I have been loading for my new to me Remington 700 .30-06 with Hornady SST 165gr, 57grs of IMR 4350 set to a COL of 3.250.

My shots at the range just aren’t good enough. They spread out more randomly than I would like; 3 to 4 inch groups at 100 yards.
So, I got one of Hornadys' COL gauges, set the dummy shell with the SST bullet and touched the lands 10 times. Averaged that and it came to 3.387.
Now minus .010 the OAL would be 3.377. I know the reloading manuals call for a Max COL of 3.340. But my understanding is to set the COL to YOUR rifle.

I made up a round (no charge or primer) and set the depth of the SST bullet to 3.377. It fits the magazine and cycles in and out of the chamber with no stress. The bullet is seating .420 into the throat of the shell and I understand that it should always go a least the depth of the dia. of the bullet. In this case .308.

With the round cycling ok I think I could increase the charge to around max. Somewhere in the neighborhood +/- 59 grs and still not experience over pressure.

Am I nuts or does this sound like it will be alright?
Thanks for any feedback.

In developing your load, did you do OCW process - Optimum Charge Weight? Here is a post on this process.

www.huntingnut.com/ind...hlight=ocw

Also, I've helped a friend improve the accuracy of his Rem 700.

www.huntingnut.com/ind...ht=rem+700

Thanks, I will study that OCW.
Does my COL of 3.377 sound right?

Try the OCW method and I'm betting you can find an accurate load. I'm almost convinced that with OCW you can find an accurate load with any reasonable OAL. If the OAL of 3.377" feeds well then give it a try.

Rob...I agree with the others mate.

By all means load a couple at 3.377 (but NOT with a maximum charge...back it off a bit) and see how it shoots. Have a read of the OCW process and give it a go...nothing to loose and everything to gain mate. I went through the process with my .243 and I was surprised how easy it is to find that sweet load.

Cheers, Vince

robd wrote:

Does my COL of 3.377 sound right?

When developing a load, find your optimum powder weight first. Then adjust seating depth to fine tune for best accuracy. I usually start .025 off the lands for OCW then go .015 forward and aft. There should be no issue with you starting .010 off the lands and working back in .010 or .015 increments. I've seen some saying that they have found sweet spots .100 off the lands. This is not uncommon with Barnes all-copper bullets which need more of a jump before they engage the rifling. I've always found it beneficial to adjusting seating depth for optimization.

Thank you Gentlemen. I am starting to study the OCW today and will begin from there with a moderate COL.

What i did when developing loads for my 700, I took an unprimed cartridge and lightly seated bullet and chambered it. When closing the bolt, it pushed the bullet to the max COL of my gun. From there, I was able to develop my loads.

as long as it 1.)fits in the mag well and 2.)feeds and 3.)stays off the lands thats your deminsional constraints. now just start adjusting your charges with your available propellant as per what the ocw dictates. usually if you have the luxury of shooting over a chronograph a particular velocity will be found most effective and duplicating that velocity w another propellant is a good place to start if you have to switch powders.

Thanks folks.
Yes, this is a new to me gun and I was shooting factory COL loads.

I went out today after loading a few rounds each at a selected depth setting for 3 rounds, 3 sets. "3.375, 3.365, 3.355" Found a sweet spot and will now start working on a good powder load by using the OCW method.
At least now I am on paper with a decent grouping. Something to work with.

The sweet spot was 57 grs of IMR 430 seated at 3.375.

Thank you for all your feedback.

Hornady 165gr SST (one of the shorter 165's) is 1.125 in length, with a case trim length of 2.484 you would have .359 of bullet in the case with an OAL of 3.250 and .234 of bullet in the case with an OAL of 3.375

I wouldn't worry too much about how much bullet your putting in the case unless you run into consistency issues with velocity.


OCW is a great load development tool.......if you read the links Slim posted and follow the directions I'm sure you'll end up a happy hunter nut !!!