Some comments to several questions;
When I set up a cartridge for a new rifle. I set the OAL by the magazine box and then check the rounds for feeding to ensure they are not binding on the lands. As long as I have clearance to the lands and the front of the magazine box, I am ok with it.
NOTE: I have never, ever, measured distance to lands. Couldn't care less what it is.
After I begin load development, I fine tune the loads and seating at the same time as I set up a chronograph to shoot groups similtaneously.
I place high emphasis on rifle set up which means that bedding, barrel clearance, trigger, scope mounts, rings, scope, action lock up and screw tensions are important contributors in generating consistency in the grouping.
As far as factory ammo goes, It is rare for me to use it unless it is provided with test rifles. I use a little of it with self defence handguns but hand load for hunting guns, all.
The reason you will find accuracy better with premium loads is the same reason Clapton uses single amps today instead of multiple stacks and heads of 40 years ago. Quality Control is better today.
Powder is more uniform, bullets are weighted more accurately, concentricty issues have improved immensely and all the components are better evaluated prior to making up this ammo.
I would always expect even plain non premium ammo to outshoot older ammo from decades past, even when shot in the same rifles for this reason.
As a writer, I have a collection of dies that remain set up for my press so that eliminates a lot of intial set up issues and also provides uniform loads to what I have experienced in previous reviews, with the same chamberings. This helps a lot.
So does working with powders, It is rare for me to be seen with a reloading manual when I am working with a new rifle as my way is to determine what the rifle likes, not what any manual says I should use. It is common for me to spend 6-8 hours at the bench reloading and shooting groups to wring out a rifle and learn what it likes and what its accuracy potential is.
Some conponents known to work well help with this process.
I remember a .30/06 Featherweight I bought back in '93. I layed out the 4 in stock on the counter and bought the prettiest one, as I can change everything except the fence grade stock grain. I like pretty wood.
When I took the rifle to the range, I loaded 130gn Speer HP's over 58 grains of AR 2208 which is VARGET. The rifle puched 5 shots into .9MOA so I went home and set up the rile to shoot properly so I could extract the postential from the barrel.
This means bedding the action in Devcon Steel in 2 points, the recoil lug area and the tang. The trigger was lightened (too light, many think) and the barrel free floated and the barrel channel sealed.
I mounted dual dovetail Leupold mounts and scoped it with a 2-7 Leupold and went back to the range to do some serious load development.
That same rifle is a genuine .5 MOA rifle for 3 shots with an astonishing array of loads because all the potential areas of stress in the lock up have been eliminated. The scope has been changed several times.
The bottom line is that it is one hell of a .30/06 and a real keeper.
There are many, many, points to making rifles perform but for now, I need to get some work done.
ooroo,
JW
