timing a big block?

Does anybody have an idea of what I should set my timing at on my '79 chevy pickup? It has a rebuilt 454 with a rv cam (I was told) The book says to time it at 4 deg. btc but it runs better advanced much farther than that. I am at about 14 deg with the timing light but still have a little hesitation on full throttle acceleration. any help would be appreciated

The hesitation may not be the timing could be carb issue, I wouldn't go past 10 here, check the mechanical advance in the dist also.

Thanks for the reply. the carb is brand new out of the box. They say it should be pretty much set when you get it but I did check the float levels and the idle speed and that seems right. Could it be a mixture problem? The dist. weights and springs appear to be in good shape and has a new vacume advance canister on it. Do holleys still have problems once they backfire through the carb or did they get that worked out? any more help would be appreciated. thanks

They can blw ou the power valve in a backfire event.