As a General rule are most rifles finiky about what they will shoot best in the weight & bullet style?I know i have had a few that favored either lite or heavy bullets but not both!One supergrade rifle i had in 30-06 would shoot the cheaper silvertip ammo pretty good but would be all over the place with the expensive custom fancypants winchesters in the black box,same weight ammo,twice the price.Also many rifles really had there best groups with heaviest bullets?Do you brothers as a rule just hunt with the weight bullet that groups the best?Start out shooting groups with what YOU Favor, then change as the rifle picks its favorite out of all the different brands & sizes you can find?I have found many times that the federal premium ammo gives some of the best groups for factory fodder...but not allways...And that some rifles absolutely love remington core loks better than ANYthing....Is this common to all rifles?Even custom barrels?Custom rifles?Will Factory rifles most allways throw a flyer in a 5 shot group?And some rifles shoot great either clean or dirty but not both ways and one has to actually shoot a round or two and dirty it up before hunting?I had a ruger mannlicher like that one time,i wouldnt know where the first round would go on a clean barrel........Is this stuff common?Or have i just been unlucky and gotten a lot of weird finicky rifles???

Every rifle is unique unto it's self. There is no telling how one will perform compared to the other. Some calibres are better known for being not as finiky, but alas some rifles in that calibre will be quite finiky. It's kind of like saying a certain race of people exibit a certain personality trait. The only way to be sure of what works in a given rifle, is to spend the time getting aquanted with that rifle and it's personality.
There are no absolutes in life.

Good luck

There are no hard and fast rules, but in general, I have found that fine custom barrels that are properly fitted to carefully blueprinted actions and then properly bedded and scoped in a stress-free manner will generally be the least finicky rifles you'll ever own. You get what you pay for in life, rifles are no exception, and this is generally one of the advantages of good custom rifles -- they tend to shoot a variety of loads, including premium bullet loads very well.

When I have a rifle that is too load-specific, only shoots a single tin-foil, non-premium-type bullet well to the exclusion of everything else, and is otherwise a pain in the rectum, I strip it of the action for a custom project, or else get rid of it altogether. There's a limit to my patience, and my expectations tend to run high.

I have, however, owned factory Model 70 and Model 700 rifles that were astoundingly accurate with just about anything I fed them. Every rifle is a law unto itself......

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had on old friend that shot thousand of round of 308 every year (he shot for the US palma team) his theory was that he had a load and if the gun didn't shoot it he'd throw away the barrel and put on another. Sometimes i'd pick up one of his throwaways and try to do something with it, and very seldomly did it work ok. I know this sounds extreme, but dammit it works that way.

All rifles are diff. I had a Ruger #1/7mmRM that had never shot a group larger than 1.5moa w/ factory or handload. Liked it so much I had it rechambered to 7mm Dakota, still shoots great. My .338-06 is verrrry picky about bullets & powder combos, I think it's the McGowen bbl. Allen has a point I think, all of my PacNor bbl. rifles shoot very consistent groups regardless of bullets & powders, just some better than others.

There is a formula in Hatcher's Notebook, that will tell you what twist is required for a given bullet. I can't put my finger on my copy at the moment, but if my memory serves me, a 30 caliber bullet that is 1.35" in length, requires a twist of 1-10 to properly stabilize. The example given was for the US gov't's 220 grain ball ammo.

The formula is a good starting point in choosing a bullet, but it isn't perfect. Velocity for example will play a part in your results, but isn't built into the formula.

If I can find my book, I'll post the formula, unless someone else can find theirs..

I don't think there are any general rules for rifles. You'll find many people that say that Rugers aren't accurate, but the .308 Ultralight I have has proven that wrong. It shoots mil surp into 1 1/2" groups, Rem factory 180 gr rn into 5/8" groups, and I've tried a variety of componet bullets from 150 to 220 gr rn, and have been able to get 1" groups or better with every bullet tried.

Then there was my mauser that a friend of a friend chambered as a 35 whelen ackley, and the only thing it grouped was a 250 gr hornady sp or swift a-frame, when loaded real hot, and the best groups were 1 1/2". If I dropped so much as a 1/2 gr, groups opened up to 3", and many groups with other componet bullets were in the 5" range, for 3 shots!

I had a real gunsmith clean up the action, re-chamber as a 350 Rigby, and clean up the crown. It now groups 250 gr hornady rn into 5/8", and the various 250 gr spitzers into 1 1/2" or better, but the worse groups aren't much over 2". I also shot a 5 shot group of 1" with cast bullets, and by and large, my cast load groups have shrunk in 1/2 from what they were before the re-chamber.

I'm of the opinion that my time, powder and componet bullets are more expensive then getting a good rifle. That doesn't mean getting a $3,000+ rifle, but it does mean if a gun doesn't shoot, toss the factory tube and have a good one fit. I figure a good rifle will let me shoot the bullet I choose, and it'll take me only one or two range sessions to find a good load for said bullet. I've had enough times of trying 2 or 3 different bullets and powders before finding something that works.

If I get a finiky gun, or a problem gun, I dump it at a gunshow..They are not worth my time..

I strive for a gun that will shoot most loads to the same POI and with decent accuracy, the more accuracy the happier I am..I also want a gun that maintains its zero as well as can be expected..Hard to find such guns, but I have a few and they stay here for the most part.

Every forum I have read tells us not to buy a Ruger 77/22-Hornet because it shoots a 3 inch group. I call that [3 inch grouping]finecky! The troouble I have with that is I get a 5 shot groub that you can cover with a dime. It all depends on the POWDER and "max" type load.

Man, Its really too easy to generalize while at the same time its too hard to generalize correctly on "Finicky Rifles" but here goes:

1) Rimfires are generally finicky! But in this case there a opportunity to tune the rifle with all the different ammo available. You can usually find one or two loads that will really shoot well if you'll take the time to seek. If your lucky enough to find an inexpensive load - Buy all that lot number you can afford.

2) Finicky centerfire rifles are not the ones that won't shoot much of any ammo accurately - these rifles usually have some underlying accuracy problem! I would not catagorize them as "Finicky" I'd say BROKE and in need of fix!

3) Would propose "Finicky" rifles are the ones that take exception to a few loads. Friend of mine had a Browning A-bolt in 7mm-08. Would shoot most all factory ammo to an inch at 100 yds except the one load he really wanted to use - the Win. 140 grain failsafe!? This rifle could not keep that load within 4" at 50 yards - Really bugged the $hit out of him. I tried to help too but we never found the solution other than to use something else.

4) Some calibers are inherently more accurate than others. Much has been written of this and its not my intention to start more debates. But can tell you from my experience that the 270 winchester "generally" can be counted on to put a large variety of cartridges with 130 or 140 or 150 to the same point of impact at 100 yards. Have not found this to be true of other calibers as most will vertically string different bullet weights! Its handy to have a 270 in the deer camp as most any deer load you go buy is already sighted-in!