OP: the simple answer to your question is: YES!
I HIGHLY recommend you buy and read Reloading Metallic Rifle Cartridges by Mic McMillan. If you really want to reload precision cartridges and understand the how and why we do things, it’s just about mandatory reading. It’s great for beginners and experienced precision shooters/loafers as well. I love videos as well but I think you’ll get more out of them if you read that book. It discuses every option out there and explains how and why to do it. Read that book and THEN watch videos from 6.5 Guys, Panhandle Precision and others. The OP shows some clear lack of understanding of the goals of precision reloading. Nothing wrong with that...you don’t know what you don’t know. If you’re interested in reloading you must have an interest in improving your results down range. I never understood the point of reloading if all you expect is what a factory load will do. Will a precision reload make you a better shooter? Nope. But shooting and reloading go hand in hand. If you have an interest in reloading you must, therefore, have an interest in shooting. So, now is the opportunity to improve BOTH! There are some great videos on shooting technique but I highly recommend the training videos that Frank Galli has on Snipers Hide. They’re cheap to access and the fundamentals for most PRS shooting and directly translatable to hunting.
There’s some great info/advice in this thread. Nothing I would disagree with. OCW is a great way to determine powder charge and for 6.5cm I use .2gr increments for testing. The abbreviated method using flat spots in velocity is something I’m trying to shortcut to a good charge weight. However, that method DEPENDS on the shooter being really good and consistent; because you’re also watching POI in relation to those velocity flats. If you’re a mediocre shooter, the OCW or ladder methods are going to probably produce better results.
Every Savage and Tikka rifle I own is capable of sub .5moa (or better), consistently, with handloads. Most of them will shoot regularly in the .2s and .3s for any shooter capable of that type of shooting. I’ve always found precision reloading, and the subtle changes to most steps to be “worth” it to me. It really depends on your goals. Do you WANT to be able to shoot bugholes? If so, it’s all worth it. If you’re just going to hunt to 150yds on big game, nope, it’s not worth it.
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