My Lee manual says the M.O.L. is 3.34, but that seems to press the 190gr Berger VLD too far into the case, does the Sierra manual show anything different?
Thanks

Same for Sierra. 3.340" is the basic OAL for th 300WM. If you're chamber and magazine can take it being a little longer then seat it farther out. The Bergers with thier longer profile will look wierd at 3.340. I load my 210 VLDs to 3.450" and they work fine but make sure to check and see what will work in your rifle.

Don't have Sierra manual but Accurate 2003 Reloaders guide:
Sierra 168gr HPBT OAL = 3.475"
Sierra 180gr SBT OAL = 3.450"
Sierra 200gr HPBT OAL = 3.340"

It does look a little funny set at 3.34" I wonder if there is any free bore.

I just tried 3.39" and it seems to chamber correctly.

It all depends on your particular chamber/barrel.
VLD's are very long, and typcially need to be seated out a bit, usually just off the lands, and some, possibly touching or into the lands. Each rifle is different.
Make sure as you experiment with seating depths though, you carefully watch pressure signs with the changes.
And a lot of times, a VLD won't work in the magazine. I know all of my properly built VLD loads have to be single loaded because of the OAL.

The 300WM is the only caliber I've loaded the VLDs in but I can tell you that in my rifle they can be loaded to magazine length and are very accurate at that length. Schmidt get a Stoney Point guage or another guage of the same style and use it to figure where your rounds max OAL is in your chamber. Then set it back until it fits in the magazine, if it's a tactical rifle, or until it's as accurate as you want it, if it's a bench gun.

I just ordered a OAL gauge from Stoney Point and a modified 300WM case to go with it. I assume you use the bullet of your choice with it? I guess I'll have to wait and read the instructions

I have a different guage but I'm assuming that they will run about the same when it comes to the bullet. You should use the bullet you are planning to shoot as each type/weight bullet will have a different ogive and the OAL with the guage will be different. If you'e shooting 190 VLDs then use the 190 VLD for the guage measurement. If you change bullets down the road then use the different bullet to remeasure for it's OAL.

Anoter and cheaper way to figure out the max oal of the bullet you are going to use is:
Cover the treaded end of your cleaning rod, so that it is flat in that end, insert the rod into the barrel from the mussle end, with the bolt closed, make sure the bolt is cocked, so that the firing pin is not sticking out of the bolt.
With the rod all the way down the barrel, toutching the closed bolt, take a thin pen, and make a mark on the rod where it stics out of the barrel.
Take the bolt out of the rifle, and insert the bullet you are going to use, use a long pencil, or somthing similar to hold the bullet against the lands, put the rod into the barrel again, and make a new mark on the rod.
Take the rod out, and measure the distance between the two marks, and you will have the max oal for your gun, with that bullet.
It is wery important that the treaded end of the rod is covered in sutch a way, that the tip of the bullet could not enter.

Most factory chambers have a mutch longer troat than the spec, if your magazine allows, you can set the bullet to the troat you got on your rifle, and by that usualy increase the volume of your case, by this, the pressure will drop, and you can use more powder, and increase the velocity, work your way up 0,5 grs at the time, until you get the speed ya wants, closely looking for pressure signs on the way.

Newer set the bullet so far out of the case, that the grip on the bullet is less than the caliber.

On a hunting rifle, or a weapond intended for seriuos use, allow at least 1mm freefloat for the bulet before it toutch the lands on the loaded round.

Thanks for the info, ever been to northern Norway? I was in Tromso in 1984, nice looking country, the hunting must be awesome.

Spendt some time up there in uniform, and yes hunting is good!

I was part of Teamwork 84, a large NATO excercise held just off the coast of Tromso. We were some of the few to see Red Cell in action, oops did I say that?

I think I hear DEMO-DlCK knocking at your door Rubin...



and he does not look happy.

Awesome, he can sign my Rogue Warrior paperback series

I'm sure he'd love to do that for ya...