I ain't buying it. Completely aside from empirical evidence derived from my own reloading experiences, think on this:
.44 Special and .44 Magnum are way, way far apart on the pressure spectrum. So are .38 Special and .357. .460 Rowland and .45 ACP and .45 GAP are also good examples. Then there's .45 Colt in SAAs and .45 Colt in Rugers. And yet some people would have you believe that a 35,000 psi load will magically be more accurate than a 30,000 psi load, whereas a 17,000 psi load will be more accurate than a 12,000 psi load in two cases that are nearly or exactly the same. This also applies to rifle cartridges. You're gonna tell me that a 50,000 CUP load and a 28,000 CUP load are magically going to be more accurate than a 40,000 CUP load and a 20,000 CUP load, respectively? Out of the same gun? Think .45-70. Ever more near and dear to a lot of people's hearts is the .223 Remington, or 5.56x45, whichever flavor your prefer. Some NATO chambers have higher pressure limits than some other chamber designs. Does that mean that you can toss out your old reloading data, and you better work up new stuff at the higher pressure limit? Hmmmmm...
I read about this all the time. So-and-so asks for reloading advice and sumdood says "reload close to 65,000 whooblydammits in .31 Aussie Mag, but use 47 kilobadgerfarts in your .37 Weems and Plath. Since you're loading to max pressure, you're loads will be more accurate!"
Yeah, not buying it. I think accuracy comes from a good shooter who uses consistent practices in both his shooting and reloading techniques and is firing a well-made gun. I might believe that loading to full case volume could help a bit, but pressure? Not so much.
Another thing to think on: some manufacturer loads are made to less-than-maximum pressure. They don't want to blow up your guns any more than you do. And yet some manufacturer loads are very accurate in certain guns. We've all heard "shoot what your gun likes" especially in rimfire guns. I'm willing to bet not every .22 rimfire case out there is loaded to 24,000 psi, yet some display startling accuracy while others group like thrown gravel.
.44 Special and .44 Magnum are way, way far apart on the pressure spectrum. So are .38 Special and .357. .460 Rowland and .45 ACP and .45 GAP are also good examples. Then there's .45 Colt in SAAs and .45 Colt in Rugers. And yet some people would have you believe that a 35,000 psi load will magically be more accurate than a 30,000 psi load, whereas a 17,000 psi load will be more accurate than a 12,000 psi load in two cases that are nearly or exactly the same. This also applies to rifle cartridges. You're gonna tell me that a 50,000 CUP load and a 28,000 CUP load are magically going to be more accurate than a 40,000 CUP load and a 20,000 CUP load, respectively? Out of the same gun? Think .45-70. Ever more near and dear to a lot of people's hearts is the .223 Remington, or 5.56x45, whichever flavor your prefer. Some NATO chambers have higher pressure limits than some other chamber designs. Does that mean that you can toss out your old reloading data, and you better work up new stuff at the higher pressure limit? Hmmmmm...
I read about this all the time. So-and-so asks for reloading advice and sumdood says "reload close to 65,000 whooblydammits in .31 Aussie Mag, but use 47 kilobadgerfarts in your .37 Weems and Plath. Since you're loading to max pressure, you're loads will be more accurate!"
Yeah, not buying it. I think accuracy comes from a good shooter who uses consistent practices in both his shooting and reloading techniques and is firing a well-made gun. I might believe that loading to full case volume could help a bit, but pressure? Not so much.
Another thing to think on: some manufacturer loads are made to less-than-maximum pressure. They don't want to blow up your guns any more than you do. And yet some manufacturer loads are very accurate in certain guns. We've all heard "shoot what your gun likes" especially in rimfire guns. I'm willing to bet not every .22 rimfire case out there is loaded to 24,000 psi, yet some display startling accuracy while others group like thrown gravel.