I use to jump thru all kinds of hoops to get my groups to fit under a dime in my hunting rifles. I pretty much stopped that since it's not even relevant to my big game hunting. Being able to shoot and hit things from off hand to field rests and do it quickly because big game then not to hang around forever. Once I stopped with the endless load development, I started to enjoy shooting a lot more. I hand load my ammo in small batches, It has to feed and extract without issue. And I choose bullets that are suitable for the game I am hunting. We all go thru these phases. I was no different when I started. All rifles are individuals just like ourselves, no two will ever be exactly alike. That makes the whole thing fun, but endless load development is just another Black Hole in my opinion. I have load combinations that I have hunted with going on for more than 40 years now. Yes, there are variations in power from lot to lot and bullets have gotten better over that period of time. And yeah the load in question does shoot a bit better accuracy wise, I chalk that up to bullets being more concentric, better optics, and my own eyesight, I can see way better now at when I was 19. These days it's not all that hard or time consuming to come up with a good accurate reliable hunting load these days. The marksmanship skills where it will pay off well that takes a lot more time, effort and money than most will ever do. Those sorts try to make up for it with the latest and greatest gadget, rifle-sights, cartridge and bullet as a sub for spending the time shooting in a constructive way.
