Re: gap ar-10 260 remington loads
Honestly Pat; I'm having real trouble recalling that. That's a considerably lighter load than I use myself.
My own load is just under 44gr of H4350 with those components, but it's for a bolt gun, I generally refrain from suggesting loads for .308/.260 based AR's, and H4350 has never been one of my choices for anything besides bolt guns. For gas semi's, I like to stick with propellents like H414/W760, R/S Big Game, IMR4064, Varget, and faster. I also prefer bullets lighter than the 140's for them.
I guess it goes back to the days when my only semi gas rifle was a Garand (those days are back, by the way), when I was instructed to limit bullet weights and powder burn rates. The M1A was somewhat more tolerant, and my AR even somewhat moreso. But my ventures always stayed rather conservative in those respects. My AR was A Colt Match Target MT6700 .223, my heaviest laids were 69's, and I never used powder faster than Varget. It never gave me any problems, but in the end, the reasons I had bought it for had evaporated, and it served as the basis for the trade that brought me my first Savage, a .308.
While the AR is certainly more tolerant, my view on that is that it simply tolerates the kinds of loads that would not be as wise in M1A' and Garands, and that tolerance itself may not necessarily be a reliable indicator that all is well; but rather more of an invitation to to get into deeper difficulties futher down the road.
But as Mike so ably points out, I honestly don't really know. I just like to err on the side of caution.
From this point on, my only responses on any AR-related topics will be direct responses to direct questions, so the rest of you can rest easy on that subject. Nobody can say I don't try.
Greg