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Actually, you are all correct.
The truth is that every rifle is an individual machine. One may be throated longer, the next may have a bit more wear, the next might be a bit tighter in the neck, and so on.
Then too, benchrest guys use handmade bullets that are likely to be more uniform than mass-produced ones. So their seating techniques might achieve smaller error than ours. They also do not have to worry about magazine feeding like we hunters do.
I like to start testing with bullets seated to the "book" OAL, knowing that slightly different tips on the bullets will result in slightly inconsistent results. I'll settle on a promising powder/primer combination first, then tweak the seating until groups are as good as I can get them. If they feed through the magazine at that length, I'm good to go.
I realize that - using a factory barrel and regular brass, dies and bullets - I am NEVER going to get benchrest accuracy. Anything even close to an inch (for a big-game cartridge) is more than enough accuracy. Even two-inch groups at 100 yards are perfectly fine for deer and larger animals shot under 300 yards away.
Striving for better than that is pure obsessiveness with factory-grade components and rifles.
Really.
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