This has also been my experience, especially with the Barnes. While I've only worked with the .30cal 150, 168 & 180's & the 7mm 140MRX; we've shot several hundred of them... if not more.
OP- what ranges are you intending to shoot? I can personally recommend the Cutting Edge as a bullet less finicky than Barnes (at least in my experience). They also seem to offer a better BC across the board.
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I would think that 500-600 yards would realistically be as far as I'm looking to go with the caveat that a few years ago I thought 350-400 was going to be my max and anymore that doesn't really seem that far, so I wouldn't want to limit myself if everything was working I may want to stretch it out a bit more.
I would like to try the cutting edge and I've also looked at the gs custom bullets but just haven't tried them yet. Overall I'm starting to confirm what I have learned that a pretty good jump as fast as I care to push them seems to be the formula. I don't mind paying for a better bullet as the Barnes aren't exactly cheap to begin with, but my main focus at this point is to get the clambering and free bore correct to allow the bullets to perform the best.