This is a question for Mark Hoffman regarding his article on reloading in the Jan/Feb 2008 issue (“How To 101,” page 16). It is about using a rod to measure the OVL of a cartridge. It worked OK for my 300 and my 6.5, but it did not work for my .25-06. I have a Browning A-Bolt, using Nosler 110 Accubonds. The Nosler book said maximum OVL is 3.250, I reloaded at 3.225. The rod measuring said it should be 3.063, that is a huge difference. Any ideas what went wrong? Hope to hear from you.
Bob Hannah Interesting question as out of the many rifles for which I have established overall cartridge lengths, I have yet to encounter a similar situation. You are absolutely correct that the discrepancy you identified is significant. But the question remains why. Is it possible that the rod tip is slipping by the tip of this particular bullet? If so, then it would give an incorrect measurement of it being a shorter chamber than it really is? However, if your measurements are consistent and correct, then the chamber on that particular rifle may well have been chambered on the shorter side. As you are aware, despite every manufacturer's best efforts no two chambers are absolutely the same. Which leads me to a number of questions. Are you seeing any land marks on the 110 Nosler Accubonds when they are chambered and then removed for inspection? Have you noticed any difficulty in chambering these cartridges or are you getting any pressure signs when they are fired and last, how is the accuracy? The reason I ask is that if you are not noticing any landmarks on the bullets of the extracted cartridges, or noticing any difficulty in chambering or pressure levels remain at safe levels and your accuracy is fine, you may well be OK to proceed. But to be on the safe side, you may want to purchase an Overall Cartridge Length gauge and measure it again.

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