Seating Below the Neck

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  • Last Post 07 May 2025
Rich/WIS posted this 06 May 2025

Have been loading the 311291 for my 03A3 and Ruger 30/40 with out needing to seat below the neck. However my latest acquisition, a Ruger Hawkeye in 30/06, has a short throat and to get the bolt to close need to seat deeper. Seated to chamber the gas check and part of the first lube groove are below the neck. Is this a no-no or am I worrying about nothing.

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pat i posted this 06 May 2025

Won't know until you shoot it.

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linoww posted this 06 May 2025

The only problem you will have if you decide to pull a bullet The gas check is gonna stay and there sometimes... The only other issue you can run into is when the gas check is larger diameter than the bullet body  when it goes past the neck.Sometimes your neck tension ends up being a bit loose.

Shoot it, it will either worke or It won't as said above.

"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!

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Glenn R. Latham posted this 06 May 2025

With mild, typical CB loads it's not a problem.  I shot my '06 that way for years and did very well, set a few records.

Glenn

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delmarskid posted this 06 May 2025

I have yet to find it to be a problem.

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Wilderness posted this 06 May 2025

Rich - I recall that Richard Lee had a demonstration of the evils of seating below the neck including gas cutting on the lower part of the bullet. I think he was loading Unique or similar.

My experience has been less profound.

I have been loading a 1.025" bullet seated to COL 2.500" in .30-30, so the base has definitely been down in the powder. Loads have included 32 gns Varget, 33 & 34 gns 748, and 32-34 gns LVR, so all full power but slow powders for the cartridge.

I have seen no evidence of gas cutting on recovered bullets, but then they start at .312" and squeeze down to .308", so the evidence may have been covered up. These are sized down #U321297HP .32 Special bullets, 170 gns as cast (16 BHN).

Out of concern for the Richard Lee effect, for a couple of years I loaded with Precision Spherical Buffer on top of the powder. It was there to take up the space, but I hoped it might protect the bases as well. PSB is like white plastic ball powder, intended for packing in buckshot charges. Later I compared 100 metre groups that had been shot with and without PSB, five x 5 shot groups of each with 32 gns 2208/Varget and 1.5 gns PSB. Group/velocity/SD for the loads with PSB averaged 2.00"/2174 fps/12, and without PSB 1.96"/2168 fps/12. Resoundingly NIL effect.

My 2.500 COL is what I thought I needed to ensure reliable feeding in my Savage 99. I have also tried seating well into the rifling, in part to address the exposed bullet base issue, but mainly to check for any effect on velocity (a little lower as it happens). The new normal with LVR powder and a less protected range is 2.7" average group size for 5 shots at 100 meters. Group with COL 2.640" (.080" engagement) was 3.41" (4 in 1.76"). With COL 2.575" (.015" engagement) the group was 1.38"/1.32". I'm not concluding anything from just two groups, but I have loaded 100 cartridges with COL 2.530" to evaluate feeding in the field. Bases are still below the neck, but mostly covered by the gas check.

Edit: For my Savage, COL 2.500 will put the bullet .150" into the powder space. Of this, .090" is gas check, leaving .060" unprotected.

As regards pulling these cast bullets I have had no problems with gas checks coming off. Sizing down from .322" to .312" gives the gas checks a pretty good grip on the bullets, but pulling technique may help also. For a start, I use a Forster collet puller (inertia puller may encourage bullet to separate from the lighter gas check). I have noted that with some or most bullet lubes the cast bullet will get a grip on the case neck after as little as a few days. Before pulling I nudge the bullet with the bullet seater until the bond cracks. After that I pull. And I reuse my bullets.

I would imagine that powder burn rate, or at least how soon the pressure curve goes up, might have some bearing on the matter also - e.g. Unique versus the slower rifle powders. With the slow powders, the bullet might be clear of the danger zone before the pressure is enough to cause damage to the bullet.

The same could be speculated for that part of the chamber neck not covered by case neck (up to .125" in my old Marlin, .070" to .090" in my Savage depending on case length). I have so far not been able to show an effect for this either.

You are only as good as your library.

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Rich/WIS posted this 07 May 2025

Will give it a try and see how I do.  Not a target shooter, just enjoy casting and shooting my own bullets. Don't know if the Hawkeye is capable of MOA, pretty sure I'm not.  Thank you all for your help.

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MarkinEllensburg posted this 07 May 2025

Will give it a try and see how I do.  Not a target shooter, just enjoy casting and shooting my own bullets. Don't know if the Hawkeye is capable of MOA, pretty sure I'm not.  Thank you all for your help.

I hope you are as happy with yours as I am with mine. Although mine is a .308 it is an amazing shooter. The day I earned a ten shot screamer award shot a .375" 4 shot group at 100 yards. In warmup, only had 4 rounds to spend... For a lightweight carbine I call that spectacular results.

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