More new guy questions

[Silver Wings]

Another new to reloading guy here with questions.
I have a Tikka action with a 26” barrel chambered in 6cm. I bought several hundred 109 ELDMs with the rifle and it shoots them very well…1-1.1” 10 round groups. This is prone shooting off a pack and a mediocre Indian behind the rifle.
The 109s were loaded in Lapua srp with CCI 41s and 41gr RL16. Producing a mv of 3115.
I had the idea that I wanted to lower the charge weight in order to reduce recoil and improve barrel life. I loaded up 20 at 39gr which looks like pretty middle of the road charge by the book.
After changing rings (all RS protocols followed) I took the rifle out to test the new load and re zero. I found no discernible reduction in recoil. MV reduced to 3007. Group size opened up 2”.
My inclination is that it was the Indian, but one of my questions is…would you expect that dramatic a change with 2gr or should I load up a few more and retry?
Are my thoughts on barrel life reasonable or would the hoped for improvement be negligible?
TIA

 

[streamerfish]

Im not really sure on barrel life. Probably helps a bit.

Recoil reduction will be minor with just a couple grains dropped. Maybe 10% at most. Probably hard to tell real world.

I wouldnt expect a 2 grain drop to open up your groups that much. But not impossible either.

 

[he_lives]

Dropping 100-fps isn’t going to result in noticeably reduced recoil, or estimated barrel life. I’d bet the extra rounds you shoot developing a new load offset the barrel life savings once done.

Regarding accuracy, I’d say that it depends. Some rifles I load for will shoot well within a 1-grain pressure window, others will shoot well over a much larger window. It would not surprise me if dripping 2 grains moved into a zone that the rifle doesn’t like.