Ok, so I've read through this entire thread, I read the entire outdoor life article and have read here and elsewhere where numerous credible people have claimed that small sample size ladder or OCW tests are essentially invalid. My own belief is that "natural dispersion" is barrels in a "thing".
But for those that say ladders/OCWs with 3-5 shot sample sizes are a waste - I never have really heard what the alternative is to finding the best load to shoot. So like what is the Bottom Line??? Just pick any bullet/powder/brass combo and just go shoot it and it should be fine?? I've always been a velocity node / Lowest SD reloader and its worked well for me, so I'm sort of lost as to where to go from here.