Are certain cartridges "inherently accurate"?

I believe that some cartridges are more accurate than others. IIRC, MSgt Sams (now retired) of the US Army built Army pistol team M9 Berettas that would shoot .5" groups at 50 yards (w/M882 issue Ball ammo not MATCH ammo). So it seems that the 9x19 is more accurate than the .45ACP
Robb
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Thibault:
Short and chubby bullets at moderate velocities? That seems to be over-simplified, just take a look at the 6.5x55: long, slender 156gr. bullet travelling slow with a 8 1/2 twist... and hard to beat accuracy (ask the soviets what they tought of the swedes in Finland!)[/quote]

Who said short, chubby bullets? I said short chubby powder columns. I agree that longer bullets are accurate. The 6.5 Sweede is just as accurate as the .308 or the .223. Again, we're not talking Minutes of Angle here, just a tiny bit of improvement. This is more of a Benchrest discussion than one of anecdotal evidence.

The Swedish Mauser is twice the rifle that the Russian M91 is. That the 6.5 was more accurate in that rifle is pretty much a given. My assertion is that a 6mm PPC has more inherent accurach than the Sweede by nature of its construction. I'd rather have the 6.5 in battle though as it is more reliable in feeding and ignition. It's also more forgiving.
 
Sorry, Badger, I admit I understood it all wrong....
But the 6.5 cartridge is anything but chubby ;)
Me no shoot benchrest, me shoot critters, so me may be on top of me head... :)
 
I always lecture people when they buy a gun because they heard the cartridge is more accurate than another. Take for instance the original post talking about the .308 versus the .30-06. In reality, the .308 might edge out the .30-06 by as much as 20% in terms of accuracy. The total proportion this amounts to in a rifle is about 1%. Buying the .308 based on that is like buying a Mustang and thinking that 92 octane will make the car perform better than 91 octane. To carry the comparisson out to the absurd, if you buy a Rolls Royce, you might get enough more out of that 1% octane to make it worth the extra effort.
 
I shoot benchrest.

I've got three calibres I play with with the BR rifle - 6PPC, 6BR, and .22PPC (0.070" short). The PPCs are the more accurate, but that's likely because of the use of the BR barrel is more toward varminting. My best small group to date in registered competition was 0.132" for five shots at 100 yards.

My 6PPC performs best with 68 gr. Barts Custom Bullets and a case full of H322 (I load to the point where I _almost_ am popping primers - the heck with those "moderate" pressures - the gun shoots well this way). I haven't chrony'ed this load, but I'm guessing I'm pushing it at about 3450 fps or so...

Many folks will discount the accuracy of these rifles after shooting 'em once - You've gotta either shoot on a calm day, or use wind flags, or you're going to have a lot of horizontal dispersion. I had several quarter inch groups at 200 yards at the Nationals this year that became 3/4" groups when I misjudged the wind... In short, these rifles will shoot better than you say that you can shoot after you've had a few beers with your buddies...

Other rifle calibres I've got are .308 (half inch accuracy in a Savage), .22-250 (shoots in the low/mid threes), .243 (currently becoming a 6/284), and a .223 masterblaster...
 
Baderarms,

I didn't understand your last post.

Are you saying that there isn't any real world difference between a rifle in .308 and one in .30-06? Or am I just horribly confused??
 
Boy I miss Gale sometimes. He had more of this kind of info floating around in his head than the rest of us combined.

My .02- Get off the benchrest, head out for the field and see what happens in a test of practical accuracy. My bet is 95 out of 100 shooters won't be able to discern the difference between the .308 and ought six.
 
Hell, 95 out of 100 BENCH REST shooters couldn't tell the difference between the .308 and the 30-06. Yes, I'll assert that practical accuracy in those two cartridges is identical. We aren't talking about the difference between the 22 PPC and the 7.62 Russian here. The -06 and .308 are virtually identical in terms of construction.
 
The .308 is a bit more efficient in powder utilization, especially with lighter bullets. With 180s and above, you'll want the .30-06. The .308 will also show a slight edge over the .30-06, even when shot by benchresters. This is basically due to the shorter powder column, which results in more efficient and consistent powder ignition.

Personally, I prefer a .308 and 165 gr. ballistic tips. I suspect that .308s are as a rule more accurate because they're generally owned by folks who are a bit more accurate - On the other hand, the average .30-06 or .30-30 is owned by a guy who is happy to hit the deer. A gun shop near me handles some reloading supplies, but when I asked if they could order some precision supplies for me, the reply was "Hey, it shoots well enough to hit the game, right?"
 
At the National Matches in the 1960s, statistical analysis of both the USGI ammo (using the only Okay 173-gr FMJBT) as fired in test barrels at ranges to 600 yards, and statistical analysis of the actual SCORES fired by the competitors, it was found....

drum roll....

That the 7.62mm Match ammo was measurably and predictably and consistently more accurate than the .30-06 M72 Match ammo. From test barrels and as fired by humans in the military rifles, both match-tuned and rack grade. Large populations in every sample, to the data are reliable.

I can look up some test barrel stats tomorrow if you guys want.

So, yes, some cartridges *tend* to be more accurate than others.
 
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