In terms of the burn rate you are experiencing with Viht N550, you must remember that the default burn rate is an indicative factor.
It is purely an indication of how the propellant "performs" under test conditions in a "bomb test".
Please read here for a in depth technical discussion on the "bomb test".
https://www.chuckhawks.com/powder_cartridge_testing.htm
So indulge me if I get a bit technical here.
The bottom line is that this bomb test is purely an indicator of the propellants properties based on a small test sample run at "low" pressure.
The propellant manufacturer can not do this test and simulate a 50 to 60 000 psi load, and they can not determine how the propellant will react in every different cartridge with different components, jump to the lands,bearing surfaces, barrel length and a whole lot of different parameters that are unique to your rifle and components and which influence the powders performance (burn rate factor in other words)
Lets take an example.
Look at Vihtavouri"s website and take their reloading data for the 243 win with a 90 grain bullet.
Test barrel: 580 mm (23”), 1 in 10” twist
Primers: Large Rifle
Cases: Lapua, trim-to length 51,80 mm (2.039”)
Viht 243 win.jpg
If you reverse engineer these figures in quickload with N550 powder you will see that you have to change the default burn rate up substantially to calibrate their loads (exactly what you are experiencing at the moment).
The same will apply in the 22-250, 25-06, 270 Win etc as all these cartridges fall into the overbore category.
Lets now look at another cartridge.
Test barrel: 620 mm (24½”), 1 in 10” twist
Primers: Large Rifle
Cases: Lapua, trim-to length 63,10 mm (2.484”)
Hierdie inligting is baie relevant.
Posted by Dale SH
Viht N550 30-06.jpg
If you reverse engineer these figures in quickload using their exact parameters and components you will see that your predictions and their actual data is so close that you have to adjust the default BRF so slightly it is negligible.
Powder manufacturers test their powders across a spectrum of cartridges and give us guidelines to follow.
However once again these tests are done using specific components and test barrels.
Yours may be different so your results may also be different.
Bottom line is that you can not blindly believe that your initial prediction with QL will be accurate as there are too many factors to consider as mentioned above.
It is always best to follow the powder manufacturers guidelines and cross reference and reverse engineer their data with your QL prediction and see if you experience any major discrepancies.
Should you need to adjust your BRF substantially to calibrate with Their achieved figures you have to ask your self some questions:
For example:
Are you dealing with an overbore cartridge ?
Is your bullet in or too close to the lands ?
What barrel length are you comparing too ?
Once you have identified where your major differences are coming from you will have an idea as to where to rectify the problem.
In your case right off the bat you know you dealing with an overbore cartridge and secondly you may have had the bullet too close or in the rifling.
Now that you have shortened your TPL and the BRF hasn't changed much we can eliminate that particular criteria.
Now if we cross reference Vihtavouri's 243 Win load data we can identify that N550 does indeed burn substantially faster in this cartridge ( higher BRF near 0.51) than the default.
Our mind should be at rest now knowing this fact and we can continue to calibrate our load.