I agree with you on "not the rifle, it's the reloader" that's the problem. The reloader also needs to account for the condition of his rifle. What I said sounded more like a blanket statement against old rifles. Not true. I reload for a bunch of Mausers, Mosin's, and 1880's-1890's rifles. One of the things about a Mauser 98 model (of many kinds) is they have a gas escape path that modern rifles don't duplicate. A nice feature, but one shouldn't be tempted to use it.It's not the old rifle that makes rifle reloading unsafe it's the unsafe reloader and rifleman.
I own a Remington 1917 sporterized in 06, 2 03's in 06 a Springfield and Remington. I had McGowan build a 358 Norma on a Remington 03, a 64,000 PSI cartridge and Mike Burris build a custom 450 Marlin on a Mauser 98 for 60,000 PSI Loads with 500 grain projectiles. I also have newer Remington 700 actions and a Howa running at or near 65,000 PSI. Numerous semi auto's in various calibers. My 96 Mauser in 6.5 x 55 is the low pressure bolt rifle in my cabinet as they only proof at 65,900 PSI.
I understand the need to respect the steel, the brass and the burning properties of powder. I started loading with my old man in 1966, loaded and shot around 25,000 rounds a year for nearly 2 decades in shotgun competition, all sorts of reloading for rifles and handguns since then, untold rounds.
I'll say it here like I told my son and now his son, USE YOUR HEAD, read the brass, organize you loading bench. Act on any signs that somethings wrong. Conditions change so note the conditions that were safe on this day.
This stuff of tapping closed or tapping open bolts WILL NOT be taught in my family.
As that pertains to this thread, one reason I try for the lowest accuracy node possible is for that reason with both modern and old. I find I'm never pushing the brass to a point of failure and am able to inspect it well enough that I can find issues on the reload bench instead of on the shooting bench. I load for brass fitting and not moving. I'm typically one to two grains below what my shooting partner uses in approximately the same bullet