Thread: How far in is enough?

Originally Posted by Stimpy

Hi folks,

Bit of a noob question here but thought I would ask the council of wise chiefs before I potentially do something I shouldn’t..

Have got a T3X in 22-250 that I have started reloading for.
I tried several different charges of AR2206H with 50gr Sierra blitzking projectiles, lit by a WLR primer. All loads were at the Sammi recommended max length of 2.350. I found reasonable but not great groups at 34.5gr (0.6moa) and 36.5gr (0.8moa). I was aiming for 0.5moa so wanted to try messing with OAL to tighten the groups a bit.
I measured the chamber with the Hornady OAL gauge at 2.490. It seems that a good place to start is 20thou off the lands which would mean the OAL is 2.470. Mag length is no issue, almost 1/2 inch spare.
My question is the projectile is only seated in the case 150thou, compared with 270thou when seated to the book max length, is that enough? Neck tension seemed good when seating and concentricity is under 1thou.
Thought I would ask in case I’m doing something dumb.. Cheers

Greetings Stimpy,
One calibre or 0.22 inches in your case. You can go a bit below this but I would not go below 0.20 inches (5mm). Others may differ. Test it and see.
Regards Grandpamac.