It's not just a hunting rifle. But I'd like to check consistencyPersonally I dont see any need to do 5 shot groups in a hunting rifle just adds barrel wear. Shooting at longer distances will tell you whats going on with your load.
To each his own though
In the past I've always done 5 shots, you know when you could walk into the store and buy boxes of primers for 35 dollars. I'm not short on primers, just being conservative. This was a powder test to see if I was going to be over pressure. I'm gonna load 5 a thousandths longer, 5 two thousandths longer, and the same shorterA great start! I use to always be a die hard 3 shot group developer until i started running my developed loads in 5 shot groups.
A real eye opener.
Test, test, and test some more!