do you load to max?

[Dutchboy]

I tend to load to book max velocity, but I don't obsess about it. For hunting loads, especially elk, I like to run at full horse power. On the other hand, when I worked up my moose load with my Whelen, I had not bought a chrono yet. Good thing the moose didn't know that 250 gr. Hot Core was only going 2250 fps when it punched a hole all the way through. He'd have pointed and laughed, had he known!

For practice, I load a lot of training loads from the Hodgdon youth loads or the Speer manual. I used to shoot quite a few with Blue Dot, but I have started to defer to Murphy again, and now only load reduced loads that can't be double charged (50% fill).

For shotguns, I like to load at about 10,000 PSI for reliable and clean burns in my auto's. FWIW, Dutch.