Thank you Josh.
Just got back home but am walking like a very old & broken down man.
Back Story:
Last weekend I was at my ranch in west Texas filling feeders, carried 50# sacks of corn easily. Gents take care of your plumbing and don't be shy or scared to visit a professional when things feel off. I almost left it till too late to do something about it.
More rambling:
No range time this weekend but I'll probably do some fiddling in my workshop sitting down. This addiction is what it is.
The matter of proper fit and minimal sizing goes hand in hand in improving accuracy, IMHO. I'm not discounting the knowledge of the old timers but they had to contend with milsurps and other out of spec or worn out parts to make them work right.
Once I became more picky on the barrels etc the next step was to craft bullets that fit just right and are not damaged in any way during sizing and loading. Good case prep and good loading matter more than what people think. The "need" for massive loading output obscures the fact that accurate ammo takes time to craft. I take my time, even though I use progressive presses, to craft each round on it's own. This is done by sending only one round through at a time. I pay attention to each round and inspect it before placing it in the box.
I know I have more satisfaction at the range shooting a limited number of well-aimed shots than Marty McBlammer that empties as many magazines as possible in as short a period of time. He is a good donor of reloading brass though.
The ammo forms a major part of the rifle system and if just one element is out of whack performance can be poor or sub-optimal. Just blindly following the mantra of bigger size, or you can just size the bigger bullet smaller is an economical way in some ways but good outcomes are literally hit-or-miss. I know I'm probably preaching to the choir but it took me too long to get what the old timers such as Glenn and Charles were sharing with us, the ignorant and great unwashed...
Enough ranting, need to take meds...