I don't want to get into an argument with you about the concentricity issue. I certainly have less experience than you, but after spending years sorting ammo by bullet runout, I never saw any significant difference in accuracy between low run out and those with more than.003 runout. It's just an opinion based on my experience. I don't expect benchrest accuracy from my hunting rifles, but I do expect and can achieve MOA or better from all of my rifles with one or two exceptions. My 35 Whelan AI is a 1-1/2 MOA gun, but that's not bad and it's certainly not a long range gun with 250 gr RN bullets. Guns that I will use for long range hunting I want to get 1/2 MOA accuracy and can with a handful of guns. When I refer to long range I'm thinking out to 600 yards, which is a self imposed limit which I will only try if conditions are right.
As noted in one of my earlier posts I HAVE seen considerable difference in accuracy depending on bullet run-out--even in factory ammo, as was the case with the custom 7x57 and Hornady ammo I noted. Have also seen similar results with other brands of factory ammo.
Might also mention that several of my reference books on accurate rifles and ammo do mention bullet alignment, especially two benchrest books, Extreme Rifle Accuracy by Mike Ratigan, and The Ultimate in Rifle Accuracy, by Glenn Newick. David Tubb's book The Rifle Shooter, also mentions it in a different way, because he often prefers to do the final seating of the bullet when chambering the rounds, so the bullet is centered and aligned by the rear of the lands. I also recall reading somewhere--probably in one of my other books such as The Benchrest Primer, a collection of articles from Precision Shooting magazine--about a test made with the "high" side of slightly misaligned bullets marked, which demonstrated that if the rounds were all inserted in the chamber with mark in the same attutude, whether up, down or sideways, that they grouped smaller. Another test was to insert the rounds with the mark turned to different points. I seem to recall it was written by Creighton Audette, a noted competitive shooter, gunsmith and writer, who was responsible for a number of innovations, but could be wrong.
But I also mention bullet alignment frequently partly because so many handloaders don't have any idea how much it can affect accuracy, or that it even exists. This especially applies to new handloaders--and a BUNCH have started recently. Plus, one of the realities of magazine writing is some turnover of readers: One BIG magazine I was a staff writer for in the 1990s figured they had an almost complete turnover of subscribers about every three years. That's not nearly as true of gun magazines, but still a factor. So some stuff needs to be repeated periodically--especially since so many new handloaders believe weighing charges to .1 grain will make a huge difference in hunting-rifle ammo, when other factors are far more important.
I would imagine that one reason some competitive shooters don't mention bullet alignment is they worked any problems out years ago, and use loading equipment that minimizes run-out. As a result they don't worry about it. I certainly don't when loading my uniformed brass for the 6mm PPC bench rifle, because I know that brass in my dies will result in alignment well under .001".
But also, as previously mentioned, I know that when hunting handloaders having trouble getting the accuracy they desire, that if they become aware of bullet alignment it becomes a "gateway drug" to improving their brass, tools and other techniques to eliminate potential problems.
