OAL question

[bigmike82]

So I'm loading up a batch of .300 Win Mag, and the min OAL is supposed to be 3.340 inches. This crushes powder inside the case.

How much longer can I get and have it feed reliably? Is that something that depends on the weapon?

It doesn't crush the powder much at 3.5625. These are 200 gr. SMKs.

[Ugly Dwarf]

"the min OAL is supposed to be 3.340 inches"

I'm guessing you mean MAX?

It's a gun by gun thing... Sometimes it's determined by how long a cartridge will fit in your magazine. Sometimes it's determined by how far out the bullet can be seated before it touches the rifling when chambered.

I tend to run my COL long on my .223 and .300 Wby bolt guns, as they tend to shoot better the less jump the bullet has to make to the rifling. I have to go with the stated max COL for .223 that I run in auto loaders, as that's all the magazine will allow.

This is something I've had to play with to find what works best for each gun.

Remember that seating bullets long can (will) change the pressures and you should re-work up any loads you're using.

If you're running into compressed load issues at your maximum COL, you may want to consider a different powder that will not over fill the case... or you could use reduced charges.

[bigmike82]

Nope. The manual says "min OAL" is 3.340. The max is...3.362, I think?

[Ugly Dwarf]

Hmmm... we must be looking at different books. According to Lyman (#47), max COL for the .300 Win Mag is 3.340.

[bigmike82]

Yeah...I'm realizing that Lee has a funny way of saying things sometimes.

The column is labelled as Min OAL, though most of the data has 3.340 as a value. There's one that's above (3.35) and a few below.

Hmm.

[Beelzy]

Have you been trickling the powder into the cases??

A must if you are working with compressed loads.

[bigmike82]

What do you mean by trickling...?

[Beelzy]

There is a tool for reloading called a Powder Trickler that allows you to
dispense small amounts of powder at a time into a case. Usually used to add
the last few grains into a case but you could use it for a full loading.

Another method (less expensive), is to make a drop tube for the powder
measure. Then you can tap the case as the powder flows down the tube.
It is less messy than tapping a case while its under the measure.

[bigmike82]

I tapped the case before I seated the bullets to settle the powder.

Someone brought up that I'm probobly using the wrong powder for my loads. Need to step down to Reloader 22 it looks like.

[Splinter]

I would buy a few more books, and read read read. You are already walking down a dangerous road.

[tankerman]

I would buy a few more books, and read read read. You are already walking down a dangerous road.

Why is he "walking down a dangerous road" as you say.

Compressed loads are common.
Full cases burn better.
Max OAL is determined by the particular gun and the bullets used.

[diginit]

I've never reloaded the 300 win mag. and I'm not an expert yet. Maybe next year....or the year after. But why are you loading to the min oal? Did you make any dummy rounds to check the chambering and max mag capacity? It depends on the rifle. Please don't get me wrong. I'm hoping to learn something from the future answers to this post too. Is the 300 win mag designed to be a compressed charge? That's a heavy load and a breech failure would be a catastrophic. One heck of a way to get a free, instant facelift. Just guessing, But I think a powder change may be the right thing in this case also. Am I correct in these assumptions? Someone out there must know for certain.
C'mon guys, help this calgunner out.

[Splinter]

Why is he "walking down a dangerous road" as you say.

Compressed loads are common.
Full cases burn better.
Max OAL is determined by the particular gun and the bullets used.

He is walking down a dangerous road because he is not even following the books advice already. He wants to push the envelope, and it sounds like he is just starting out. Max OAL is determined by the gun. He is asking people that dont have said gun what his OAL should be. That can only be determined first hand. Full cases sometimes do burn better. Yet, many guns best accuracy is reached at less than max loads.
Always work up a load
Always follow the books advice when starting out, read 4 books if something seems strange
Use correct OAL when starting out
On a large cartridge like his, with a max power load, a long OAL could cause massive chamber pressures. Not a good idea to try to "get away with it"
This is what the books all say, and what was drilled into my head.

[bigmike82]

I'm not even using max loads though. I'm several grains below max.

I've also reduced all my loads to the proper OAL. It compressed it a little bit, but not too badly. I emptied a few cases yesterday to verify my powder weights with a digital scale I just got, and it wasn't crushed much at all.

"But I think a powder change may be the right thing in this case also. Am I correct in these assumptions? Someone out there must know for certain. "
Yeah. I'm moving down to RL22 once I'm done with my current batch of RL25.

[mecam]

I've also reduced all my loads to the proper OAL. It compressed it a little bit, but not too badly. I emptied a few cases yesterday to verify my powder weights with a digital scale I just got, and it wasn't crushed much at all.

I've shot over 3000+ compressed loads and no problems. I've compressed my loads as much as 1/4".