Hornady OAL Gauge

[RSBrown]

So I bought both the bolt and semi (angled) versions and have tested for measurement on my rifles. The thing is, unless I am doing it wrong, is that the measurement to the ogive will give me a round that is .12x over the described OAL in all of my load manuals. Branes TTSX 165, Hornady 150 FMJBT and Sierra 150 Gamekings, all over OAL in my manuals.

Took up to 10 measurements on each .308 bullet and all came in over OAL. Is this to be expected or am I doing something wrong?

 

[Dieseltech]

I’m having trouble following your wording. You have what looks like a few auto corrects in there making it hard to follow your question/ results

 

[Dieseltech]

Are you saying you are getting results of 120 thousands over max oal in the manual?

 

[Remmy]

Your guns must have long throats in them. It is a good tool to have and it is accurate if used correctly.
And it's according if your bullets have a secant ogive or tangent ogive.
For instance if I measure a Berger VLD the OAL of that bullet will be long.

 

[Twitch2120]

the only reason to stay under book OAL is to fit in magazines. If you can feed them longer then the CBTO measurements will be your working numbers. My 308 boltgun loads are .11 over book max OAL. My mags will allow for .15 over

 

[RSBrown]

the only reason to stay under book OAL is to fit in magazines. If you can feed them longer then the CBTO measurements will be your working numbers. My 308 boltgun loads are .11 over book max OAL. My mags will allow for .15 over

Sorry about my description / wording, I was multi tasking and in a bit of a rush

Thanks Twitch - Both my bolt and semi are magazine fed. It looks like we have similar results.

Dieseltech - yes

 

[Dieseltech]

Yes as others have said book col is for Sammi spec ammo that will feed reliably from magazines. You may find your particular gun will be more accurate with a col longer then will feed from a magazine as well. My savage bolt gun likes a long oal to the point where it won’t feed reliably from the magazine anymore. This comes down to preference as the shooter. Are you willing to sacrifice a little bit of accuracy to still be able to mag feed? Or are you ok with a single shot tack driver?

 

[manland1]

Your guns must have long throats in them. It is a good tool to have and it is accurate if used correctly.
And it's according if your bullets have a secant ogive or tangent ogive.
For instance if I measure a Berger VLD the OAL of that bullet will be long.

For those that are wondering......
What is the difference between a Secant, Tangent, and Hybrid Ogive?
A Tangent Ogive (like our standard BTs) is less sensitive to seating depth but has more drag and a lower BC than a Secant Ogive of the same length.

A Secant Ogive (like our standard VLDS) has a higher BC and lower drag than a traditional Tangent Ogive but can be quite sensitive to seating depth.

A Hybrid Ogive blends the best aspects of the tangent and secant nose shapes into one Ogive. It starts at the bearing surface with a tangent section that will align itself more effectively when the bullet contacts the rifling. Beyond this section, the shape transitions into a secant section which is proven to be more effective in the wind. The result is a high BC bullet that is easier to tune.

For more information on our designs, please visit: https://bergerbullets.com/information/line-and-designs/

 

[RSBrown]

I wish I would have paid more attention to high school geometry, but this is fascinating stuff