lwminton Wrote:Thanks for your suggestions, but I was thinking about accuracy in target competition (at 300 yards) not killing game.
In your very narrow scenario of tightest groups at 300yds then speed is less important than accuracy.
Hunting aside, that still does not mean that less velocity is more accurate. In your case study a guy had a barrel that liked slower velocity loads and he won in competition with them... but then generalising that all barrels like slower speeds because one person's barrel likes slower speeds is a classic research conclusion fallacy. It is called generalization. A sample set of one barrel is about the least generalizable sample of the whole population of barrels as you can get. If you want to generalize that all barrels might do better with slower loads then you need to have a sample size that is representative of the entire population of barrels. The idea that one barrel carries more leverage to the argument because it happens to be a person who wins F Class competitions assumes the rest of the population does not know what they are doing. I think 'first among equals' is more like this guys situation.
In your shoes I would drop the idea of 'slower loads are better' because if that were the case then this would have been common knowledge by the end of the 20th Century. Suggesting slower loads are better on a Grendel forum where every bit of velocity matters is anathema. By contrast the Bench Rest discipline have been honing their loads, calibres and equipment for best accuracy at 300yds for years. No doubt on their forums they would advise you to ditch the light-weight AR15 in favour of heavier bolt action and use a different calibre if you want to be competitive.
If however you are wanting to achieve most accuracy at 300 in an AR15 shooting 6.5Grendel then normal load development up to max peak pressure for your barrel is the go.