How do I find my chamber length w/o using a chamber length gauge?

[Russell0331]

Remington 700 5R in .308

I just tried the old school method of barely seating a bullet (in a dummy case) and attempting to chamber it. I was able to close my bolt with little effort and the COAL was 2.932. I progressively increased my seating depth and found that at 2.833 I was able to very easily able to close my bolt. Did I do it right? Would I be creating an unsafe round loading .033 over spec? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Springfield 1911]

Actually the longer you set the less pressure is created in the case. Have you noticed any markings on the bullet or any setback? Most chambers are very deep on most rifles. You can never go wrong leaving it long is a good old saying.

 

[Russell0331]

No, I didn't notice any. I even lightly polished the bullet with steel wool. Do Remingtons have any free bore?

 

[Clearance_Clarence]

Remington is known to have a mile and a half of leade in them and if you load to mag length you will probably never hit the rifling with a bullet.

Find a jump tolerant bullet such as the Sierra 2156 and you will be good to go. Our if you really want to load into the lands and grooves then have the barrel set back and rechambered so you can load to mag length.

 

[Springfield 1911]

As long as the bullet is staying in the case I don't see where you would have a problem. Just for accuracy's sake make sure the bullet has enough gripping surface in the case especially if you are just using a collet die because they just move the brass just enough. The Remington's I had and have do like a little longer seating. Hope this helps you.

 

[Russell0331]

I just want to preserve my throat. The gun is plenty accurate and I've got some good loads for it, I just want to extend its life.

 

[Clearance_Clarence]

I just want to preserve my throat. The gun is plenty accurate and I've got some good loads for it, I just want to extend its life.

Shooting 308 your barrel life is probably 5 to 8 thousand........

It's not like you are loading a screaming 243 where barrel life is about 12 to 1500 rounds. But barrels are like bullets.....they are expendable.

 

[Bear44]

BE CAREFUL!!!!!!!!!!!

If the bullet is in the lands it will increase the chamber pressure.....SHARPLY!

Take the longest load you made and use a black Sharpie to color the bullet. Chamber it, eject it and look for marks made by the lands. If you see them, the COAL is to long. Any nitro solvent will easily clean the ink off the bullet.

 

[Russell0331]

Clarence-I just read up on those 155 SMK's. Sounds like they're the real deal, how has your success been with them? How would you compare their performance with the 168 SMK's?

 

[Clearance_Clarence]

Clarence-I just read up on those 155 SMK's. Sounds like they're the real deal, how has your success been with them? How would you compare their performance with the 168 SMK's?

I shoot the older 155's, the 2155.

That is a 5, yes 5 shot group out of my sps tactical that I have for sale on here shot at 200 yards at Creekside Firing Range with witnesses that were on the spring scope for me.

That recipe is near max load, but I never saw any pressure signs during work up and probably could push them harder if I wanted to buy didn't.