Pretty sure there's an issue here. :-) I wish I could figure out which FB group I originally found this in, just to see what kind of advice he is getting. The details as copied and pasted: "41.3 gr RL16 Lapua brass Small rifle primers Remington bench rest primer left CCI 450 mag on right. "
Lapua recommends using CCI450 primers, but obviously Reloader16 is not the way to go.
The above is the PSA, now onto random stuff.
My 6.5 Creedmoor is at my local gun dealer, waiting to go to a machinist. While vetting my newest scope, I discovered that when zeroed, there was only 1.4 mils of windage to the left available. That's not going to work too well beyond 700-800 yards with 10mph winds, according to JBM Ballistics. I don't know if the screw holes in the action are not parallel to the bore, or if the scope rail is the culprit, but the machinist guarantees that the steel Nightforce builder's 20 MOA pic rail will be cut to size, milled, and mounted parallel to the bore next week. Rings will be Badger and steel, also.
My IOR scope is on the way to Val-then probably Romania, as the vertical tracking is off. I wish they had produced a better Owner's Manual. Only on the website do they tell you about not letting the set screws on the turrets fall out. :-(
I'm glad I listened to Rex and started vetting my equipment.
There's a new Board of Directors at my gun club, one of whom is considering starting a night shoot to rid the area of some coyotes. Night vision, here I come! Maybe. :-)
Our 500 yard range may be open before long, giving me a chance to stretch out a bit.
My wife claims that I'm addicted. Just because she constantly hears something from the 101 series or podcasts in the background while I'm napping. :-D!
I'd be checking my scale. Something is off there. Every time I sit down to measure powder I re-calibrate my scale with check weights. Then again, I tried IMR4955 in my '06 and got pressure signs WELL before the "book" said I should have.
When my rifle was at the gunsmith for barrel installation, I decided to have him install a Badger 20MOA rail with the #8 screws. Turned out to be a good call as he told me the factory screw holes were off a bit. He located them off the centerline of the bore and drilled the new holes on a mill. That way the original holes had no bearing on the new holes. This is likely common knowledge to many here but I certainly learned something new that day. He must've done it right because I had to make almost no windage adjustment on the new scope when I zeroed it. Never would have occurred to me to question the factory holes.
I'm nowhere near my reloading manuals and am too lazy at the moment to look up the relative burn rates between Reloader16 and H43650 or the charge weights recommended for R16.
I did ten rounds from 42.0 to 43.0 in .10 grain increments using Lapua brass, CCI 450 primers, and H4350 with 130g Hornady ELD Match bullets and didn't see anything like those primers pictured.
I still haven't found the page where I got the pic to see what other variables there might have been that played a role. I know that Lapua says to use the CCI primer, but the guy I mention later has used a diffent one and had not problems.
I too, didn't think about the screw holes being out of whack, until I consulted a guy who knows a heck of a lot more than me.
The original holes are supposed to be #8s. I'll find out next week when I get the rifle back what the problem was. It's almost enough to make one want to buy a custom action, almost.
Checking the calibration before you throw charges is good. I don't do it often, but if I stop charging cases and stop for a bit, I check again. No need to blow off half my face, as I'm not pretty as it is!
I almost bought a new Remington 700 action when I started my build. Then after talking to a few people, they ALL said Remington's quality is nowhere close to what it used to be. So I found an older rifle for cheap. I looked up the date code on it and it turns out it was "born" the same month and year I was. My gunsmith's "forte" is benchrest rifles, and he also told me that by the time you buy a new action and fix all the stuff that's wrong with it, you've bought a Surgeon or similar. The older Remingtons are better. I got lucky with mine. He said it's one of the straightest factory actions he's seen. Spending a couple hours in his shop I learned more about centerfire accuracy that afternoon than I had the previous 20 years. Had no idea there was so much involved. Stuff that falls right in line with what the Axial Precision guys, Paul McCoy, and Rex talk about.
As for the primer situation, I've tried Federal Gold Medal 210 and 215 with two different powders and it made almost no difference in velocity or pressure signs (all else being identical). Accuracy and consistency went to hell with the magnum primers though.
I looked at the manuals I have and none list RL16. Alliant says it's "faster than RL17 and within the 4350 range".
I've seen videos on gunsmithing, but I'm sure that like most things, watching the real time process can't be beat.
I'd heard enough horror stories about Remington's QC that I didn't even consider it. I wound up with a Bergara, and other than the scope mount issue, it's a keeper.
As for powders, primers, brass, and bullets, if the manufacturers keep innovating, there will always be a need for a new reloading manual every so often. Or at least a newer copy of Loadbooks. ;-)