What constitutes “inherently accurate “?

[rustyshackleford]

So, if you look across the board at BR shooters and see most use 6BRs of some kind you would not call that an inherently accurate cartridge? If it were not, than you would see a variety of different cartridges?

Sorry, but I am still stuck on the idea.

We'll know in a decade or so if it's a fad or if it's science. I remember reading an article about this guy in Texas with a 300m indoor range and he deduced that basically smaller bores are more accurate, 22 being more accurate than 6mm and 6mm more so than 6.5mm. I'm honestly surprised no one is shooting a 224 Valkyrie in Benchrest or short-ish PRS matches. But maybe they are. I'm not that dialed in with that community.

 

[Poppadoer]

Like it or not there is an inherent accuracy in cartridges, rifles, bullets, etc., that is relative to "x" relationship.

I take it,that "X" is the human doing the shooting?X=human error

 

[TwoMore]

I am puttin together the tools and parts for a 338-300 WSM now

Inherent accuracy means no crazy load development....most any powder and most any bullet shoots great...

I've had extensive experience with three "inherent " accurate cartridges.

6BR
17mIV
6.5CM

As I have with 260rem 300 wsm, 7 wsm, 7mmRM, 338 edge, 338 rum plus a few more and I bet when I finish my 338 wsm it will pop small holes starting at .338

 

[ntsqd]

Not going to read all now 8 pages, but IME an "inherently accurate cartridge" is one that, as others have said, has wide nodes and exhibits low SD & ES characteristics.
"Inherently accurate cartridge" is really the wrong phrase. "Inherently consistent cartridge" is a much better phrase. If a cartridge is consistent then it is much easier for the shooter to be accurate.

Combine an "inherently consistent cartridge" with a rifle tuned to be accurate, that is to say has all of the features known to enhance accuracy while having none of the features known to destroy accuracy, and you have a rifle and cartridge that can make the shooter perform really well.

 

[Rick Richard]

I am puttin together the tools and parts for a 338-300 WSM now

As I have with 260rem 300 wsm, 7 wsm, 7mmRM, 338 edge, 338 rum and I bet when I finish my 338 wsm it will pop small holes starting at .338

Seeing more 300 WSMs on the line at 1000 yard matches especially if there is a wind.

 

[nicholasjohn]

"Inherently Accurate" has become a MARKETING Catch phrase in the gun community.
Sorry. Nothing more.
If that disappoints you, makes you angry and wanna stomp your feet,
Go ahead.
Get it out of your system.

If you're drinking the kool aid, you believe something a salesperson told you, you don't know enough about rifles, cartridges, etc to DISPROVE it, so your brain rationalizes it must be true!!

Sorry. Not true.
Neither was the "Belted Magnum" hogwash... but yet we all like to get a giggle out of the people who fall for this crap.

Eh, well. No skin in this game, so I'll leave you to it.

Where's that popcorn?....

Has anybody traced this commonly used catch phrase back to the first hunting/shooting magazine writer who said it ? I think that's where this all started, and the phrase "inherently accurate" has been in use for several decades. One guy said it, and everybody else repeated it. Therefore, it is the gospel.

It was the same people who decided that we need X-number of foot-pounds of energy to kill an elk, and anything less is unacceptable - and you are an "un-ethical" hunter. I think that if you can get the rifle/cartridge to shoot accurately enough for its intended purpose ( killing the animals YOU shoot at the ranges YOU typically shoot them ) then your cartridge is inherently accurate enough for YOU.

 

[michael carlucci]

by my experience accuraccy by how much an inch 5shots or less or 1.5 inches or two inches.i have had maybe half a dozen 300 win mags and a couple of300 weatherbys none would shoot under an inch.savage a and model 700 rems.the only guns i had that would shoot under an inch were 7mm rem mags that were hot loaded using cradles or on sandbags 160 grs clocking 3140fps mostly sierras and 140 ballistic tips 3325 to 3350.

 

[Shadowwalker]

I dont believe there is such a thing. I think there are cartridges that are more efficient and easier to load for and get better SD and ES, but they can all be accurate if built correctly.

The 6br and variants are inherently accurate. It's pretty undeniable. Look at the benchrest cartridges racking up wins and records. It's sad but cartridges like the 6.5x284 is all but dead in 1000 yrd
Benchrest competitions. The 6 dashers and 6bra s Are the way to go. And it can't be dismissed as a fad since they broke the hell outa the previous records. Look at 100 and 200 meter competitions. The 6ppc has ruled the ranges for years. It's just inherently accurate.

 

[DJ Fergus]

I think the phrase " inherently accurate" will eventually go away and less people will use it. A more suitable phrase that covers all the bases would be something like " good design, great design" etc... If a person can say if a cartridge is "designed well" or not ,he should be able to give you the reason he knows it is designed well or not. Any one can throw out a blanket statment like "inherently accurate" about a cartridge and have no other clue about it other than for some reason it typically shoots good most of the time in several different rifles.

 

[Shadowwalker]

Thank you for doing your homework. Of course there inherently accurate cartridges. Like Mach said look at competition results. They are not using them because they do NOT work. Get real here guys. Distance and game alter the equation as new elements enter into the equation when selecting a ctg.
There are a lot of things that need to be present to make the magic happen. First off there is a ratio of case capacity to bullet diameter that affects accuracy, great bullets, primer size/type, flash hole diameter, seating depth, velocity, consistent powder, seating depth....it goes on and on.
Like a good soup, all the ingredients need to be there for it to taste good.

 

[clownbuster]

Its usually decided by the owner saying it'll shoot "in the teens all day long", "lights out", or a variation of the two together. That's when you know for sure.

 

[FEENIX]

I take it,that "X" is the human doing the shooting?X=human error

Yes, that can be one of the variables or part of the hypothesis depending on the nature of your research design, i.e., correlational, causal- comparative, etc., and the extent or tyoe of relatiobship you are trying to research.

 

[DavidA]

To me it seems that cartridges developed this terminology in a search to describe what appears to be a accurate cartridge. Like many of the post on this topic, any cartridge can be deadly accurate it is a marriage between, cartridge, receiver, cambering, bullets and loading criteria that make this all happen. Hell even the 6.5 Creedmoor I am inclined to think in principle that shorter powder stacks relative to diameter tend to provided more uniform pressure curve and hence produce more accurate outcomes but there are no guarantees. But depending just on how much tinkering and gunsmithing you want to do any caliber can be made crazily accurate

 

[TwoMore]

I still wouldn't call it inherently accurate. I would say it is efficient for its use, in the 30 to 35 grain range a load, low recoil massively long neck for chasing lands that wont be moving quickly, its a givin why people like it, and that is the real reason . They have been shooting freakin accurate cartridges for ever, they are migrating to the most efficient longest lasting chamber they can. listen I am in no way saying it isnt accurate, that would be stupid.but to say one chamber is more accurate to another that is just A lil off to me . well heck I have a cheap 45-70 that can shoot .250 at 100 with factory ammo lol but I ant shootin it at a deer at 500+

There are a lot of things that need to be present to make the magic happen. First off there is a ratio of case capacity to bullet diameter that affects accuracy, great bullets, primer size/type, flash hole diameter, seating depth, velocity, consistent powder, seating depth....it goes on and on.
Like a good soup, all the ingredients need to be there for it to taste good.

you said it yourself all of those things help even the most inefficient cartridge. like I said before even an inefficient cartridge can be accurate