Question on setting a die??

So I loaded my first batch last night.. It was easier than I thought.. But it took about 3 or 4 bullets to get the die set to seat the bullet at the correct dept.. I was loading 6mm Rem.. The book says the lenght should be 2.825... Well the first one I did measured 2.746.. Then I moved the die up and did another one and it was a little closer.. Finally got it to the correct lenght.. But I have a couple of questions.. Is that first bullet set to far in to shoot????? Or is the length given in the book the max lenght??? Because I noticed the factory rounds are not that long either..

Im sure a better reloader than I will chime in, but 3-4 to set your dies isnt bad. THe first bullet may not be as accurate, but as long as the load isnt compressed it should be ok to shoot. THe length in the book is probably what got the bullet to seat in the lands of the rifle they tested. Alot of time your more accurate rounds will be seated much farther out than factory.

I reccomend loading as bullets that contact the lands unless it is a really load load then it needs alittle space. Also make sure they will load in the magazine because some of these heavy vld bullets will be too long for the mag.

The book gives us an average length so to speak. I have a .223 bolt gun that I load for and those rounds are too long to even fit in an AR 15 magazine. I like for the bullet to be almost touching the rifeling in my 700 Remington but for an AR I want them seated to spec so they function in any automatic, got Mini 14's that share the same ammo. You should be good to go but if you want the OAL to be longer use a bullet puller to pull the bullet part of the way out and then re-seat.

J.B.