Well I finally burned through the last of my Nosler 180gr Ballistic tips in my Remington 700 VLS. Had been loading 20 thousands off the lands, but given the short magazine it turned the gun into a single shot. Switching to lighter 168gr. projectiles, so this weekend I checked the measurements. With 168gr. Hornady A-max (you know the old melting tip Hornadys ) and I got 2.960" OAL to the lands. Started seating it deeper until the bullet would clear magazine well, and got 2.810" OAL.

150 thousands seems like an excessive bullet jump. Am wondering what others have experienced? Should I stick to single feeding to keep the jump minimal, or just load to fit the magazine?

If forced to, I'd guess the shorter jump would benefit the Amax.

Fortunately, it can be tested easily enough. Shooting stuff is fun And whether the accuracy difference, if any, matters to you is yours to decide.

Wish i could reach the lands in my own 50 yr old Rem 700 BDL. Saying it has a chamber like an old whore would be an insult to old whores everywhere. Having it re-barreled this year. And I'll just let that comment sit

Are you bench rest shooting JMHO but folks make to much out of bullet jump and seating just of the lands. If it is a high tech expensive competition rifle and you are shooting for 1 hole shots and get money and trophies well OK then.

So many other variables at play for most shooters that a hair off the lands makes little difference,


What brass is it, Lapua all weighed and measured exactly?
Are you primer pockets uniformed and flash holes perfect?

Match Primers?

How are your bullets all weighed the same?

Concentric is all perfect?

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Still Running Against the Wind

If I have a gun with a magazine I would sure want to use it. I'd try the shorter C.O.A.L. If there is any significant change in accuracy you might want to stay single shot. But if they shoot ok, hey, you've got a 'new' magazine fed rifle.

It pretty much depends on the type of shooting you want to accomplish. Hunting, no big deal. Long range target shooting, different animal.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I have two rifles on 700 actions (neither with Remington barrels). One is 22 BR and the other is 6 x 284. I load both for single fed shots and touch the lands (just touch, not a hard jamb). The 22 Br with 50 grain poly tipped bullets at 3700-3800 fps groups 3 shots better than .125" (at 100 yds.) or less for 5 shots and the 6x286 with 70 grain polys groups less than 2.0 inches at 600 yds. on calm days. Since "Only accurate rifles are interesting" using them as single shots has been interesting!

My Savage 10 BAS is in 308 and I use the Sierra Palma 155 at 2900 fps loaded to fit the Accuracy International magazines. It routinely shoots less than .125" groups (5 shot). With the A-Max 168, The first 20 shots after zeroing the scope were in a single group that was .067 (also fit in the magazines.

My recommendation would be to load to the fullest potential of the rifle's accuracy, and shoot the gun accordingly.

No matter what, this is about having fun! Ivan

I agree with rw
you're a handloader
try both loads
get the facts as they pertain to your gun
and then decide which way you load the roller



I would definitely want to have the best load I could get with mag feeding
and then, since you have an interest in single shot'ing it for possible better accuracy.....try a few seated longer

either way, I'd bet the job gets done!

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I'd like to agree with you BUT

OAL comes in four sizes for me...............in rifle ammo.

1. Fac dup so my friends can use it.............

2. Just long enough to fit inside a factory paper ammo box of 20....
but this can be too long for some of my friends rifles !!

3. Maximum length for my magazine to feed properly

4. Max OAL for my accuracy loads with minimum jump.........
stored in 50 to 100 count plastic ammo boxes.

The "V-Max" style bullets are so pointy, that they can go a long way into the barrel before they hit the lands.
I have a 22-250 55gr Nosler VB tip that is a compressed load due to its length.

30 Cal. 150 to 165gr can be worked with due to the bullet length of 1.02" to 1.18" where the 180 can be around 1.26 to 1.38" in length.
I like the FMJ 150gr at 1.125" for out to 400-500 yards in good weather........
the 165 plus for winter or light winds and the 170 plus for way out there......................................

In the old days when I had good eye sight I did 1,000 yards with iron sights and rear peep sight with a 200gr Sierra B/T #2165.....
now I need a sight to hit paper or Iron.

Accuracy? I pull the trigger and holler "Fore!"

I have an old American Rifleman article on the 308 with weights from 110 up to 200grs.

Load S-17 has the 165gr Sierra HPBT (.3079" dia. ) with a OAL of 2.71".

3031 powder at 2673 fps and the pressure was at 47,260 CUP.

I think the standard OAL for the 308 is 2.80" +/- ...............

Years ago I had a Winchester model 100 semi-auto but a long OAL was not possible with this rifle and its magazine. It was a fun rifle, put deer on the table but being young, I sold it for a bolt action Winchester 270.
Lots of good stuff was printed about this super load and Jack O'Conner was my hero......besides Lee Wolfe.

The left picture or over hand roll roll is correct. All others need not apply!

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Still Running Against the Wind

If those "Poly" tip bullets work out for you, great.........

if not, you might try the old school Sierra #2200 but you might have to look around a little to locate them or find a lower price.

41.5grs of either 4895 or 4064 was a good starting load for me.

Also worked in the 1903 but that's another story.
Good shooting.

Well I just have 1 box of these 168gr. AMAX bullets from Hornady. Next up will either be Hornady's 168gr. Match BTHP, or Nosler's 168gr. Custom Competition. Both in-stock--aka on my bench.