OK, I got to spend the afternoon at the range today. I had on hand Remy ammo from Able's, as well as Remy ammo from Midway, a box of Hornady factory and 100 rounds of my hand loads. I had pulled two rounds earlier in the week, and as they pulled with one wack of the inertia hammer, I crimped one of the boxes I'd gotten from Able's.
After I've had some time to think about it, I'll post my thoughts. In the meantime:
Average velocity of ten rounds Remington from Able- 2027 fps out of my 16" barrel
Average Velocity of ten rounds Remington from Midway- 2026 fps out of my 16" barrel
Average velocity of the box of Able Remington that I crimped was also 2026 fps
Average velocitry of the locally purchased Hornady was 2122 fps, (60 fps slower than the box I'd chronied last year).
Average velocity of my hand loads was 2220, (20 fps faster than the last time I chronied it, heat?).
I have to shoot prone through the chrony at my local range as the firing line is elevated and I don't own a tripod tall enough to shoot through the chrony from the bench. Also, it was hot, humid, gusty/windy and it's been a long week so I'm not drawing any conclusions about absolute accuracy from today. I did shoot all three at 100, 200 and 300 yards from a rest, but by that time I was 40 rounds into it, hot, sweaty and not on the top of my form.
In short, the Remy that I'd crimped shot as well as the Hornady factory at 100, 200 and 300 yards, although it was a foot low at 300. The un-crimped Remington did not group quite as well, and I did not try it at 200 and 300 as the backboard paper was ragged and I wasn't certain I could ID shots off the 8.5 x 11 target paper.
I don't know what to think about barrel length/velocity comparing my data to PB's. I'd like to see some 20" data. I think barrel length for peak velocity must be less than 26". I do know I'm not willing to carry an extra 10" of barrel into the woods to gain 25 fps.
BD