I am using FGMM right now and at two bucks a shot I am VERY interested in learning to reload. I was just wondering if it will be possible to increase the potential of the rifle using reloads even more or if it is just a savings in cost.
It is remarkable just how good topnotch factory match ammo can be (e.g. Federal Gold Medal, Norma match, etc). In good rifles, it really can be half-MOA (and even sub-half-MOA) ammo; while handloads can sometime do better yet, that's not nearly as common an occurrence as the Internets might suggest.
The price of factory match ammo is a bigger minus than its accuracy. While it is possible for a very good handloader to make better ammo than factory match ammo, it's actually a pretty major accomplishment to do so.
I have a Jewell and compared to a factory trigger (no matter how you tune it), it's night and day. It ain't the most expensive trigger on the market for nothing
Jewells sure are a nice piece of work (but there are even more expensive triggers out there, e.g. Anschutz ;-). I sure do love and appreciate high quality triggers, they can be such works of art.
A number of years ago I used a single-stage Jewell trigger on my M70 target rifle. In the end I wasn't happy with it, because using it at 3.5# pull was uncomfortable given its very small and thin contact patch with your finger (it was sized to be a 2oz. benchrest trigger).
To be honest, I have found that properly-adjusted factory triggers (Rem, Win, Savage) can be quite good. They do have their limits (the range of pull weights that they correctly work at), but within those limits, they are good enough to win a match. For example, I have gone back to using a plain old factory trigger on my M70, which is now setup as an F-Class or "sniper" configuration. At 3-ish pounds, the factory M70 trigger is perfectly adequate.
