I will relate a conversation I had online with a noobie
Because Hornady markets Superformance ammo his logic was that Hornady loaded all of its Superformance ammo with the one Hodgdon Superformance canister powder.
Since he did not find any data for his .444 he proceeded without any data.
He owned a chronograph but he did not understand why he only got 1400 fps.
He wanted better data to match the high velocity of the Hornady ammo.
I investigated and found that Hodgdon supplies 14 non-canister powders to Hornady to load Superformance ammo.
Some people's logic is amazing.
The Superformance powder actually used in a few but not all Superformance cartridges. Which I believe you have addressed. Its been my experience of the few box of Hornady that I've shot, those loads have been pretty hot but still within spec. I haven't gotten great accuracy from those boxes but then again my base line are my reloads which is a little unfair to the box of ammo that is expected to work in all chambers. Finally, performance listed on the side of a box of ammo is rarely what going to be achievable not just in with reloads but from the factory ammo as well. It would be best to concentrate on speed through a chronograph as it relates to charges. For example, I am looking at RL16 to push 165 grain Nosler Accubond. The listed max is around 57.3 grains of powder. I will reduce my load my 10% and work up to that point. If the chronograph shows too much speed, I will back off and stop there. Looking back at all the data, I will pick my most accurate load and that will be the speed for that rifle for that load. Here is the kicker, a year from now I'll purchase another pound of RL16 and load it the exact same way. There is a good change the chronograph may not have the same ES or SD. Why? Because now I'm dealing with a different lot of powder, primers, bullets, and brass (very good possibly a different manufacture). Bottom line I don't chase velocity, I strictly use it as a safety parameter. I chance accuracy.
