JW, Glad you are seeing this as I am as a discussion and not an all out argument. I also am not trying to talk you into doing anything. You keep wanting to say its not the rifle but the shooter. Your comments about the weather and the temp point this out. You also say you are preplexed about my comments about your rifle and the 1/2 MOA accuracy. You conveniently mention that there would need to be a shooter. What you did say was this and I quote "it has shot under .5 MoA at 665 yards before" Did it do that by itself? No rifle, here let me say that again "No Rifle" is capable of shooting 1/2 MOA by itself, somebody is going to have to aim and pull the trigger, Therefore when talking accuracy it is a given we are talking about the Rifle/Shooter combination. I will also repeat your rifle and you are obviously not capable of shooting 1/2 MOA at 600 yds. You are not alone I also am not able to that day in and day out. I do not shoot many mid-range match's like 600 yds, I do shoot a lot of 1,000 yds match's. But in the 600 yd Mid Range match's I have shot I also have never been able to do that 200x20x as a matter of fact no one has as of yet. In my case I do not believe it is my ammo, it may be none of us are perfect but I believe it is not my ammo. You can not say the same thing, because in your case it just may be your ammo there is no way for anyone to know other wise. I do know that in my case the rifle ammo and shooter combination are cpable of shooting into 1MOA, I have shot cleans at 600 Yds many many times, so I know that combination is holding the 10 ring at least. Rarely is that alone good enough to win all of the time. The X count is the deciding factor and my best score in a 600 yd match is a 600-31X. Yea I was clean all three relays had 31X's and still lost the damn match on X count.
You also dismiss the ammo altogether when you say, once again I quote " I feel missing out on the marginal gains from sorting/weighing won't take a shooter out of the picture for a win" Just were did you ever get the idea that good brass prep, and proper loading technque are "Marginal"? This is a statement coming from a guy who doesn't do any of these things, how would you know if they are "Marginal or not"? Becuase you are not doing these things you don't know wither or not they work or don't work. You simple don't have the experiance to make such a statement, go out and prove that you don't need them and then you may have earned to right to such a silly comment. Until then those are just words without meaning.
To prove that point to some extinct i will take another comment or observation you made and quote it, "In a match last year, I was on pace for a 199 and literally missed a wind call which put me into the 6 ring. I was tied for 1st and went to 4th overall. I think that qualifies as a chance at competing."
Here again JW, you are making another statement that may or may not be correct. I venture another reason you may have shagged that shot into the 6 ring. Hows about it wasn't a missed wind call at all but a flyer because of your lack or preparation of the ammo. Now don't misunderstand me, I am "NOT" saying that was the reason, I am saying it is a possible reason, but JW you don't know either, you have never done the work at the reloading table to know if it was or not. As to being in the match on that day you had that 199 going, what was your score for the two other relays? Another words were you having a good day or was the 199 the deal killer.
JW, Listen I wish you luck in your shooting, and I certainly hope you succed at it. I just hate for a new shooter or even an old shooter not to do everything possible to be there best. Loading is a part of that success why does it make any sense at all to leave part of that on the table when it is so easy to do otherwise? I hope that sometime in the future we have the chance to shoot against each other, and on that day I want to beat your butt, no doubt about that, but for me that victory needs to be on the day when you have the best equipment money can buy, and you are shooting the best and most flawless ammo possible, and you are having your best day shooting ever. For just one element of that to be missing would for me be a hollow and meangless win.
Roland