True dat!

Steve, don't take this to heart but you're as wierd as the rest of us. You gotta be to sit through those Montana winters.

As to the gut of your post, I think some of the newer cartridges are a bit tighter on specs. than that, and it's why some shoot a bit better. The sloppy crap the manufacturers put out is why 'smiths and handloading exist. And Wierdos like us are pushing the envelope, and keeping the manufacturers somewhat motivated. As to your "standard man, doing the standard hunting routine", well, with any luck at all I'll meet him at the range and he'll get addicted too. I've done it a few times with vast success. I've even created gun nuts!

You can't create a gun nut...

Babies are either born gun nuts or not...

Those that aren't eventually grow up to be Democrats...

I think of " The total case prep package " as OCLD .
( Obsessive Compulsive Loading Disorder ).

I ocassionally suffer from this malady myself.

Travis F.

its what happens when you have loaded too much.........you "runout"........of stuff. Typically happens at the most inopportune times.

Actually it is a measured amount the the bullet is not in alignment with the case. Think of turning a loaded round slowly and measuring the amount the the bullet "runs" out of line with the case.

Roll a cartridge on a pane of glass and watch the tip wobble...that's runout.

Handloaders aren't weird. Those that chase the little white ball over the golfcourse are weird. I wonder how they came to be in the majority?

Sorry Steve, I agree with some things you say, but I have seen poeple that did not care much for rifles, and after I or my friends take them shooting or going out and blowing up the P-dogs, they are hooked.

I personally have seen differences in accuracy when runnout is limited. I agree with Dan 100%. Those of us that are anal and like it (Hmm, maybe we are weird) really do push the envelope. Take for instance CCI primers. I am near WSU in Pullman washington. One professor here states he is doing a research project for CCI to make the primers more consistant and have even a longer shelf life. He states "the bench rest shooters should really like them". What does that tell us? The BRs are making life better for all of us. The "exotic" brass as you state it like lapua and norma help alleviate some of the brass problems which most certainly can help accuracy (though I too usually just buy a few hundred win brass and throw out any that are "off" without putting a rediculous amount of time into it, or send them back if wall thickness varies from one side of the case neck to the other). Plus, tight groups are just a great and fun goal to achieve. I only hunt a handful of days out of the year and only shoot a handful of rounds at different game. I spend many, many more early mornings at the range, and I enjoy it. At the same time I am practicing things like trigger pull which no doubt help more in hunting situations than does shrinking group size from 1MOA to 1/2 MOA, though seeing that group shrink is the fun and joy of my early mornings. Of course, as of yet, I cannot call myself a benchrest shooter though I have all the early symptoms except 1: the cash. Oh, and as for varmint hunting, those tight groups make a big difference on ground squirrels/P-dogs!!