Excellent observation.

In the other aftermarket barrels I have tried, a couple Shilens and one McGowen, there was no clear margin of one manufacturer over another. Having said that, I have been shooting Criterions exclusively for the last couple of years, and have been primarily focusing on Hornady and Sierra bullets.

There are obviously a plethora of bullet makers to choose from, these are simply the two brands that seem to offer the most choices for the most applications at a decent price. I've had good luck with Noslers in the past, very limited experience with Bergers, they didn't do any better than the others. I've heard that Swifts are great hunting bullets, don't know that they work any better than a GameKing or an Interbond.

One of the greatest frustrations and one of the greatest joys of this sport is figuring out what a barrel likes.