Reloading for 600 and 1000 yards

[Drifter]

Drifter: I did not arrive at an OAL by any particular process. I simply loaded a test round into a mag and seated the bullet out as far as I could. It was obviously too far out because the bullets were pretty far into the lands. I figured that out when I had a failure to fire and the round was a bitch to extract. The bullet was bound into the lands. I had to tap on my charging handle with a screwdriver handle to extract the round. Not good. I will seat the next batch to 2.250 and give that a try. Between my hot loads and the added pressure created by the bullet lodged into the lands, I am glad I didn't break my lugs, etc.

I suggest starting over with load work-ups using 8208 with the 123gr Amax. If all previous loads were jamming the lands, I'm just not sure that the previous results are indicative of anything conclusive. You would be best served to check maximum COL with each bullet in your chamber, but you might be okay at 2.245 to 2.250. With the same bullet, 27.7gr of 8208 has been a safe and accurate load in a variety of barrels for me. Good luck going forward.