Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Surprising Cartridges for Inherent Accuracy?

I don't know that I buy the concept of inherent accuracy, but since I see it proffered so frequently on the interweb, why not do a little exercise in that area?

The .308 Win is usually held up as a beacon of "inherent accuracy." What are some others that don't get the same amount of love in that area? For instance, there seem to be unexpectedly large numbers of users reporting excellent accuracy with .35 Whelens. My sample size of 2 ( ) has borne this out.

Your Experiences?

FC

I would say that I have had very good luck with 358 winchester, and 358 Norma too. I wonder if its easier to make a uniform bullet when the caliber is bigger. of course one hole groups are a lot easier with a 358 than a 6mm and that might account for part of the feeling.

30.30 in an old Savage 340 bolt gun with good hand loads will surprise any number of people.

F C -

I'm NOT a believer in "inherent accuracy" in cartridges.

I've had a few rifles that were NOT inherently accurate but with a little tinkering they were capable of +/- 1" groups.

I've HAD a long list of cartridges up and including 338 WM, 358 Win, 35 Whelen. With a GOOD rifle accuracy was EASILY obtained.

I emphasized 'good rifle'; I had a BBR in 300 WM and even after it RETURNED from Morgan Utah it THREW 1 shot out of 4 out of the group. It wasn't the SAME # of round shot and it didn't throw the 'out' round in the same direction. Even Browning couldn't FIX it.

That BBR was NOT inherently accurate, needless to say I don't have it anymore.

There are a LOT of cartridges (in good rifles) that WIN long range competition.

That's my opinion and I'm stickin tuit. <G>

noKnees,

It is indeed easier to make uniform (well-balanced) bullets in larger calibers. When I had a Juenke Bullet Concentricity Gauge for a couple of years, which measures internal balances of jacketed bullets, bullets from .35 up regularly showed excellent concentricity. Bullets below .35 varied considerably more from box to box. No doubt this was because small imperfections in jacket thickness meant relatively less than in smaller bullets.

Bullet concentricity is probably the most important factor in bullet accuracy. It's certainly more important than individual weight, or even to a certain extent uniform diameter.

[quote=noKnees]
... of course one hole groups are a lot easier with a 358 than a 6mm and that might account for part of the feeling.
[/quote

That's very interesting.

Probably the MOST ACCURATE rifle I've EVER OWNED was a Rem 700 BDL 6mm Rem. I had an ADL in 30-06 that was very close.

That 6mm was the EASIEST to load for accuracy I ever had.

You had to try to find a load that wasn't accurate.

IMO it was the rifle for ME and YOU.

The most inherently accurate round is the 222 Remington , it would be hard to find a load that didn't shoot under a MOA or better

The .250-3000 Savage family of cartridges should be considered.....

.35 Whelen, and I've had pretty good luck with .270 Wins.

6.5 X 55. I think you'll find plenty of agreement on it.

By what sample of rifles does any cartridge be judged as being Inherently Accurate? Sport rifles? Target rifles? Sniper rifles? Bolt actions, Semi-automatics, Single shots? Standard twist rates, etc...

To paraphrase a gun writer, there are lots of inherently accurate rifles and cartridges.

Where are the inherently accurate shooters?

I believe in a Hornady manual they stated the 460 Wby. was easy to work with from a ballistics and accuracy standpoint. Recoil was another question.

Actually, accuracy is not so dependant on cartridge shape, size or whatever ... it's a matter of the 4 B's

Barrel, Bedding, Bullets and Brass.

Excellent examples of each "B" and accuracy simply follows. No magic there.

So given all four B's in place, are there differences between cartridges?

300 JARRETT.

Not in my experience, though it is easier to shoot a lighter recoiling cartridge better.

I remember talking to Mike Walker several years ago and he told me that there was just a tiny accuracy difference in their 40X rifles, smallest cartridge to largest. Obviously, in his testing, all environmental variables were minimal; shooting in an indoor range. no wind and diff in light to deal with.

IME, There are inherently accurate rifles!

But not inherently accurate cartridges!

Actions ... absolutely.

My experience is that there are a lot of yoyos posting on the Internet.
No further at this time.