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I live in utah, I completely understand. That's why I dual load and why I chose the hammer 140 as my carry load. It's got good enough ballistics to be easily shootable for an intermediate like me at 600 in light wind and it's flat enough that 3-450 require layup holdovers with a 100y zero, and 500 is still a snap without dialing. It is freakishly flat, to me, and hits hard. The BC isn't awesome but sheer speed makes it very forgiving. The 180 isn't exactly clunky either. I've hit cans in field positions from 300 to 600 using holdovers with that thing. Just bracketing with a varmint reticle. It's so ballistically good that it has a very steady decay, it's not like it's rainbow. And once you're dialing, you're dialing. The 168 accubond long range was excellent too, has the balanced ballistics you're looking for if you can get it to 2850. I my gun that actually had the best external ballistics of all. Lower BC than some but I got enough speed that it passed everything else. Those 162 pills are a fantastic choice too, not disparaging them at all if you can get them. One is not better than the other, not saying that, I'm just letting you know you have a LOT of great options should you run into supply issues and gouging, especially with your action. I ran hundreds of pages of numbers for proper ballistics and found dual loading fun and a lot easier than I expected, and now I just feel really confident with that setup. It's such a cool round, it would be a smash today. It took Hornady 20 years to repackage the principles, make it longer than it needs to be, and get it back out there.
I have used the 131 HH, devastating terminal performance, I have them going at 3190 fps with 62.2 gr of H4831sc, obviously work up the load.
It could be a little heavy for coues I guess, I don't know how much mass they need for resistance to open up and transfer energy but someone on here can give you the answer. The ballistics and speed combo are a great match, but the 119 also had a great BC/fps ratio, I almost got that one but I wanted extra insurance on cow elk in timber. Steve said it really didn't matter, but it made me feel good. I shot my buck at 55y, so it's not the best comparison for you but my partner was extremely impressed by the performance. It does not, as some folks will claim, behave like a FMJ after the petals come off. It was incredibly devastating but the contained fragmentation meant I didn't destroy half the deer at 3200fps. If you decide you need tips let me know or ask around, but to me the absolute hammers are the way to go in this case capacity even though they require some different juju. (lower friction, harder to get to full pressure, but faster.) In terms of hitting a small target like a coues you're not going to find a more accurate bullet than the hammers.
yes. Most people I have asked feel they're interchangeable. I used a bunch and couldn't tell the difference when I mixed them in. The M is just a little extra insurance, the rumor is that they're made in the same place on the same machines, just by the most experienced staff. Dunno if that's true, but it sounds cool.
yup. with everything. Edit, I'm using 210M mostly. You don't need mag primers for the saum. Some folks get a little extra gas when using slow powder in long setups, but other folks get subpar results. fed 215 is the magnum primer. 210M is large rifle Match. If that's what you're wondering about. fed 210 is about the hottest large rifle primer anyway I think, it's already fairly juiced.
Haven't had an issue with the heavy to shoot.
