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

[Calvin45]

Let's go down the rabbit hole. What is the most fussy cartridge you've ever had to deal with? You eventually got it to shoot acceptably but with much heartache and effort or maybe only shooting 1 particular load acceptably and shotgunning all others.

On the flip, whats the cartridge you found that can do no wrong? Whatever you throw together shoots well and just plain makes it looks easy.

Oh for sake you're at it again!!!! . Stirring up trouble among the brethren!

Okay I'll play. In my own experience which is no doubt a lot less than a lot of guys on here, the fussiest cartridge I've ever worked with HANDS DOWN is the .220 Swift. I've heard similar things from many, it's not just a case of a picky rifle. The .22-250 is almost as powerful, nowhere near as cool , but much less finicky. The .220 swift is like Henry Ford saying you could have a model T in any colour so long as it was black. It shot great with any load so long as it was a 55 grain flat base on top of a max charge of imr4064. Did amazing with that, absolutely sucked with literally anything else, powder and bullet wise.

Least fussy to me has still got to be the boring old .308 Winchester. It's boring because you just slap together pretty much any load and it likes it…where's the fun in that???

 

[simo hayha]

This is more about the chamber/job, and bore geometry , and if the bullet likes the bore then anything else really.

That said get a 308 or 6br....loll

 

[iShoot17]

The absolute easiest I have ever personally dealt with was a 17 Hornet.

I helped a buddy with a 7mm-08 that was by far the must difficult I have ever dealt with.

 

[Calvin45]

I also want to add a "most surprising" category haha. By all accounts the .257 weatherby should be tricky to find a great load for and shouldn't be capable of easy accuracy the way more efficient and modern design cartridges are. It's VERY overbore, so that's a strike against it not being picky - more efficient cartridges are generally less fussy. It has a ton of freebore…another strike. It is belted AND had that weird shoulder geometry that further complicates the headspacing equation….another strike. And for sure, it's not a benchrest cartridge. But I've been so surprised by my experience with it.

My rifle is not custom or even high end in any sense, it's a totally unmodified weatherby vanguard s2 stainless synthetic. And she's a keeper. Literally any load I've made so far has entailed seating to the cannelure or groove, or if the bullet doesn't have that just seating to mag length and working up to pressure signs then backing off a little. No messing around with many powders and depths and so on….I ain't got barrel life for that! . And I bought this rifle USED! Used rifles chambered in weatherbys and rums are always a bit of a gamble haha. But I have yet to feed it anything it won't shoot into about 3/4 of an inch if I do my part, and sometimes a good bit better.

This is a sporter weight rifle with a thin barrel that isn't free floating shooting a grossly overbore cartridge that headspace's on the belt not the shoulder (and I do full length resize) and has gobs of freebore and a decent amount of already extant throat erosion. And it's ABSOLUTELY among the least fussy rifles I've ever had the pleasure to load for and shoot. I don't get it…..but I'm keeping it!!!

 

[338weatherby]

Hardest for me, 300WSM and 338-378 Weatherby, both are gone and were factory rifles

Easiest, 7x57AI, 7 SAUM, and 338-06, still have and all are custom

Agree with all previous posts, chamber and rifle have more to do with it.

 

[IHFarmer07]

.224 Valkyrie for the most fussy!

 

[TR1Hemi]

12 gauge slug gun past 125 yards with 3.5" Sabots. I shoot like I would in the field, so no bench or lead sled. After the first shot, I have made my second shot easier by letting the recoil and scope move my nose out of the way, high on my forehead. Then because my right shoulder is now bent back like a wishbone, I have to shoot the second confirming shot left handed. After a little praying and grimacing, I shoot the second shot, and call it sighted in. The only benefit is now I can clap with my shoulder blades as they are almost touching.

Least fussy has been all of my customs. Do a little research on starting loads, load Bergers or Accu Bond LR and accuracy has never been an issue. All are .5 MOA or better. My 22-250AI and my smokeless ML are the most accurate. One hole at 100 yards.

Big mistake slug shooters make sighting in is letting the fore end flip unchecked. Big heavy bullet moving fairly slow in a long barrel, muzzle rise matters. Sight in with out holding the forestock, and in the field it will be low.

 

[TR1Hemi]

Been an interesting read, noticed the 224 Val mentioned a few times, I dont have one, but it kind of surprises me.

Fussiest other than anything Slug, Muzzle loader, or Rimfire, has actually been a poorly chambered custom/aftermarket. One was a 6 x 6.8 chambered cockeyed. The other was a Stoner 308 AR10 that the throat looked like it had been cut by a beaver. Apparently lube or cleaning chips is not required at Stoner. It was an $80 barrel on sale at Midway, I was embarrassed for them. Tell me they did not know they had issues.

 

[IHFarmer07]

Been an interesting read, noticed the 224 Val mentioned a few times, I dont have one, but it kind of surprises me.

Fussiest other than anything Slug, Muzzle loader, or Rimfire, has actually been a poorly chambered custom/aftermarket. One was a 6 x 6.8 chambered cockeyed. The other was a Stoner 308 AR10 that the throat looked like it had been cut by a beaver. Apparently lube or cleaning chips is not required at Stoner. It was an $80 barrel on sale at Midway, I was embarrassed for them. Tell me they did not know they had issues.

All I can tell you on the Valkyrie, look up all the issues, you will read for DAYS! You can also watch videos for days probably on YouTube with reloaders that tried the cartridge in the beginning……maybe thats the issue but I still have mine in a bolt gun and I will be selling the barrel and everything Valkyrie sometime soon when I get free time to look through everything Valkyrie. Mine shoots great though once figured out but I want something with more speed like the 22gt.

 

[dogz]

As much as I love and enjoy the 25/06 the pretty much every darn one I've had or I've worked with has about driven me to drink.

As for the easiest it's a toss up between the 308 and believe this or not...the 340 Wby's (all custom barrels) have all been lights out shooters!

 

[orkan]

All I can tell you on the Valkyrie, look up all the issues, you will read for DAYS! You can also watch videos for days probably on YouTube with reloaders that tried the cartridge in the beginning……maybe thats the issue but I still have mine in a bolt gun and I will be selling the barrel and everything Valkyrie sometime soon when I get free time to look through everything Valkyrie. Mine shoots great though once figured out but I want something with more speed like the 22gt.

Having the worst brass in the history of the world certainly doesn't help.

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[IHFarmer07]

Having the worst brass in the history of the world certainly doesn't help.

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Bingo Greg! Starline isn't bad but its still not adg, lapua, peterson etc…..
What really killed it was the reamer issues(I think that is what ended up being the main issue), the rifling trist rate debate and weather the 90smk will stabilize……just not good out the gate.
I will get the 22arc in the AR15 platform probably though and also the 22gt……I thought I was going to get the 22 creed but is over bore for my liking.

 

[orkan]

I thought I was going to get the 22 creed but is over bore for my liking.

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[IHFarmer07]

Your man card...

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That's funny right there!! I will look into it vs the 22gt before I pull the trigger on one or the other.
I look at the amount out powder it takes to get a certain speed, and to me the 22gt is around the 22br/bra, but they are more efficient with the amount of powder it takes to get to that speed than the 22 creed. As I know you know, case fill makes a difference and if the case isn't full, thats not good.

22 creed is a great chambering, it's the 22-250 that should've been(don't like the 22-250 because it constantly gets shoved down peoples throats that its the best there is because it can shoot low bc 50-55g bullets 4k+……thats not going to help at long range and definitely not with a wind), not a fan of shooting blazing speeds with extremely light bullets and low bc bullets, makes no sense to me as a little wind will make bigger differences with those low bc bullets.