This wasn't done because Remington had a wild hair. It was done because the guys at Remington found that they needed more than -.004 to have sufficient crush on factory cartridges. The reason for this might have been some variation in shoulder angle on a particular lot of factory ammo (Remember, all ammunition is made to be within certain tolerances. The distance to the juncture of neck and shoulder is not necessarily precise. It is the measurment to the datum line which is precise).
Ackley made mistakes too. Careful study of his drawings and dimensions will reveal this. GD
