Yeah, I have seen that video from the 6.5 guys. I think those fellas you are talking about out at the range must be running some kind of variation off of that. Shooting groups looking for a low SD, and then trying to tune accuracy around that. I have never seen the method you describe detailed out on the internet anywhere though. Seems to me to be the backward way of attacking the problem, but for sure I have been wrong before.
Some rifles and loads SD matters to me, some it doesn't. My daughters 223 that never gets shot over 250, who cares. If it shoots tight groups, kills rabbits, coyotes and deer that is all it needs. She is 10, doesn't care about shooting long, just wants plenty of shooting action. 257 Roberts as a dedicated night vision setup? Doesn't matter, max range is probably 250 and I don't like shooting further than that at night.
If I am developing a load for shooting distance (whether steel, colony varmints, or predators), then SD matters to me. I never start with SD though. I will run a ladder checking for accuracy node. That gives me a place to start digging and looking. If a find a promising point I see if I can tune it in, chasing both accuracy and SD. But trying to chase totally off SD, just doesn't make sense to me at all.
I am sure I don't shoot as much as some on here. But I do have 100 and 200 yard ranges at work. I usually shoot at least a little bit 3-5 days a week out here, before or after work, or during breaks. Probably 50-150 rounds during the week. Weekends I might not shoot any, and I might shoot 100-200 rounds on steel. All of which really means jack-diddley. I try not to intentionally burn barrels out, but by the same token if I want to shoot I shoot, and don't worry about screwing on a new barrel when one is gone.
