How do i know its right

i am new to this forum so forgive me if i screw up. i had a meade DS-16. tube to bulky so i built a truss tube going by the tried and tested kreige/berry book. i also sent both mirrors off for re aluminizing. it gave good views before but they were 11 years old and in need. they came back looking spectacular. after building and collimating etc the scope still gives great views of messier objects, ngc, etc. the other night i was looking a abell 262 in andromeda and was just barely able to see the core galaxies. a few nights later i was in the mountains, nicely dark skies, and the view was a little better but still quite underwhelming. going by s&t description(jan 2003) you would think that more detail would be visible. am i being overly optimistic about views of this size scope or what. i readjusted the secondary using tecton tools. all seems to be ok. the secondary is 4" so its hard to get a full view in crosshair sight. any ideas. thanks for any info. great forum.