reloading 30-06 , max shell leanth is suppose to be 3.340, doesn,t seem right. found an old milatary round and it,s 3.160. is there a minamum that there are suppose to be?

Welcome.

First of all what gr and what type and what manufacturers bullet are you loading?

The data you have is correct. 3.340 max coal is the standard. Military rounds are often loaded shorter as are fed into semi auto and full auto weapons where hair splitting accuracy is not as important as making sure the rounds keep feeding even if the weapon starts getting hot . As for any minimum spec there is no published minimum but there are some rules to keep you from finding out the hard way what doesnt work. The point on any bullet where it starts to taper from the load bearing surface is called the ogive. On a 30 calibre jacketed bullet this would be where the bullet starts to taper down from .308 ... this ogive line should never as a rule be seated below the mouth of the case. Bullets that are seated extremely deep but meet the ogive criteria just mentioned can also tend to ( but not always ) lead to accuracy problems due to extreme bullet jump distance when fired before the bullet actually actually contacts the riflings. On smaller bullets for calibre such as 110 grains for a 30-06 it is recommended to have no less than whatever 35% of the bullet diameter equals out to be seated into the necks of the cases for a good seal in the case , my personal minimum is 50% to get consistant ignition on a given load and again a personal preference is to use a Lee factory crimp die on these loads to insure uniform performance. Hope this helps. 10 SPOT

Gidday Bramon...welcome aboard mate...grab a beer and pull up a stump.

When you say max shell length...are you talking about a loaded round, or an empty case?

Here are some .30-06 specifications maximum case length 2.494", maximum COL 3.34".

Cheers, Vince

useing sierra 165 gr hpbt only about 1/3 of the bullet is seated

Ah-ha...Same bullet I use in my Browning A-bolt. Sierra 165 grain BTHP. My OAL is 3.230. This seats them about .005 from the lands of my chamber.

Did you get your "complimentary" beer? And did you get a comfortable stump to sit on? Are you close enough to the fire to stay warm and still hear all the wild stories? GOOD!! Welcome to our camp.

Thanks Bushy, that was my point. I seat the 180 gr bullets I use in my 30-06 at 3.300.

thanks for the help. got a comfortable seat wishing i had beer ,

Glad we are on the same page there 1895zzzzz. I seat my 180 grain Sierra BTSP to 3.325.

Well damn!! Need a beer? Talk to Vince. He's the "Beermeister" here.

Welcome to Hunting Nut !!!


Yes........SAAMI list specs for minimum and maximum OAL

30-06 Springfield
Min-2.940
Max-3.340

Bushmaster wrote:

Glad we are on the same page there 1895zzzzz. I seat my 180 grain Sierra BTSP to 3.325. Well damn!! Need a beer? Talk to Vince. He's the "Beermeister" here.

Bushy, You like them Sierra bullets don't you?

Once I have used a sierra bullet and never since. I used 117 gr SBT Gameking Sierra bullets once in my 25-06 and shot an Antelope at 300 yrds and it ran off like I had missed. From where I shot it I could could see it running for about a mile and then lost sight of it. Being a sportsman I checked where it was when I shot and couldn't find any sign of blood so I walked to where I had last seen it and there it was about 100 yrds away dead. I had hit it right through both lungs and missed the heart by fractions. The damage to the lungs was minimal and the bullet stopped at the ribs on the far side, no exit. After that I pulled all the game kings and loaded 117 gr BTSP or 120 gr HP Hornady and have never had a problem taking down Mule Deer, Whitetails or Antelope.

bramon wrote:

thanks for the help. got a comfortable seat wishing i had beer ,

Damn...is the Esky empty again...no problems...will fix. Hey Slim...you hookin' into the suds again mate... No problems...just let me know when stocks are runnin' low mate.

Cheers, Vince

This is an interesting topic. When I use a dummy round to figure the max col in my .30-06 it is 3.449. No why can I load a round into the magizine at that length. I have found 3.367 to be the sweet spot for my rifle with 56gr of IMR 4350. So do the math and you'll see I am quite a bit of the riflings, but shot a 200 yard MOA today. I think I will stick with that now.

And then you have my 80 yard shot at a mule deer with a Sierra 180 grain BTSP that stopped it in its tracks. I guess it ran about 10 yards and collapsed. I DID take out both lungs and blew the heart to smitherenes.

Actually 1895ss. One can not predict just what each individual bullet will do.

Bushmaster wrote:

Actually 1895ss. One can not predict just what each individual bullet will do.

This is true...