bullet seating depth

[30063030223357]

Would like some opinions here. I have a marlin xs7 in 7mm-08 and can't seat the bullet ( a 139 gr. sst ) out far enough to touch the lands. Not even close ( long throat ). Should i seat the bullet just to fit the magazine, or seat to the cannelure and give it a crimp. I don't think it will make any difference in accuracy, but wanted some other opinions. Thanks

[spinafish]

I would seat to the cannelure and crimp.  You will be assured that the ammo will fit the magazine and will feed easily to the chamber. 

[stimpylu32]

I would seat to the cannelure and crimp.  You will be assured that the ammo will fit the magazine and will feed easily to the chamber.

+1 , That's about all you can do at this point , if you try to seat out to just fit the mag, you may cause an issue were some of the bullets want to move out under recoil and become a problem with feeding ( Too Long )
 
stimpy

[Larry L]

I don't crimp anything I don't absolutely have to. Crimping can bring all kinds of issues to the accuracy of the round. The brass must be the exact same length, even with a taper crimp die, to get even and consistent pressure all the way around the brass. You can crimp too much putting a waist on the bullet is another crimp issue. In a 7/08 bolt gun, you don't need to crimp. I'd set the bullet out as far as possible and not have any issues with the mag. Or just seat until you've hit max length as specified in the loading data for that bullet.

[Cheesehead]

When not restricted by magazine length or throat length, I extend the bullet out no further than the width of the bore caliber. In this example I would seat the bullet .284 inches into the brass at minimum.

Cheese

[kynardsj]

Was wondering about the crimp thing myself. I've never crimped rounds for a bolt gun. The rounds you load need to fit the mag and cycle properly otherwise you may end up loading them one at a time into the barrel. Kinda defeats the purpose of a bolt gun with a mag.

[wncchester]

Seating depth, or more properly jump to the lands, does affect accuracy but seating at the lands for sporting rifles is vastly over rated, that's a BR  technique and it doesn't always work for them.   You have an excellant hunting rifle, don't sweat about target accuracy to shrink groups a  few thousants.  When loading for factory sporting rifles start by seating short enough for your ammo to feed and experiment with powder to find your best charge.  THEN experiment with seating by moving back in 5 or 10 thou steps until you find the best jump for your rig and that charge.  That may range from 30 thou off the lands to as far as four times that much.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[fastchicken]

I have found that all my rifles like to be .030-.050 off the lands, I got pretty bad groups any closer. Like mentioned already, at least a caliber deep, that's my starting point. I've experimented with crimp vs no crimp and some shot better, some didn't, but not enough to worry about. I only crimp for my 30-30, I just don't like working the brass any more than I have too.
I've also done the crimp with at cannulure vs crimping with no cannelure and could not tell any difference. The seating depth had a greater effect on accuracy than if it was crimped at a cannelure or not. So I'd crimp if it makes you feel better, but I'd find a seating depth that works for you, than try checking to see if crimping makes a difference.  Some guys will tell you not to crimp without a cannelure because it "deforms" the bullet, but what is a cannelure? A deformation in the bullet , it's just done by you at the bench and not at the factory.

[SHOOTALL]

I like the crimp so if it shoots well crimped in the groove that's great. If it does not then try seating where the base of the bullet is flush with the bottom of the neck. That often works well . As for longer if it fits the mag , will eject a loaded round and has enough bullet seated to not move under recoil or loading then you should be fine. My 25-06 likes to just kiss the rifling my 30-06 does not with BT bullets. with partitions the 25-06 won't shoot well with the bullet touching the rifling . Lesson is play around with seating to see where your gun shoots and works the best. I wish all were the same it would make loading simple .

[drdougrx]

I've been using the lee crimp die on most centerfire rifle handloads.  I just lightly crip so that I can get consistant neck tension and bullet run-out (at least that's what I've read)...probably not worth the effort.  Seating depth in many of my riflres is determined by magazine length unfortunately.

[SHOOTALL]

probly is worth the effort since when you get all rounds as close to the same the better.