Is this not normal for casting?

[44Blam]

I don't use any length measurement, seat to what fits and works. As seating depth changes pressure, work up the load for a proper seated bullet. Any published load is just a hint to me. Too many variables. I don't have any molds with crimp grooves.

^^ this ^^
Quickloads is good for getting general hints on boolits with no official load data in various guns (various COL). I tend to use that and then see if the "predicted" velocities match the actual velocities and adjust from there.

[fredj338]

Most misunderstood aspect of reloading imo is COAL. It is 100% bullet & gun/barrel specific. Even your CBTO isnt going to work for all guns, magazine length comes into play too. Why data in any reloading manual is a guide, not a bible.

[Willie T]

So is loading to Custom CBTO's / COAL's not common for cast reloading or something? I'll get a pm on the FB or something and someone will ask about my load data and when tell them I don't use book COAL/ CBTO's ( really prefer cbto) 9/10 times they act like I'm crazy or something. I learned to reload from more the precision side of things , loading the best ammo you can for one rifle and it's individual characteristics ,instead of the just racking out blasting ammo so doing it like that has always just made sense to me so I do it with cast to but seems to be a strange concept. Why is that ?

Base to ogive is commonly used hand loading precision rifle ammunition. Overall length is often a more useful measurement for loading handgun ammunition. More boolits are cast for handgun ammunition than precision rifle. As a whole I find loaders who cast their own boolits to be among the most well rounded handloaders.

[charlie b]

I use both, kinda. .308Win bolt gun.

For cast I use a version of CBTO, but, I measure it with OAL. Why you many ask? My cast bullets are seated with a regular stem, which touches the bullet at the nose, not the ogive. I set them such that the nose portion is an interference fit in the bore and the first drive band engages the rifling. I can feel that as each round is chambered. So, why do I measure the OAL? To make sure the seating stem is still in the right position. I could measure to the first drive band instead, but, I find just minor differences in consistency between the drive band and nose measurements. Since I can frequently get MOA groups I am satisfied that this method is working.

Basically, if you seat with a stem that works on the nose, then measuring CBTO can be an exercise in frustration. You'd have to 'tweak' each bullet seat depth to get the CBTO the same.

Jacketed I use CBTO only. It works well since I use a Redding competition seating die that seats based on the ogive, not further up on the nose. I determine the proper seating depth by shooting a "ladder" to get the most accurate setting. And, yes, Berger bullets are not consistent lengths, at least not within a few thousandths. Hornady ELD-M's are more consistent in length than the Bergers. The 155 ELD-M's and 155 Bergers are both good for around 1/2MOA at 200yd and about MOA at 1000yd if I do my part (I suck at wind doping).

[justindad]

I pay attention to COAL length because I calculate the effect on case fill of the powder. Most of my boolits are absent from any load book, and boolit weight is neither a perfect nor complete indicator of what charge to use.

[Taterhead]

Fred makes a great point. I will also add this point. When it comes to pressure in handguns, it is the depth of the bullet base in the case that is important because that affects the volume under the bullet. Where the bullet tip is located is only relevant to magazine length.

Therefore unless loading an identical bullet, loading to book or copying factory COL specs is going to give a different depth of bullet base and therefore varying volumes under the bullet.

Each bullet and gun is a different story. Figure out what fits then workup loads.

[HumptyDumpty]

Sent from my motorola one 5G UW using Tapatalk

In light of that explanation, it seems that I have been using CBTO quite a bit. It always seemed to me that, if the round chambers and safely performs to my satisfaction, it really doesn't need to exactly match whatever reference material I am using.

[M-Tecs]

So is loading to Custom CBTO's / COAL's not common for cast reloading or something? I'll get a pm on the FB or something and someone will ask about my load data and when tell them I don't use book COAL/ CBTO's ( really prefer cbto) 9/10 times they act like I'm crazy or something. I learned to reload from more the precision side of things , loading the best ammo you can for one rifle and it's individual characteristics ,instead of the just racking out blasting ammo so doing it like that has always just made sense to me so I do it with cast to but seems to be a strange concept. Why is that ?

Reloaders come in all experience and knowledge levels. Application generally drives requirements. Things like cowboy action have very low accuracy requirement and most any ammo will do as long as it's safe. Long Range benchrest or F-Class requires the very best methods. Blaster ammo methods will not work for long range high level accuracy. On the other hand those techniques will not benefit the cowboy action shooters.

[Bigslug]

My father and I have conversations along this line.

We both went pretty far down the accuracy rabbit hole back when we were into Highpower Rifle competition, and did a whole lot of fiddling around with seating depth for best consistency on paper and over the chronograph.

But more times than once, it's bit us on the butt - usually with failures to chamber or failures to fit/feed from the magazine after developing performance single loading. Dad gets pretty fussy on his accuracy matters from time to time, but I've come to always start the conversation with "DOES THE DAMN GUN WORK???"

My Ruger Gunsite Scout .308 pretty much cured me of worrying about setting bullets some special distance off the lands. When I set the California Required non-lead bullet's (Barnes 130gr TTSX)ogives at Dad's preferred .005" off the lands, they simply don't fit in the magazine. Seated considerably farther back to where they do, it's still a half-MOA rifle. . .AND IT WORKS.

Ran into the chambering problems chasing throat offset with the .30-06 and the 311299 - - seated them to Lyman's book COAL and they went away.

Soooo. . .I'm pretty much at a point of making the gun function first with a cartridge shape the gun likes, then work the accuracy within those confines.