We have a thread dealing with the best bullet so how about the bullet that you found to be the worst in your rifles.For me it would be the scirocco.I have tried it in two rifles in two bullet weights and accuracy was very poor.In addition it caused extreme copper fouling and produced the less velocity than other bullets before showing pressure signs.

For me, personally, the X-Bullet. My SSK 375/284 with a hand-lapped Shilen barrel won't shoot any weight worth a damn. Took me a week to get all the copper out. It's not a rough, cheap barrel, either...I threw the rest of them out.

For one of my 7mmRM the 162grn Hornady A-Max was everywhere, the other 7 didn't care for it either. Not sure if it is the lllooooonnnngggg bearing surface or what, just didn't care for them. Probably had to do with the twist rate because both have the same twist.

Smedley

Typically the bulk bullets I purchase at gun shows...primarily for fire forming tend to be the least accurate. These are RN, heavy for caliber, cut cannelure and probably somebodys 'seconds'. Next up would be Barnes X bullets....I pretty much gave up on Barnes for bullets or information.

Of name brand bullets, the GameKing seems to get me poor accuracy in every caliber I've tried.

Speer's Grand Slams for me......and by far.

The least accurate bullet of shot so far is, hold your breath now, the Nosler AB in my .257 AI. I didn't spend much time with them, but after a couple powders and shotgun groups at 100 yards, I saw no reason. Especially when this same rifle shoots 75 grain Hornady HPs, 100 grain TSXs, and 117 grain GameKings very well.

130gr Nosler Ballistic tip in 270.

Don't know why. I get two touching and one will always be 2" off. Not a bad grouping but not good compared to all the other bullets and loads I shoot through my rifle.

My Tupperware Special shoots most other bullets to point of aim and always 1" or under. BT's are the notable exception. I only use them for plinking and don't plan to buy more when my stash is used up.

ZM

My least accurate bullet has always been the Barnes X in most chamberings. That said it will shoot excellent groups through my .338 Lapua and the XLC with my .340 Wby. With the X bullets I found they were very good or very bad. I found the XLC more accurate than the X, and find the TSX very accurate in everything I have shot it with. I have not shot the scirocco. Before I tried them I found the North Forks and my quest for a tough-accurate bullet was over. Good shooting.

Ditto the standard Barnes X. Although the TSX has shot well in every rifle.

I had some 100 grain Barnes X bullets that I tried in my 25-06 with very little luck. I tried some in my 257 Roberts, a gun that has proven to like just about everything I throw at it, and they just wouldn't group. I'm talking 4 inch groups at 100 yards. Other fellas I've talked to just love them so it may be just the combo with my rifles. I'm not knocking the bullets as I've heard glowing reports about them, just relaying my limited experience.

Winchester .224, 55gr. FMJ roger

X bullets.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
Speer's Grand Slams for me......and by far.

The Grand Slams are the second less accurate for me also.

Barnes X, and in limited testing the TSX. You are doubly damned with them- they don't shoot as well as you're led to believe and then there is the copper fouling in your barrel.
Paul

quote:

Barnes X, and in limited testing the TSX. You are doubly damned with them- they don't shoot as well as you're led to believe and then there is the copper fouling in your barrel.
Paul

I have to agree with you on the original barnes x,but my experiences with the tsx have been great accuracy,no fouling,and higher velocity with less powder.

Barnes X, and in limited testing the TSX. You are doubly damned with them- they don't shoot as well as you're led to believe and then there is the copper fouling in your barrel.
Paul _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Barnes X

Every gun is different, if it were not so, we would only have one bullet for everybody.

That is true Ray, but I have yet to meet a gun that will shoot the X bullet. Two .300 Weatherbys(Weatherby and a Colt), a .308(Rem), and a 7mm(custom w/Shilen barrel). I seem to recall a friend with a .338 Shilen DGA-M that had no luck there either. Phooey on them. Others get better mileage apparently.

Given my favorites .22 and .30 calibre, Barnes X and XLCs have consistently been the worst in the accuracy dept. In my 22-250 it's a toss up between the Winchester FMJ, and Speer 55 grains or heavier.

Among a couple of dozen centerfire rifles and calibers in my battery, the accuracy of bullet BRANDS, starting with the poorest and improving as the numbers ascend, would be:

1. Winchester and Remington bulk (the cannelures aren't even in the same place from bullet to bullet).

2. Barnes X (haven't tried TSX)

3. Hornady, in general (the presence of a cannelure on a bullet usually is a red flag for accuracy, although I am using some 52 grain Hornady cannelured HP's that are excellent in a couple of guns)

(Numbers 1 through 3 are generally unacceptable, with noted exceptions)

4. Speer

5. Sierra

6. Nosler (even the Partitions have always behaved nicely for me.)

(Numbers 4-6 are generally acceptable, and sometimes outstanding)

As Ray Atkinson notes, however, each gun is rule unto itself, so the above observations are generalities that say nothing about a particular bullet and rifle combination.

Have never used Swift, Woodliegh, etc. "super" premium bullets, because all of the game I've shot up through 1000 lbs doesn't seem to require "super" premium killing and dies a rapid death from "ordinary" bullets.

For me it has been the Nosler 160gr 7mm Partition. Niether the REg or the gold moly free. I bought this 7RM specificaly for the 160 partition.

quote:

Originally posted by DesertRam:
The least accurate bullet of shot so far is, hold your breath now, the Nosler AB in my .257 AI. I didn't spend much time with them, but after a couple powders and shotgun groups at 100 yards, I saw no reason. Especially when this same rifle shoots 75 grain Hornady HPs, 100 grain TSXs, and 117 grain GameKings very well.

That's weird--that's the only bullet over 90 grains that my 257AI really likes. Loaded over IMR4831, it shoots into half an inch.

The absolute worst bullet I ever shot is the hornady interbond. I tried it in my 7mm08 and could have gotten better groups with 00 buck. I wont totally rule hornady out though be cause the same rifle likes the plain 139 gr hornady spire points and shoots 3 shot groups at .27" with 48 gr of H4350. This load has plenty of velocity too. I also noticed that the polymer tips of the interbond are sometimes loose or off center.

Barnes X shoots great out of my .338 Lapua. Not so great in my 7x57 or 6.5

The worst bullet I have ever tried as a 6.5 mm
129 gr. Hornaday SST in my custom 260's. I tried 4 different powders and 3 different primers in with them in 2 Krieger barreled 260's and the best I could get was 1 1/2" groups. The same rifles shot the 85 gr. Sierra, 90 gr. Speer TNT, 120 gr. Sierra ProHunter the 140 gr. Sierra GameKing, 142 MatchKing and the 139 Lapua Scenar sub .5 MOA. After shooting 150 of them through the 2 rifles I threw the reamaining 50 away.

PaPa 260.....May I be half the man my grandsons think I am.

Worst - Barnes X or XLC
Best - Barnes TSX

quote:

Originally posted by Russ Brumbelow:
The absolute worst bullet I ever shot is the hornady interbond. I tried it in my 7mm08 and could have gotten better groups with 00 buck. I wont totally rule hornady out though be cause the same rifle likes the plain 139 gr hornady spire points and shoots 3 shot groups at .27" with 48 gr of H4350. This load has plenty of velocity too. I also noticed that the polymer tips of the interbond are sometimes loose or off center.

Mirrors my results. SST's shot good, Interbonds wouldn't group at all. TSX most accurate in every gun I tested them in.

Poorest Junk I have loaded. 1. Barnes anything, 2. Hornady SST'S.

Jerry

quote:

Originally posted by stubblejumper:
We have a thread dealing with the best bullet so how about the bullet that you found to be the worst in your rifles.For me it would be the scirocco.I have tried it in two rifles in two bullet weights and accuracy was very poor.In addition it caused extreme copper fouling and produced the less velocity than other bullets before showing pressure signs.

Well in many rifles the Barnes X accuracy was poor.

The accuracy of the pro Am bullet from PMP in my 300Winmag was poor, too.

Partions,the three rifles I tried them gave loose 2 " groups,these rifle are very unpicky.And they are too expensive to do much testing.

Worst so far has been: Speer
and then maybe the 30 cal. solid copper bullets from Barnes(from about 1993).

Steve E..........

Hey SJ, Interesting question and some very interesting responses.

Most of the time when I find a bullet that doesn't shoot well in one rifle, it might do just fine in another one. That is always something that makes me wonder just "what" is different between the rifles.
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Worst shooting factory ammo was bought for a 300Sav in maybe 1980. It did good to hit an 8.5"x11" Target at 100yds. Had two boxes of it and used about 30 rounds trying to get it to make some sense. Gave up and got one of the old Lee Die Sets where you don't need a Press for $6 on Close Out. First groups using IMR-4320(looked like the best Powder at the time) and 150gr Nosler Solid Base bullets made it into a 3" shooter. Changed to IMR-4064 and it was a solid 1.5" rifle.

Years later during a move I "re-found" the old 300Sav Factory Ammo. Didn't want to just toss it in the trash, so I pulled the Bullets to use in Fire Forming Loads and dump the Powder. Come to find out, the Production Manager had used Set-Up Bullets in them. Basically bullets that should have been trashed. All the Bases were different and some not completely formed. Just pitiful!
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Had some Bulk 150gr Win Power Points that typically shot 6" in an old 7mmRemMag. I realized they had some kind of serious issue and decided to "Weight Sort" them. That cut the groups about in half, but still not where they were fun on paper. Fine for Off-hand and Fire Forming though. Still have a few and want to try Hollow Pointing some of them to see if shifting the Mass Center toward the rear will help them, but never have gotten around to doing it. Probably not enough left to make it worthwhile now anyhow.
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Never thought about how inaccurate the Win and Rem 30cal FMJs were (about 2" in my rifles over the years) until a buddy gave me 1000 150gr FN-FAL FMJs which will cut right at 1" groups when my concentration is up. Not all the groups do that, but enough are smaller to be clearly noticable.

Ted Williams model 30-30. It HATED Speer 150gr fn bullets. Looked like a shotgun pattern at 50 yards.

It actually took this thread to jar my memory. I think I've stated in the past that I never tried the original Barnes bullet, but I was mistaken. For a short time, I had a bull bbl 22-250 (had it for about 4 months-sold it to buy an atv).

In that rifle, by far, the X bullet was the pits.

In 270: by far, the Hornady 140 BTSP.

308: Gamekings

30.06: either corelokts or power points

7Mag: Failsafe factory 160.

300 Win Mag: Sierra 165 BT Gamekings

300 RUM: nothing! AB, TSX, Partitions are all good.

300 Weatherby: 180 Partition

Geez, I really need to think of an overall bullet. I'd say the Rem. corelokt and X are neck and neck for THE WORST.

OH, in 243, the 100 Grand Slam absolutely shot terrible too, so there's a 3 way tie for last.

(The Scirocco has done amazingly well for me in addition to the AFrame---which is even more accurate. I've never had a Btip not group well. Same for TSX in my rifles).

The hornday interbond .308 cal 165 grain has been the worst performer for me. I gave up on it for a 30-06 load but did find one for my 300 Win Mag with 80 grains of H1000.

quote:

Originally posted by floridabigfish:

Mirrors my results. SST's shot good, Interbonds wouldn't group at all. TSX most accurate in every gun I tested them in.

Tried the interbond once. My .308 didn't like them that well, but it loves the 150 gr SST.

I've not had good luck with Corelocts. I often use them for offhand shooting practice though.

I have had marginal results with all of the Hornady SST bullets. I think they are much too light in the nose to stabilize properly in most hunting twists. Can't imagine they would be a good game bullet either. I think they are AMAX takeoffs which are generally very good target bullets.

Most under rated game bullet IMO is the 30 cal 190 Hornady Interlock. Just a hammer in 3 of my rifes and a couple elk. Don't look like it, but shoots like a match bullet.

Worse I've tried was a 129g SST in my custom 260 AI. 3" - 4" groups! Bullet too long to seat near the lands and fit the magazine. Maybe it didn't stabilize with my 1:9" twist. Whatever the reason it was horrible. Traded them for a box of Hornady 129g Spire Points and they shoot great!