Bullet Seating Question

[jethunter]

I have seated long bullets in bottleneck rifle cases with the bullet shank protruding below the neck into the case / powder space and never thought anything of it. In most cases this would be .01 to .02 inch. Last night an acquaintance said he thinks this is a dangerous practise but couldn't tell me why. I do it with NOE 247gr Whisper boolit in 30-06.

I understand that case capacity is reduced when a bullet is seated with the shank protruding past the neck into the case body, and i adjust powder charge accordingly. I don't see this practise as being inherently dangerous. Am I missing something?

[NSB]

You're not missing a thing. Lots of bullets sit below the neck in bottle neck cartridges. There are also lots of loads in all the manuals that are for compressed powder charges. If the load's in a book, it's safe to use...with the caveat that you always start below max and work your way up. I'd listen to the people who write the loading manuals rather than an unsubstantiated opinion of an acquaintance.

[jethunter]

several thoughts (1) keep bullet lube out of the powder so as to not contaminate it (2) high pressure loads with boolit base below the neck may cause riveting of the boolit base (3) with slip-on GCs the GCs may come off when you don't want them to

good points

I'd expect that the pressure exerted on the sides of the bullet shank would prevent riveting but it's certainly worth consideration.

[jethunter]

You're not missing a thing. Lots of bullets sit below the neck in bottle neck cartridges. There are also lots of loads in all the manuals that are for compressed powder charges. If the load's in a book, it's safe to use...with the caveat that you always start below max and work your way up. I'd listen to the people who write the loading manuals rather than an unsubstantiated opinion of an acquaintance.

That about sums up my thoughts on the subject as well. Quite a few of my loads aren't found in manuals but i understand exactly what you mean.