Loading to the lands question

[sladenotdead]

I am very new to reloading, I have made several loads to see which works best in my rifle, but have yet to test them. I am going off suggestions in the reloading book, using their powder charges, oal, bullet and whatnot. I have read a lot on this website about loading to the lands, or just off the lands, and I am not sure what this means or how to do it, or how you know when you're at the lands. Please help me understand this concept, as I want to have the most accurate and the safest loads possible. I am loading .223 for a YHM AR build that I did last year, 16 inch barrel, 1x9 twist.

This is an example load I did, 21.6gr of h335, OAL 2.200 +/- 0.004, 55gr Hornady SP w/c. Now, after testing that loading how do I know if I need to go closer to, farther from the lands, and how would I go about doing it?

Don't feel bad about schooling me, I have accepted that I know very litttle about this subject, and that is why I'm asking, so please everyone, throw any suggestions and all of your knowledge at me.

Oh and one more thing. I also worked some loads to be tested that are Hornady 55gr Vmax bullets with the cannelure, but when I seated to the suggested OAL from the Hornady manual, the rim isn't really close to the Cannelure, so isn't that kind of pointless to have the cannelure if the case isn't near it when seated to the suggested OAL? I don't want to seat it deeper the the cannelure because it is so significant. Once again, thanks.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Loading to the lands is mostly done by Benchrest shooters and really can't be done in a semi-auto rifle with a magazine. In some cases when loading just off the lands your round will be considerably longer than the SAAMI Max and will be too long to fit in the magazine. Even if it does fit you really won't see any advantage in a semi-auto rifle.

For the most part if the bullet has a cannelure it's best to use it. The bullet manufacturer has determined that is probably the best place to load that bullet. You don't have to seat the bullet at the cannelure but when you do, if you are using a bullet specifically meant for that caliber you won't have to worry about the slightly different OAL than is listed in the book. The only worry would be if you were at the Max powder charge and you shorten the round considerably. That could cause an overpressure problem.

The OAL listed in a manual is not set in stone. They are only reporting the OAL they used in developing the data. Unless you are using the same exact bullet and brass they used the OAL is pointless except for a reference. (this is all IMO of course)

 

[USSR]

^^^^^ Yep, not a reloading method to be used with autoloading rifles.

Don

 

[Galil5.56]

I am very new to reloading, I have made several loads to see which works best in my rifle, but have yet to test them. I am going off suggestions in the reloading book, using their powder charges, oal, bullet and whatnot. I have read a lot on this website about loading to the lands, or just off the lands, and I am not sure what this means or how to do it, or how you know when you're at the lands. Please help me understand this concept, as I want to have the most accurate and the safest loads possible. I am loading .223 for a YHM AR build that I did last year, 16 inch barrel, 1x9 twist.

This is an example load I did, 21.6gr of h335, OAL 2.200 +/- 0.004, 55gr Hornady SP w/c. Now, after testing that loading how do I know if I need to go closer to, farther from the lands, and how would I go about doing it?

Don't feel bad about schooling me, I have accepted that I know very litttle about this subject, and that is why I'm asking, so please everyone, throw any suggestions and all of your knowledge at me.

Oh and one more thing. I also worked some loads to be tested that are Hornady 55gr Vmax bullets with the cannelure, but when I seated to the suggested OAL from the Hornady manual, the rim isn't really close to the Cannelure, so isn't that kind of pointless to have the cannelure if the case isn't near it when seated to the suggested OAL? I don't want to seat it deeper the the cannelure because it is so significant. Once again, thanks.

To add a little more to the dialogue for those who may not know, but there are differences in chamber dims from 5.56 vs .223 Rem, as this AR15.com drawing shows:

How much "Off the lands" will vary a lot by which chamber the same ammo is used in.

 

[gamestalker]

I'm likely the guilty one being that I'm always addressing high powered rifle bullet seating in the manner. Yes, this is a safe and effective method of finding a good OAL for a cartridge/bullet combination, but not for auto loading firearms. Sorry about that chief!

 

[sladenotdead]

So the lands thing is something I'll worry about and try to do when I start reloading for my rem700 30-06? Thanks for all the clarification.

 

[rikman]

Yup. You need some tools for this. I bought Hornady's OAL gauge and brass case for caliber you're loading. All about $40. The brass case head has been drilled out. You screw it on the OAL gauge. Put your bullet on it. Insert into chamber. Loosen a screw and push the wire forward until you feel the bullet and then it stops, lock the screw. ***important to tap bullet out*** measure bullet on OAL gauge and that's. Your chamber length. Usually- .030" is a safe place to start. There's a nice video on this on ultimate Reloader .com

 

[kingmt]

The special tools that I use is a fired case from a low pressure round or a sized case that I've seated a bullet in then pulled. I seat the bullet long in the empty case then chamber it. After I've used the chamber to finish seating the bullet I measure COL with a caliper, seat the bullet another thousandth, & mark the bullet with a Sharpy. I chamber it & look for marks on the bullet from the rifleings & repeat until there is no sign of contact. I then measure COL & seat another 15-20 thousandths deeper.

I now have my special tool to set my seating die. I make one for each bullet I use.

To repeat everyone else:
I wouldn't try this on a auto.