When I seat the projectile to the recommended COL, the bullet jams HARD into the lands of the rifling and pushed the bullet down into the case. If I seat the bullet deep enough that the projectile just barely touches the lands, the gas check and first lube band are well inside the cartridge.
To check if I measured the bore and chamber wrong, I recast it with Cerosafe. The bore is still .287, which is the diameter of the bullet. The shape of the bullet is just to bulky on the nose. If it was more pointed, it might work. The jacketed rounds that came with the original Winchester cartridges taper in sharply, but they are .284. Buffalo Arms sells .287 jacketed 7mm projectiles that are tapered to the nose, and I am thinking I might check those out.
I have asked the make if he'll let me return the whole batch for just 5 lighter and narrower bullets to see if they work. The ones I bought are 160 grain. I have asked if the 146 grain bullets are a little shorter and might fit.
But, I wanted to ask. Does anyone shoot sillouette matches? Are Jacketed rounds legal? I know ASSRA doesn't even allow gas checks. However, I wanted to try sillouette shooting, and I wanted to see if I can use jacketed rounds. If so, I may just live with the Buffalo Arms bullet if it is accurate.
Or, should I try throating out the rifling to fit these bore rider lead bullets? I looked at a number of moulds and they all seem to have the same profile, sort of a bluntish spitzer. What do you all thing?
