Measuring length to the lands in your rifle. 

FINALLY!!! A guy that knows what he's talking about! I'm lazy and stopped removing the firing pin. I just take my dummy rounds (no primer, powder of course) and use the Hornady comparator tool to just barely touch the lands. Took that data and worked up/down my seating depth from there. Took awhile, but hey, target shooting is just fun even if my shots were MOA+! Now I shoot MOA- @ 100 yards out to 600!!! I'm happy!🙂 And yes, you will have to do the whole process over every time you use a different lot of even the same bullet and especially if you go to a different brand and type. Reloading for me is relaxing but it's not for everyone. Helps if you're OCD!!🤫

I know this is an old video but it’s a good one. This is the only way I check my lands measurements. Glad your spreading great knowledge.

Hi Gregg, thanks for sharing your knowledge. When I get a new barrel , I clean it very good. There’s usually a good bit of machinists oil, etc when they ship it. After it is clean I use my thumbnail to find where I can pull the bullet out without any resistance. The 1st time you try this it will freak you out on how easy you can identify 5 thou in, 10 thou in, just kissing the lands & when you are completely off the lands. I only do this with a new bbl. It’s not practical to if you are wanting to track the lands through the life of the barrel. The method you demonstrated is very good, but as in everything it has to be practiced in order to find the repeatability you should desire. Also, don’t underestimate the OAL gauge. With enough experience you can become very good at getting consistent repeatable measurements. It does take thinking about what you are doing & doing it for a long period of time. *** Greg you once offered to turn some brass for me free on your IDOD. I declined because of the volume that was involved & did it slow , but steady with my K&M set. Viewers, this is a man with a lot of knowledge & I hope the story about the brass demonstrates his willingness to share & help. Thanks & God Bless.

Excellent video! I also like the fact that you mentioned that this is simply measuring the distance to the lands and you will still need to determine the best seating depth for YOUR particular rifle/load workup.

Excellent video very well spoken and informative!

Another thing to note is this needs to be done for EVERY different bullet that you plan to use in that rifle.

The system I use is to seat a flat base bullet nose down into a fired resized case and use that as the index for my distance to the lands. When I want to work out the OAL for a new bullet, I press it firmly nose first into the muzzle of my rifle then twist it to scribe a line in the jacket. With a caliper it is then a simple matter to determine the seating depth relative to the ogive.

Great video will follow the steps.

Perfect, not have to buy modified cases to measure is another saving I can make after buying the primal rights primer seater👍

Great video, i'm going to really try that, and it came out like you wanted, thanks,

Thanks for the great video. I have used both the Hornaday comaparator , and the progressive shoulder bump to achieve the tightest resize with the easy bolt drop. Your method for determining the ogive to land is basically the same method. this will save me money by not having to buy the specialty tools. Thanks for the instructions, will be putting this to use in the new year, as I have some Barnes 80 grn ttsx that require a little jump!

Thanks

That’s a really good idea. I have been using the Hornady tool and I measure 5 times over three bullets from the same lot. Then I take an average and set back. Your way is way more precise! I guess my only question is how often do you re check your marked bullet as your lands start to wear. I assume this would be different based on caliber or your groups starting to open up? I don’t typically chase my lands

Hi! I really want to follow your method, but Browning just told me today to not disassemble the ejector plunger on my x-bolt long rifle (the pin must be factory set). Is there any advice without removing the ejector plunger with a fire-formed brass (300 win mag)? Thinking about your method, after the plunger is reinstalled, it will naturally push the brass forward, so there is risk of pushing the bullet into the lands after all "was" configured to offset the lands by let's say 10 thousanths. Thoughts?

I follow this method and fireform 100 pieces of brass with plunger out and play with seating depths while foreforming…just to get an idea of where the bullets might like to sit. Question: After I reinstall my plunger on my fireformed brass will it now change the bullet to lands distance i just sought out?

I do my measuring fairly similar but i don't remove the firing pin and plunger. By removing those parts and doing your measuring once you put the guts back into your bolt does that not change your measurement as to how far your bullet is to the lands?

My question is, why would we want to remove the ejector spring tension? Under normal use that spring tension would be there behind the round and force the round back into the lands however much thousandths! Not getting an accurate reading when we're seating off the lands. Am I wrong or just over thinking the process?

I have a Fuzion action on the way. But the handle on yours looks different compared to the photos I've seen. Did they change the handle at some point?

Fairly new to reloading. I’ve been setting bullets 10 thousandths off the lands with the afore mentioned non accurate method. If I do this process with a fired and resized cartridge, 10 thousandths off the lands is where you should start to not have any pressure issues?

I find always measuse the lenght og barrle from where it meets the receiver not by inserting a rod to meet the bolt face Tjis allpws for no margin of error and you will have a much safer measurement

What tool did you use to remove the ejector?

If i have a tight neck chamber and my brass gives me a small amount of resistance, what would you recommend in that situation?

What would be the solution if the empty case with no bullet does not allow the bolt handle to close freely and provides resistance. I am using Lapua brass, FL sizing, and trimmed to 2.005.

When I get my 7mm PRC Primal next year, and I come down there to train with you, to set up dies and fireform the brass, would we be creating this dummy cartridge first using the false shoulder case we create? Would we be fireforming the cases with the bullets at .010" off the lands?

Thanks for the awesome video. I have been using this method for a while now with great success. I know your a avid desert tech guy so here is my question to you. I have an SRS and use this method but only feel for the lands on closing the bolt. I do this for the SRS because it seems like their bolt mechanism acts different than traditional rifles. Also with the SRS it seems very black and White where the lands are because the bolt will either close or not and it’s very obvious. Have you tried this on the SRS and do you have any helpful comments?Thanks again.

How would I do this with a single shot Encore rifle ?

Is there any caliber or bullet that this shouldn't be done with? I would assume different bullet weights would require the process be repeated for each?

Hello, is the TS customs QA knob no longer available?

What about the method where you put a bit of thread locker in a fired case with a bullet. Neck tension is loose enough to where you aren't jamming ogive into lands that hard. Then insert into chamber (no bolt) and let the lands gently push the bullet into case. Thread locker hardens and you can then remove round and measure. No need for going back and forth with seating.

Great video will follow the steps.