.jpg (http://s54.photobucket.com/user/blammer8mm/media/canoworms_zps5a75769f.jpg.html)

Oh jive talk. Isn't that an Australian slang phrase?

[Dusty Bannister]

The comment about the manual results from the fact that the concern about hitting a certain OAL is for a "generic' 180 grain cast bullet. And since the specific bullet is shown, and the OP seems to be very inexperienced in determining the OAL, simply by using a cleaning rod and a sharp pen, it seemed a good idea to show him he was very close to correct in his OAL.

With in excess of 100 posts, I would think that the OP is aware of variables in chambers and mold cavities, but might be incorrect in that too.

I suspect that there is a "sticky" on how to determine the OAL by using a cleaning rod, cast bullet of the size intended, and the specific firearm being loaded. But it seldom is mentioned. And I think he was asking if it was safe to shoot at this length or not.

I agree with Blammer in his comment.

[Dusty Bannister]

I think you are validating what I said about being close to the correct OAL for that specific bullet and the concern is needless. I do agree that the OP might be new to cast bullet reloading. If you noticed, my comment verifies that he is close to what other have found to be the correct OAL with that style bullet. And using the data shown in the book would be closer to correct than whatever data is shown for the "Generic" 180 grain cast bullet.

He was asking if it was safe to shoot at that length or not. I think I did answer the question. And based it upon published data, not a reference to "Joe Blow" as you commented.

I do agree that it is always better to determine the fit for the specific bullet to the specific fire arm.
Do you think that bringing the range of bullets from 90 grains to 245 grains just might have muddy the waters a bit too much when he was clearly speaking to the OAL of the 180 grain bullet? Dusty