I'm using a Howa 1500 .243 RWS brass with Federal Large Rifle Primers, Vit N150 (I know 140 would be better but I haven't got any) powder and 75grn Hornady A Max.

OK, I made a dummy round which I chambered to fit my rifle and measured at COAL of 2.7425"

Knock off the .0005" as no-one is that good then take off a thou to clear the lands and i made 5 batches of 5 rounds at:

2.732
2.722
2.712
2.702
2.692

I'm happy the powder is consistent and the length has been measured correctly.

And at 100yds I'm getting 3" groups which clearly isn't good enough. There's not even a trend towards tighter groups as the COAL decreases.

So.....shall I keep going shorter or am I just a crap shot? The factory ammo is quite a bit shorter than my reloaded stuff but I know it has to be.

Any ideas?

Cheers..