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

[Austin_Michael]

As stated before, I've worked with fussy rifles not necessarily attributed to cartridge. But I haven't met a 22-250 that was fussy yet, if your 22-250 won't shoot a 50-55 grain with 38 grains of h380 it probably won't shoot. There's a reason Bruce Hodgdon named h380 after that load,it flat works.

Consistently one of the pickiest cartridges I've worked with has been a 243 Winchester. In 4 different rifles they all were very particular about what they shot well. Could just be me too.

My 22-250AI liked your suggestion as a fireforming load. Bruce was on to something.

55 NBT over 38.0gr of H380

The rifle has a 7.5 twist to shoot Barnes 77gr LRX at coyote, deer and hogs. Clearly doesn't mind the light pills...

 

[tribb]

Sorry to hear of your woes with the 7 Mag, Duffman! All the Remingtons I have had in 7 Mag shot tiny groups, bedded, barrel freefloated, trigger adjusted, couple of Savages and A bolts did also. Wierd thing about the 7 Mags is that they love to have the bullet seated very near the lands or just barely touching the lands with certain bullets, and I shoot 9 1/4 and 9" twists with freebores varying from .110(SAAMI) to .210. I do put a muzzle break on all the 7 Mags, and free-floating the magazine box is a must. De-copper the barrel every 20-25 rounds helps tremendously for achieving that bug hole accuracy.

THANK YOU !!!!!! I hope this little truth here will save others the years it cost me to learn this for myself! Especially the free floating of the magazine box !! I read it once 25 plus years ago and it turned my so so 700 into a 3/8 inch tack driver. Don't recall who wrote it or what magazine it was in. Thanks again Tribb

 

[ATH]

I have two 458 SOCOMs, an AR and a bolt gun, and both were a PIA to get to group well. Also two 45-70s, a lever and a revolver, both of those a PIA too. For most bottleneck rounds I follow my typical load development process and get to a load I'm good with. Typically very little drama.

I did recently have a 20 Practical AR that was tough to get a load for, but it wasn't the round but the gun. I have a bolt 20 Practical and it's one of the most accurate guns I own and was easy to tune.

 

[clark33]

280 Ackley for me

 

[TR1Hemi]

I have two 458 SOCOMs, an AR and a bolt gun, and both were a PIA to get to group well. Also two 45-70s, a lever and a revolver, both of those a PIA too. For most bottleneck rounds I follow my typical load development process and get to a load I'm good with. Typically very little drama.

I did recently have a 20 Practical AR that was tough to get a load for, but it wasn't the round but the gun. I have a bolt 20 Practical and it's one of the most accurate guns I own and was easy to tune.

20P is what Ruger should have brought to the table, simple .223 neck down. I had a 204, it was barely worthy of a scope. I think it was all about 4000fps and nothing else. 3950 in a 20P was just not gunna cut it. It was a Savage HBAR 1/11 twist, not sure if it was fast enough for 40gr's.

 

[crkckr]

Interesting thread! One of the hardest rifle I've ever dealt with trying to get it to shoot well was my step-dad's Browning BAR in 300 Win Mag. Wasn't looking for bug holes but something around 1 - 2" would have been nice. Started with Partitions, from 180 to 200 to 165 and 150's... flat out Nope! Finally tried some other 180's (the main goal was an elk round) and 200's, Bear Claws, Sierra's, no mono bullets back then. To be honest, I don't remember what we settled on but about 3.5' at 100 was the best I could do with it! Doesn't matter, in the end he took the whole lot to a pawn shop and set them on the counter and took the guys first offer... including a couple of MY guns while he was at it. It's what you do when have a new, gambling addicted wife!

Easiest has been a custom .308 Win with a trued 700 action and Hart 1:14 barrel. I want to shoot those little mono bullets really fast and so far it hasn't disappointed with anything! Right now it's in the original plastic stock so I might go custom one of these days but so far, no complaints!
Cheers,
crkckr

 

[7mm man]

I have owned multiple 6CM and 6.5CM rifles and they tended to shoot everything well with some outstanding loads. 6.5 PRC shot well out the gate. 7 SAUM not bad, but all of these had premium barrels. I have 280 AI X-Bolt that shoots monometals 1/2 to 3/4 MOA, but shoots everything else around 1 1/2 MOA. So I feed it what it likes and read it bed time stories. A 350 Legend I had was the fussiest. It would end up 3-4 grains under max showing pressure signs for any bullet or powder combo. Also the only time I have seen a blown primer, scared the bejesus out of me. It was an AR-15, but I also used a Kali-Key to bleed off the gas and turn it into a single "bolt action", had the same issues. It seemed to be head spaced right, so I sold it and moved on. Lane Pierce from Shooting Times had quite a few issues with the 350 Legend as well. Very similar to my issues. HE did a column a year or so after it was released. I could never get it to shoot under 3" at 100 yards. Maybe that is ok for a cartridge that shoots .355 diameter bullets, but I crave more precision than that. I understand it is not a 6CM or something like that but the object was it to shoot better than my 12GA REM 1187 with the slug barrel, but it was about the same. And I HATE freaking slugs man.....

 

[ncwg2boatguy]

6.5x47 Lapua has been the easiest cartridge I have ever loaded for . 95-147gr doesn't matter, it's not jump sensative, while the brass is expensive I do anneal it and avg 24-28 loadings on a case. It's ridiculous. I bought a second hand rifle chambered in it to try out PRS yrs ago and love the caliber. 5-8-3/4 moa is usually a bad initial load which comes around with a tad more powder. 300 wm is my nemesis for consistent loads.

 

[denobravo]

easy to tune ...
tune to what ?
a .1 or .2 or under a minute ?
Benchrest will tell you what cartridge is inherently the most accurate, even though IMHO accuraccy shouldnt be used to describe a cartridge.
The rifle barrel is the final say it seems. However 6.5 creed, 308 and other slower cartridges seem to be easy to tune. My 6xc only likes one speed. I am after .2 or better. My 6ppc tells me which load based on the enviroment as I shoot through the day, it changes, but then I am after .1 or better.
Is it the speed that makes them easy? or catridge shape which seems to be the key in accurate cartridges. 6GT, 6ppc, 6BRA, 6dasher etccc
I know everything on here is personal experience and personal observation filtered through interpretation.
But it seems long cartridges and or very fast MV are the hardest to tune, but Short fat cartridges, be they fast or slow seem easier. Just what Ive noticed as I read through the thread.

 

[Swinehunt74]

280 Ackley for me

Spent almost 4K on full custom 280i w/Proof CF barrel and after over 300 rds swapped muzzle brake only to see shavings of brass inside custom brake. Problem solved. Builder refused to refund any on my expenses {powder,bullets, primers etc} over $500, i use the best components…..

 

[highfinblue]

The first time I dipped into the 17's I was rudely greeted by the reality that increments of powder increase was tiny if you didn't want problems, and that little bore could get dirty in a hurry. A 17 Remington was a nightmare for me, and almost convinced me to never shoot anything like it again, but I'm glad I gave it more tries as a 17 Mach IV proved to be a lot of fun, and I've never seen anything besides a 22-250 devastate coyotes like it. My son has a 260 Remington in a Ruger 77 that has the worst trigger on planet earth, and it simply does not matter with that little round. It will shoot anything you feed it well and has been lights out on whitetail for a long time.

 

[257PhilBob]

Hardest was a 7 WSM in a BAR, couldn't get groups under 3", figured it was the action, many easy ones, 6.5x55 swede, 257 Bob, and my new favorite is 358 Norma Mag, RL 19 w 225 gr Barnes and 275 gr Woodleighs along with 250 gr Hornady Interlocks w/ IMR 4350 all clovers.

 

[meatyrem]

I really struggled to get a 243 Win dialed in. Coincidently, my shooting buddy also struggled years prior with a 243.

That's only two examples, but seems finicky.

My 6mm AI will digest just about any bullet and powder combo and shoot sub MOA. 55-85gr bullets over powders like H4350, H4831sc or N160.

My 22-250AI is even easier to tune. 75 ELDM, 77 LRX even 90gr SMKs over the same powders shoot half MOA consistently.

Interested to know what twist you have to run 75-90gr

 

[CogburnR]

FUSSY: 26 Nosler

Easy: 222REM