What is the MOST FUSSY cartridge...and LEAST?

[crkckr]

I think in the end I'm going to have to agree with Stokesrjsr (108), there are no inherently inaccurate cartridges, it all comes down to the action and barrel. The more "custom" the rife is, the easier it is to find a good load, no matter what your accuracy standards are!
Cheers,
crkckr

 

[rooster740]

In the last 5 years I have dealt with great glass, good actions, barrels from several reputable makers and a great gunsmith from Lewistown MT.
I do not push velocity limits because these are primarily match rifles with 3 barrels being wore out match barrels that were recontoured rechambered and shortened for hunting barrels.
From 6BR to 30 Sherman I just can't complain about ease of load development.

In my past I can say I was not knowledgeable and drove nuts by a leupold with parallax at 100 yards on 2 rifles.

 

[lyle2231]

.260 for me was the the fussy one. .223 and 6.5 Creedmoor easy ones.

 

[YZ-80]

My least finniky was the .308 (no surprise). .020 off and 42 grains of Varget shot great in 2 different rifles (Savage FCP-SR and Daniel Defense D5) with the 143 EDL-M. Other "standard" cartridges have given me little if any trouble, averaging 30-40 rounds to develop .5 MOA or less loads (.22-250, .243, .25-06, Crudmore). The 6.5 X 47 and the 6.5-284 were relatively easy too. Of course great bullets help too.

 

[TR1Hemi]

To TR1hemi: I've been a fan of the .45-70 since 1972 and currently own 7 of them. Contrary to your observations it has been one of easiest to achieve 1-1 1/2" 5 shot groups that I've ever owned. If you want your lever actions to shoot straight (M95 Marlins, I assume) use AA2015, VV133 or IMR3031, all with Speer 400 gr. bullets. For a 6 year stint, between 1972 and 1978, living out in the bush of Alaska, specifically, 53 grains of IMR3031 in my then brand new M95 Marlin. Years later I clocked that load at 1808 fps with a standard deviation of only 9 fps. All of my charges with these powders have been around 52-54 grains and be advised they are DEADLY on big game (a little too much on rabbits, though). Also, they deliver a memorable amount of recoil, so you probably won't be shooting a lot of them off a bench rest. To the best of my knowledge, all these loads generate about 35,000 psi and should never be used in lesser strength guns. You're on your own shooting 'em out of a pistol. Because of the cold, I used to use Fed 215 magnum primers, but if you hunt in warmer climates, stand force primers will probably be fine.

I don't have a 45-70, or have ever shot one.

 

[myshootinstinks]

the old 222 Remington, or "triple deuce" is to me the least fussy of any cartridge. While not a factory cartridge the 257 Roberts AI has been fussy, but not impossible. I've owned several and found a narrow variety of sub-moa loads. The 222 will nearly always shoot tiny groups with factory ammo or otherwise.

 

[BD1965]

In my experience it also seems cartridges of more reasonable speed seem to be easier to tune vs ones pushing MV. I have 3 factory bolt action hunting rifles pushing heavy for caliber bullets from 2700-2950fps all <.5moa. 1) Rem 700 police .223(77grOTM) 2) Rem 700 LVSF 7mm-08(140grNBT) 3) Seekins ph2 .300WM(212gr ELDX) but had a Rem 700 in 300Wby couldn't handload better than 1.5"

 

[kraig]

After years of shooting and more guns than I'd ever admit to my wife...I've had factory guns that shot just about everything and ones that would only shoot that one load. I've built guns that have shot just about everything and ones that were disappointing with most everything until tuning in with hand loads. Some with barrels from the same company shoot awesome, then one will be fussy as all get out. I see no real pattern other than the better the barrel and the components the better the chances of not fussy.

By far the least fussy combo I've put together is a 300 win mag of all cartridges with a factory Rem700 action, thick aftermarket lug, and a discounted/2nds Black Hole Weaponry straight taper standard weight barrel sitting in a run of the mill Bell & Carlson stock. It has literally shot 10 different types of factory from 150g - 190g with sub moa accuracy (usually about .75") and often very little point of aim shift. I've never bothered to hand load for it.

I've put together a 458socom, 300PRC, 7mag, 6.5-06, 6.5cm bolt gun that shoots ragged holes with factory ammo and even better with hand loads. (the 300PRC, 6.5-06, & 6.5cm all shoot .3-.5 normally when I do my job & the rare .2-.3 groups but that isn't normal because I'm not that consistent)

On the flip side my .223 "trigger time trainer" that matches my 300PRC in every way has been almost impossible to get to shoot real good. Same barrel mfg, same stock, same chassis, same trigger, same action. It's my punishment for expecting great things and hoping for it to shoot factory ammo for simplicity. Outback 69g factory ammo will shoot about .5 in it but everything else is .75 on up to 2" AND I've tried at least 25 different brands / weights. (so I reload for it because outback ammo isn't always available)

Guess that's a long story for saying, I don't think there is any magic recipe for an accurate gun if you want something that shoots .5 - .75 moa or better. Then again if your idea of accurate is 1-1.5moa then you can buy just about anything these days and get that. I've consistently been able to improve any gun / ammo combo with a tuner though.

We live in great times for shooters. 20 years ago it took a lot more work to get such good shooting guns/ammo.

 

[Critter Picker]

the old 222 Remington, or "triple deuce" is to me the least fussy of any cartridge. While not a factory cartridge the 257 Roberts AI has been fussy, but not impossible. I've owned several and found a narrow variety of sub-moa loads. The 222 will nearly always shoot tiny groups with factory ammo or otherwise.

I had a 222 and fought with it for a while. It would shoot flat base bullets into .5 groups (5 shot) didn't matter what brand bullet you used. It wouldn't shoot a boat tail bullet into an inch to save my soul.

 

[TR1Hemi]

I had a 222 and fought with it for a while. It would shoot flat base bullets into .5 groups (5 shot) didn't matter what brand bullet you used. It wouldn't shoot a boat tail bullet into an inch to save my soul.

FB bullets tend to be a lot shorter in overall length, thus do not need as much twist rate. They also have more bearing length. I feel that was the issue with my 204. The only heavy bullet it would shoot reasonably well was the Sierra 39gr, which while listed as a BT it does not have much of one. Anything near 40gr AND a boat tail, was a shotgun pattern.

 

[Csbc4fun]

Quality action and barrel chambered and put together by a quality gunsmith. Quality brass and bullets. Erik Cortina load development process. No fuss, Done!

 

[Lee Goodwin]

Just to contribute:
The most fun least fussy cartridge, for me, has been the 243. Pretty accurate, no matter what I foul up.
The fussy one: 308
Same case , necked at .308
I am gonna guess here,
Heavy bullet, limited case capacity. Very narrow margin of powder grains to pick from in each load. Kind of boring? Seems to kick a bit harsh in the old skeleton stock Ruger m77.
I just moved on...

 

[MachV]

The 5.7x28 is little $#|? But it can be done on the other extreme the 6.5 Swede has been an easy reload as Just about anything works

 

[timo308]

The least fussy cartridge is without a doubt the 6mm BRA.

The most fussy are every single old cartridge with a shallow shoulder angle, lots of body taper, and too much brass length to actually work properly with heavy-for-cal bullets at magazine length.

I still remember when the 6.5 Creedmoor came out, and those people were talking about how the 260 remington was superior.
Then the 6 Creedmoor came out, and they said the 243win was superior.
Now the 22 creedmoor is releasing, and they are all saying the 22-250 is superior.

Every single one of these cartridges has a shallower shoulder and more body taper, which we KNOW is worse for virtually every internal ballistic metric. The newer creedmoors can beat every single one of them in the accuracy/precision department, with light or heavy bullets, but yet people still act like it's open for discussion.


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As a huge proponent of cartridge cases which display minimum body taper and a shoulder angle between 35° and 45° such as the Ackley Improved, ICL, CCC, etc, cartridge designs I fully concur. That being said, I would still take the Ackley Improved version of each of those older case designs over the Creedmoor design itself, especially since those 3 examples can be easily made from Lapua brass. That being said, I have built many rifles for customers in the 3 older cartridge designs you discussed that absolutely will stack bullets one on top of the other, seemingly without issue.