OCW and load input

[Morgan321]

Gun is factory stock remington 30-06, skinny barrel and all. Switched to imr 4895 and 175 smk. I started in the range the interweb says is a good approximation of M72 ammo(which shoots good in my gun) and found a decently wide range centered around 46.6 gr.

I have a range available that is expanding from 500 to 1200 yd. I tried to find the next higher node to improve long range performance. IMR website says 49.0 is the max load. I made one round at 49.0 and one at 49.4 and both shot fine with no pressure signs. In fact, recoil felt weaker than some stout factory ammunition I've shot.

Picture below is as labelled, 48.0, 48.4, and 48.8. Aim point was the center of the diamonds. The circled round was a hard to chamber case, it can be ignored. I'm going to test 49.0-49.4 and hope the POI stops rising. Should be great results if it does.

Questions:
Any other references for what a max load might be? I don't see the need for above 49.4 which showed no pressure signs, just curious.
Why the wide range between nodes(46.6 to 49.0 is 5%)? I'm a newby, but I thought it should be more like 3%?
These were shot at 100yd with the elevation set to zero a 168 amax going 2550 fps. Is there a way to estimate the velocity of the 48.8 smk load given that it impacts 3.5 moa above a 168 amax going 2550fps?
Any other input? If the poi stabilizes around 49.0 and it groups this well I'm going to be pleased.

 

[Morgan321]

Crickets.

 

[Twoboxer]

. . . Questions:
Any other references for what a max load might be? Sierra 5th says 46.2gr, 3.290" = max = 2600fps I don't see the need for above 49.4 which showed no pressure signs, just curious.
Why the wide range between nodes(46.6 to 49.0 is 5%)? I'm a newby, but I thought it should be more like 3%? It's 5%+ now, push the range a tenth on each side and it's 5.6%, which probably means nothing more than there may be a node in between the two loads you are sighting on - if those are nodes.
These were shot at 100yd with the elevation set to zero a 168 amax going 2550 fps. Is there a way to estimate the velocity of the 48.8 smk load given that it impacts 3.5 moa above a 168 amax going 2550fps? Sure there is (gravity is a constant, 3.5 MOA is a fixed fall differential at (say) 100yds) if you attribute all of the POI change to nothing more than muzzle velocity.
Any other input? If the poi stabilizes around 49.0 and it groups this well I'm going to be pleased.

If this were an OCW test, the patterns leading up to, through, and over the chosen charges would help with conclusions and guide further testing. Similarly with a ladder test. It's hard for me at least to offer an opinion given this info.

Edit: Change to Sierra 5th.