When I had my rifle made I chose a Benchmark barrel because at the time there were a lot of benchrest shooters winning with Benchmark. I liked the idea of supporting a lesser known barrel maker.

I did not have to look too hard to find a lot of Lapua Midas that would shoot 25 shot groups right around 1" at 100meters in the best possible weather conditions I could test in. I initially started shooting 10 shot groups of many different lots of Lapua. I tried RWS and some lower end Eley. I did not want to try high end Eley for fear that my barrel would really like it. Tried to find the best cheapest ammo I thought I could afford.

I got my Lilja bbl in about 2 weeks but had to wait 6 months for the mechanic to chamber it and put it on my action. The 6.5 x 47 shoots way under 1 minute, too bad I can't.