A couple of things, guns will shoot good broken in or not. If it's a shooter it's a shooter. Now the ammo you feed it will play a factor but all my precision rifles shoot well for the first 3 shots, there's no settling down. Can't be proven. Now they will speed up as you wear down the lands...
If you're switching ammo, what I'm reading is, I'm asking, that you will switch ammo for longer shots versus closer shots?
If you change ammo you will need to change zeros. Stick to 1 grain bullet after you find what your gun likes and stick to it, at all ranges. No changing things up.
Best would be to reload your own, lots of factory Lead free ammo won't produce the best groups. But 1.5 MOA at 200 yards is fine. Most guys can't hold 3 inches difference off hand at 300 yards, that's 1 MOA , well an MOA is 1.047" but I won't split hairs on this forum. So live with that group and know most guys can't hold off hand 3" at 300 yards so that isn't an issue .
Thanks. To your question, here is the thinking:
1) Out to a certain distance (probably somewhere between 200 and 300 yards, depending on elevation and other variables), normal lead-free bullets (like the Barnes TTSX and Nosler E-Tips) should be a reliable performer on medium big game out of my 6.5 creedmoor with 24'' barrel.
2) I expect that the majority of hunting shots that I will be taking for the time being will be within that range, so that's good.
3) But I'd like to extend my effective range just in case a longer range shot is required.
4) The Barnes LRX bullet seems to have a longer effective range out of a 6.5 creedmoor with a 24'' barrel..... probably more like somewhere between 300 and 375 yards. This seems to be one of the main things that it was designed for........ expansion at lower velocities than the TTSX bullet.
5) Certain lead bullets like the Accubond long-range and ELD-X would seem to have an even longer effective range.
6) One approach could be just to pick the LRX, Accubond LR, or ELD-X and use it for all ranges. But this runs into problems for me. For the Barnes LRX, I can't get enough of it with the shortage and I'm also not sure whether it is great for the more likely short ranges (I know they market it as great for anything and everything, but I have my doubts). I definitely have these same doubts about short-range/high velocity performance of the Accubond long-range bullets. I've seen a lot of bad feedback about short range shots with these bullets. Also, since it's a lead bullet, I won't be able to use it for my upcoming hunts since it has to be lead-free. Same problems with the ELD-X although the high velocity performance issue seems to be less of a problem than with the Accubond long-range.
7) So, my thought was to sight in with a normal lead-free bullet and be ready to use that ammo at shorter ranges, but also build knowledge and skill around using a long-range bullet at longer ranges. The thought is that I just need to know where the long-range ammo is hitting at the longer ranges and then shoot accordingly if I ever need to take a long-range shot ..... which is more or less what I'd have to do with any bullet given that 6.5 creedmoor (with 200y zero) starts falling out of MPBR for medium big game at some point before 300 yards. In fact, if I'm lucky and the POI is just a few inches higher than the normal ammo, that might just make my life easier. But since I won't be using both bullets at any one given range, it should not be confusing.... at ranges out to X yards, use ammo 1 and it will be within MPBR ... at ranges past X yards, use ammo 2 and adjust for its known POI at the relevant distance.
Anyway, not sure if that makes sense but that is the thinking. Laying it all out there so you more knowledgeable folks can tell me where I'm going wrong. I do know that I've seem multiple people on this and other sites saying that they use different bullets at different ranges, so if I'm an idiot (I might be) I'm not the only one.
On the MOA, I'm hopeful that I can tighten up the groups for the Nosler E-Tips and maybe get under .75 MOA at 200 yards with a better wind situation and better shooting by me. So, it sounds like that load is doing pretty well for me considering it is factory ammo with a light monolithic bullet. I might also be getting some Barnes TTSX and giving them a try.