Can it be said that a Cartridge isn't as accurate?

J

Jamie Young

New member
There seems to be some debate that the .308 is a more accurate cartridge than the 30/06 because of the case. Can anyone really prove that? Is it true?
Is a bottle neck cartridge more accurate than a cylinder shaped cartridge like an M1 Carbines.
Is it always the gun that makes the difference or can it be the Cartridge?
 
C

Charlie Lima

New member
Granted there are a lot of variables in creating accuracy. It is true however that some cartridges seem to fall into that area much easier than others. The .308 is one of them. Case design is one of the reasons for the big ad campaign by Winchester on their sooperhootie WSM series. The bench rest shooters have found that a short fat case seems to be more efficient than a longer one. Has to do with the ease of igniting the powder charge in a uniform manner. Uniformity is the key to accuracy, be it with the cartridge or your shooting technique.
 
J

Jamie Young

New member
If you take the same powder charge and put it in a Bottle neck cartridge would the pressure change?
I've also hear there are Reliabilty differences in Semi Auto's due to case design?
 
A

Art Eatman

Staff in Memoriam
Whoa up a bit. First off, the .308 is a bit more efficient in its use of powder than the .30-'06, okay? You have the same sort of comparison between the .300 WSM and the old standby .300 WinMag. However, efficiency isn't the same as accuracy.

By efficiency is meant that for a given amount of powder, the "short fat Fannie" cartridge gets more velocity. The longer case needs more powder for that velocity--but because you can cram even more into it, it will get a higher muzzle velocity. It's pretty obvious when you look at the loading data tables.

As for accuracy, it seems that the shorter case allows a shorter-length receiver which is stiffer--and this is what leads to better accuracy. Whether or not this difference is important depends on whether you're hunting game animals or target-shooting in competion. If the former, forget the difference: It's not enough to matter.

As far as accuracy in straight taper, non-bottleneck cartridges, I dunno. I can only comment that the .22 rimfire is highly accurate.

Art
 
M

Mike Irwin

Staff
Generally, it also seems that cartridges that don't have a lot of excess airspace between the base of the bullet and the powder charge tend to have a little more inherent accuracy potential, just as mildly compressed loads often show a little better accuracy than those loads with airspace.

Perhaps it's an ignition consistency issue?
 
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