For the uses you describe, I personally prefer a straight ball seat throat long enough the chamber the longest bullet desired, with it's gas check barely inside the case neck. From this straight throat, a gentle taper down to groove diameter is necessary, 1 1/2 degrees per side being adaquate. The throat diameter should be .001 larger than groove diameter, and bullets sized for a close slip fit, then seated to, VERY LIGHTLY contact the taper if possible, or jump a little. A long driving band, 1/8 inch or longer, can handle a substantial jump without problems if velocity is held a bit below max for the ctg. I have jumped them for close to 5/8 of an inch with near full loads in a 30-06, with accuracy around 2 - 2 1/2 inches at 100 yards, which is excellent from an old worn Springfield which I was using, where the throat was actually tapered but bullets fitted to give the above results. With this type throat you have great lattitude in usable bullet weights, and fixed ammo will allways chamber easily, while bullets will never be pulled when live rounds are extracted from the chamber. These are MANDATORY requirements for hunting and field use ammo.
The winningest benchrest shooters are using tapered throats with bullets swaged (they call it bumped) to an exact fit, to chamber with only the gas check inside the case neck. The arrangement allows NO tipping of the bullet on takeoff, as it is tightly engaged full length in the throat before it starts. Friction is quite low because a good portion of the bullet is smaller than groove diameter as it travels up the bore, hence, lube requirements are lower than for John Wayne style ammo, which the rest of us shooters MUST have to be happy with performance.
