Huh... Maybe I need to start a "gun tweaking" biz here in Kansas??? I LOVE working up loads and because I shoot COLD barrels (between shots) it's best to have four guns out at once on my range, so you can keep shooting the series of guns while they each have time to cool off while rotating between them.
But I can definitely say that reloading is ALL ABOUT KEEPING NOTES, and building process (good habits) and after a while (and many guns) you start to get a "knack" for knowing what works and what doesn't.
I have a checklist I use before taking a gun out. Last year I worked up a load with a gun for a buddy and damn if I forgot to torque the scope down well. I was getting 2" groups with a gun that should have been giving me 1" (or better) groups. I embarrassed myself after about 25 guns or so through my range the last 15 years-- dumb mistake. We can ALL make them... even us "seasoned" shooters
Keep at it... many GREAT ideas here and sad you had to dump the gun to get back to good here (I probably wouldn't have given up until I pulled the barrel

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