rtracy2001
12-05-2012, 12:35 AM
So according to theory, the writers of the reloading manuals use a deliberately short COL to accomodate rifles whose magazine wells are shorter than the standard 30-06 size. As a result of this shorter COL, the bullet or boolit bust be seated deeper effectively reducing case capacity and possibly raising pressures as compared to bullets not seated as deep.
My reloading manual list the MAX COL for the 8mm-06 as 3.228" and for the 30-06 it lists the MAX COL as 3.340" which seems to support this theory.
Well I checked tonight by loading up a dummy round, and I found that my rifle's magazine well was perfectly happy feeding cartridges as long as 3.375" with room to spare (any longer and the bullet fell out of the case). The rifle is an early to mid WWII german M98 (all milled parts with good fit and finish, so not a last ditch rifle, but the date is covered by the scope mount). Slugging the bore confirmed that this was made out of the 8x57JS rifle, not the smaller (.318") bore. I intend to take this girl elk hunting next year as it should be a fun gun to shoot. (Hope to load cast if I can get things set up :bigsmyl2: )
If I seat to the longer COL, are the max loads listed in the manual still true max loads, or will I actually have some extra margin with the longer COL? (please note that I intend to watch pressure signs very closely regardless of what the reloading manual says, so this is as much theoretical as practical at this point.) Also, this may be a moot point since max accuracy may be found well before max loads anyway.
My reloading manual list the MAX COL for the 8mm-06 as 3.228" and for the 30-06 it lists the MAX COL as 3.340" which seems to support this theory.
Well I checked tonight by loading up a dummy round, and I found that my rifle's magazine well was perfectly happy feeding cartridges as long as 3.375" with room to spare (any longer and the bullet fell out of the case). The rifle is an early to mid WWII german M98 (all milled parts with good fit and finish, so not a last ditch rifle, but the date is covered by the scope mount). Slugging the bore confirmed that this was made out of the 8x57JS rifle, not the smaller (.318") bore. I intend to take this girl elk hunting next year as it should be a fun gun to shoot. (Hope to load cast if I can get things set up :bigsmyl2: )
If I seat to the longer COL, are the max loads listed in the manual still true max loads, or will I actually have some extra margin with the longer COL? (please note that I intend to watch pressure signs very closely regardless of what the reloading manual says, so this is as much theoretical as practical at this point.) Also, this may be a moot point since max accuracy may be found well before max loads anyway.