If there was one bullet that I had to choose, and this is going to sound totally against conventional wisdom, it would be hard for me to ignore the 75gr A-MAX. Next would be the 77gr Scenar-L, and 75gr Hornady BTHP, along with 77gr SMK & 77gr NCC.
Performance from a 16" barrel is simply awesome with the 75gr A-MAX. I didn't believe it could be mag-loaded since I had seen that feedback about it all over the place, after "mistakenly" ordering some when they had them on clearance at Midway, thinking I was ordering 75gr BTHP.
After looking at the bullet, its bearing surface, and ogive length, I wrote it off and considered it an inexpensive lesson....
Until a fellow arfcommer showed up at one of my DM Courses in March with 200 of them loaded up on top of 8208 XBR, with a taper crimp to help transition the mouth over the slightly buried ogive. I immediately thought to myself, "Oh no, this dude is going to have major problems in this course, and we are going to have to provide him with ammo." Not a good start for the day.
Then he proceeded to make hits from 200yds to 600yds like it was easy, and this was his first formal course where wind-reading and trajectory were being introduced as new subjects, and the conditions were abhorrent, with temp at 17 F, winds coming down the mountain at full value, 15-22mph and inconsistent...howling, snow blowing sideways at times.
Not only was he hitting everything with at least an 85% hit rate, but he was doing it from positions as well. He didn't have a single hiccup either. BC is .435, and his measured mv average before showing up was 2700fps from a Criterion barrel, with 1.5 MOA accuracy, which is all you really need for 600yds on 18" plates. If you're looking for X count, then it's probably a single-loaded COL affair, but if you are looking to impact plates at distance, they are fun.
