Got it.

That makes perfect sense, and with this rifle I speak of the first two down the snoot landed one right above the other and right above the sight at fifty yards. The only issue with that load is that the brass was about ten thousandths long and I was juuuust pinching the bullets with that sweet little fu**up. Can't be as bad as the .323 Dia 125gr bullets the rifle had been shipped with...

It was refreshing too, as I'd been nervous about a few things I'd noticed with the rifle after I'd got it home, including the ammunition that'd come along with the gun. As this thing's an 8x60r from 1939 with a .318 bore it's anyone's guess as to what standard of the broad range of loads from the 8x60 family of cartridges this thing could have been regulated with. I've seen light bullets in the 2200+FPS range and I've seen heavy bullets in the 2700+FPS range. Had the 8x60 been settled as a Magnum cartridge by 1939? Hard to say. Heck, they were building 8x57 rifles then, one would think... At 2250FPS the Woodleigh 196gr bullets are hitting low. More bullet weight? More velocity? As I'm only working with the Woodleigh at this point, I'm nudging the velocity up, the bullets are printing further up and the groups coming together as I up the charge.

I'm getting it that small changes go a long way on paper and that this 8mm rifle might behave differently from big bore guns. I own three other double rifles, two of them sixteen bore roundball cartridge guns and the other a 500-450 bottleneck BPE. This rifle seems to do things in a completely different fashion. I'm remaining cautious, yet budgeting that the gunmaker was thinking magnum.

Thanks for the note.
I've kept the OAL constant so far, thinking I should save that variable for the end of the fine tuning.
As it is, I'm thinking I have a bit of work to do with my brass -- I'm forming from 7x65 and there's a bit of a crease on the necks from the shoulder of the parent cartridge -- accuracy doesn't seem to be what it should at this point. I haven't gotten up to what a full load would be either though and by the end of the next range session I'll be there.
I'm thinking a light clean up cut on the neck O.D. might offer more consistent neck tension, resulting in better accuracy for each barrel.
I've also noticed that the temperature of the gun itself may well make a difference.
The last time out I fired my first two shots fairly early in the morning from a cold (about 38F) rifle. The two pairs following those came later in the day (I had work to do out there) and grouped about an inch and a half away from the first two, each barrel in the same direction away from the first pair of shots, the rifle had warmed up with the day and stayed at around 65f until sundown.
I'll be keeping notes on that particular issue as I continue to run the rifle.

Thanks again for the note on OAL
I'll just have to see what happens as it all comes together.
Of course any other comments would be appreciated.

--Tinker