I had some old Nosler Solidbase Ballistic tip Boattail .308dia 165grn bullets and loaded them for my 30-06sprg. They were outstanding bullets. I went to my local reloading supply store and picked up the modern packaged version of this bullet called Nosler Ballistic tip Boattail Spitzer .306dia 165grn. The weight and design of them are the same as the old ones but they were longer by .020" +-.002". When I loaded them the same as the old ones I had to adjust the seating depth to compensate for the longer length to make my COL the same as the set with the old bullets. They were more difficult to get to the right depth because some of them wouldn't seat as deep and I had to set them aside and reset my Lee Loader to get them in tolerance with the others. All said and done when I chambered them (testing the fit) they are tighter in the chamber and some touch the lands. What's the deal? I like the old bullets better because they seemed to be more consistant. Haven't fired the new ones yet, yes the case lengths are the same ad the run of old bullets. I used the same loaddata for all bullets, I'm worried about these new ones, they require a little more umph to chamber in my bolt action than the run of old bullets.

When Nosler decided to drop the Solid Base in favor the the Ballistic Tip, I cleaned out every shop in the area buying every SB I could find. A year or two ago I was running low on the 27-130s, so I bought 300 of the new manufacture. They're shorter( base to ogive) then the originals. I don't have the measurements, but IIRC, they were in the .020" range shorter. I readjusted the seating depth to the .010 off I normally shoot them at. For the most part, they shot the same with the same powder/primer/case combination.

As far as how they worked, I took 4 whitetails with them out of a 270-308AI that season. My son used them(the 27s) out of a 270 Win. on two last season. They seamed to work as well as the originals.

Bill

hey bud, I think I have a box of them in my supply. If I do, I'll get to ya as soon as I can. I use the longer 308dia bullets in my 300 winmag.I'll let ya know Weds on the forum. Gotta go see the wife in the hospital tomorrow night. I think I have some other 308dia bullets you can have to practice with.byw, how was your trip. pm me ok? Dave

Hey Jeep, I've been trying to find out why there's a difference but I'm striking out on it. Here's a number that you can call, 1-800-223-8799. It's the Sierra bullet load tech. that answers questions on any make of bullet to include load data and loading tips and tricks. Good luck finding the problem.

You will find that bullets of the same make and style can change length slightly from batch to batch. They can also change ogive slightly, too.
Jeep, if the current batch of bullets chambers harder, they are likely touching the chamber throat, and you may need to seat them deeper.

I'll try seating them even deeper. Right now my COL is at 3.295-3.300 because they won't all load the same depth for some odd reason. Have to set those off to the side and reset my Lee Classic Loader and seat those odd ones by gently tapping them into place.

I don't load with anything but Hornaday rejects at the moment and they have varying lengths from over all bullet length, base to ogive and ogive to tip. I've found that with my loads using bullets from the same box, I'm getting 50, 100, 150 yard groups that vary only about +-.2 inches. I know this isn't really the same thing but I think that if you just were to seat the bullets a little deeper so that they chamber ok your loads wont have to change that much to get back to where you were before.

I'm gonna try seating them at 3.290-3.295 and try it out again. Just got me a new worktable that's proper for this stuff instead of TV dinner trays, I think that'll help. Well, it'll make my back feel better anyways.

A smart reloader works up a new load whenever major componetry changes.......

Here's to keeping all your digits intact......................

What you have ran into is actually somewhat normal.Most reloaders will use a overall measurment when seating bullets.Measuring from the ogive is a better meathod. The reason is because as the bullets are being made, the dies they are made in begin to ware. Therefor you have change in OAL when seating the bullet. The reason this happens is because your seating die seats the bullets into your case off of the ogive not the tip of the bullet. Therefor when you attemted to chamber the round, the ogive was more than likely touching the lands of the rifling.This is what was making it hard to close the bolt. I have also ran into this with Nosler bullets. I've seen as much as .030 difference. This mostly happens from batch to batch, but I've encountered boxes that had as many as three different ogive readings.On a good note to all of this, I've seen vary little difference in my groups on paper.My recomendation is to buy a tool that allows you to measure the ogive and go from there. I use a Sinclair Int. bullet seating tool that works great.

I figured that much. Thanks. I'll be working on fine tuning for my homemade OAL chamber gauge. That ought to help lots.

Dude....

One of the basic rules of Safe Reloading is work up a new load when components change.....

The old bullets are gone, the new one's are here to stay....do yerself a favor and start over.

Only move you got...........

Yeah I know, jus't don't want to think about it right now.

Regardless of the type bullet he is trying to seat they all should seat to the same depth[ assuming the same lot of bullets]. I would check the seater die. ed

Don't assume the box of bullets you've just bought all came from the same lot or production run. It does'nt always happen that way.

Start using a tool that reads the ogive and see for yourself. Nosler bullets are known for this.
Also don't assume that this difference is gonna show up on paper when you shoot them at the range.