We all draw our own conclusions from our own experiences. A check of my range log, which records the performance of many loads in many rifles since 1993, shows that many of my most accurate loads for various ctgs do occur at less than max loads and velocity. Others do best at max load levels. This is based on a a lot of shooting, rather than theory. There is no universal rule as accuracy depends on a number of variables and every rifle and every bullet seems to have a sweet spot at a certain velocity. It's just a matter of testing to get it right for the individual rifle and bullet.
I go with whatever loading gives me MOA accuracy in my hunting rifles and I've been able to achieve that with just about all of my bolt guns. I often think back to deer hunting with a couple of guys who were using the 140gr Nosler BT in their 7mm STWs with 80gr of powder to get a MV around 3500fps. I used the same bullet in a 7x57 Mauser with 50gr of W760 (max load and a MOA shooter)to get 2800fps and my deer used to fall over just as well as theirs at reasonable hunting ranges.
Rather than get into an internet pi$$ing contest, it is instructive to examine a few reloading manuals which give best accuracy with various charges of the same propellant as well as the most accurate propellant for each ctg-in their test rifles. I think that their testing is probably more extensive than that done by most readers of this forum and it generally corroborates what I've learned at the bench. Again, there are no hard and fast rules, but I go for accuracy every time, even at the cost of some velocity.
For the .30-06 the Nosler No4 manual shows data for 10 different propellants for 150,165 and 180gr bullets. For the 150gr best accuracy is at the starting load for 4 propellants,while best accuracy is at the max load for the remaining 6. For 165gr best accuracy is at the starting load for 6 propellants, while 4 others are most accurate at the max load. For the 180gr best accuracy is found with the starting load for 7 propellants, while the remaining 3 are most accurate at the max load.
The Sierra manual shows the best accuracy for all 3 bullet weights to come at less than the max load of the best propellant for each weight. The Lyman manual shows best accuracy for the 150gr at the starting load of the most accurate powder, while best accuracy with the 165 and 180gr bullets comes at max loads for the best propellants for those weights.
I go with whatever loading gives me MOA accuracy in my hunting rifles and I've been able to achieve that with just about all of my bolt guns. I often think back to deer hunting with a couple of guys who were using the 140gr Nosler BT in their 7mm STWs with 80gr of powder to get a MV around 3500fps. I used the same bullet in a 7x57 Mauser with 50gr of W760 (max load and a MOA shooter)to get 2800fps and my deer used to fall over just as well as theirs at reasonable hunting ranges.
Rather than get into an internet pi$$ing contest, it is instructive to examine a few reloading manuals which give best accuracy with various charges of the same propellant as well as the most accurate propellant for each ctg-in their test rifles. I think that their testing is probably more extensive than that done by most readers of this forum and it generally corroborates what I've learned at the bench. Again, there are no hard and fast rules, but I go for accuracy every time, even at the cost of some velocity.
For the .30-06 the Nosler No4 manual shows data for 10 different propellants for 150,165 and 180gr bullets. For the 150gr best accuracy is at the starting load for 4 propellants,while best accuracy is at the max load for the remaining 6. For 165gr best accuracy is at the starting load for 6 propellants, while 4 others are most accurate at the max load. For the 180gr best accuracy is found with the starting load for 7 propellants, while the remaining 3 are most accurate at the max load.
The Sierra manual shows the best accuracy for all 3 bullet weights to come at less than the max load of the best propellant for each weight. The Lyman manual shows best accuracy for the 150gr at the starting load of the most accurate powder, while best accuracy with the 165 and 180gr bullets comes at max loads for the best propellants for those weights.
