Thank you for some practical advice.
Since the loads in my manuals range from 12.7 (Hornady) to 17.0 (Lyman), you can likely see my hesitancy.
When it comes to the advice to start low and work up, start where and work up to where? If I started at 12.7 and went to 17.0, that would be a lot of loads to keep track of and without a chronograph I doubt I would see much difference unless I went from minimum to maximum in one step.
The advice to not load below 3% of max doesn't make sense since Hodgdon lists a range of 15.0 to 16.7. Max minus 3% is 16.2, well above the listed minimum. And to go extreme, 17 minus 3% is 16.49. The minimum listed load I have is 12.7!
As a new handloader, I obviously don't want to mess things up- I like all my fingers in their current arrangement. With the widely varying published information I have, not to mention all the questionable loads in the internet, it can at first seem overwhelming.
I like the advice to pick a load and learn to shoot it, rather than tune the load to the gun, especially since I am not shooting for trophies or food.
Thanks for the input. It won't be my last stupid question, I can assure you!