O.A.L. Question

[adam3006]

Just curious as to what you guys use as an acceptable tolerance in overall length. This is for hunting ammo only. I have been using +/- 0.002. I have heard people talk about using +/- 0.005. I am using a Hornady bullet comparator on my calipers to try to measure lead tipped bullets more accurately. Thanks for the help.

[necchi]

I'm comfortable with it being within .005 of each other,, That would be  +/- 0.0025
 
If my caliper shows let's say 2.025 and the next is 2.020 they're keepers, If one is at 2.026 or 2.019
There's something I'm doing wrong and I need to find out what it is.
 
It's actually easy enough to push the high ones down so their all the same. When loading the actual for in field use hunting ammo I don't load any more than 10 rounds.
 
I worry more about runout/concentricity than a few thousands OAL.

[LanceR]

How precise your OAL dimension is from one cartridge to the next can be affected by the tip of a soft point bullet.  I use a lot of soft point spitzer nosed Sierra GameKing bullets and the tip of the soft point can vary a bit from bullet to bullet, especially if the box has been handled a lot.  This sure does not affect accuracy and the deer don't seem to notice but it can skew the OAL some if I measure to the point of the bullet.

For truly accurate measurement you would need to measure from the meplat which for most purposes may be kind of like pole vaulting over a mouse turd.

The max OAL is just that; the max OAL.  While there is some wiggle room in length for magazine fit and feeding clearances in a perfect situation there would be no plus to the dimension, only minus dimensions.

With that said if the possibility of any point distortion is accounted for I try to keep everything within 3-4 thousandths.

Lance

[JustaShooter]

LanceR, since adam3006 is using a bullet comparator the tip of the bullet isn't going to be a factor.

adam3006, I'm with necchi, +/- 0.005 seems a bit much but 0.005 total variance is likely fine unless you are into competitive / bench rest target shooting, in which case you are doing it wrong anyway since you are using lead tipped bullets... 

Just a Shooter