I Need Lotsa Advice from Reloading Aficianados

[David S]

Hello,

As the old-timers here already know, I am a relative newbie in the precision rifle world. I’ve been reloading since last summer, have managed to figure out many things (especially with the help of the Hide), but also have come up against many more things that I still don’t understand. Accordingly, I’m writing to make a public plea for advice from the experts on here regarding some eight points about which I remain ignorant:

1. What is the average of how much less powder one should use when touching the lands? Iv’e always started all my tests at 0.010” off the lands, so I don’t want to just jam the lands with the same charge and maybe get nicknamed “Stumpy.”
2. Do I need a shoulder bump in my cartridges for a .260 Ackley Improved, or does the 40[SUP]o[/SUP] angle make that moot?
3. Assuming I do need a bump, how important is full metal-to-metal contact for the die and shell holder? I’m using a Redding Big Boss II press, and that thing has no discernible play in it, so I'm inclined not to worry.
4. I'm shooting a .260 Ackley Improved rifle with a 26.5" Broughton 5C barrel, using 140g 6.5mm Sierra MatchKings. When using RL15 I found my most accurate charges at 40.5-41g, seating 0.010" off the lands. I'm looking to try RL22 tomorrow. Does anyone know what the maximum and minimum charges should be for RL22? I'm also interested in the same data for RL17, as I plan to try that, too.
5. What is the wisdom or foolishness of using RL22 for my caliber? An old-timer I know of swears by the stuff, but he’s also running a custom bullet, so I’m unsure of myself here.
6. If RL22 is foolish in my case, what other RLs likely would be better for me?
7. Is it strange that I encounter no POI shift when firing from a clean, cold bore? That’s something that has really surprised me.
8. I’m using a MagnetoSpeed for brass sorting. Since that chronometer gets physically attached to the barrel, should I assume it is slightly affecting my accuracy? Or, if I hit accuracy problems, should I assume the culprit is elsewhere?

Sorry for the bazillion-and-eight questions--I'm still finding my way. Thanks much for any informed advice.

Yours,

David

 

[oldfatguy]

There is a sticky here about working up to the max powder charge for a particular load/rifle combination that recommends seating bullets jammed. That way when you start to see high pressure indications you are really seeing the worst case, so with a jump, there will be less pressure with the same amount of powder.

OFG