(Guys...I posted this question on the Hunting Forum also. I would like your take on this question.)

In ST magazine this month, Dick Metcalf states" Expert rifleman have long noted that mediocre rifles shoot everything about the same. Exceptional rifles are picky. By that they mean that the precision tolerances and quality fitting that go into building a quality gun means that the rifle will be sensitive to slight variations in the ammo it is fed. My Tikka is picky. With load it likes, it shoots one hole. With the loads it doesnt like, well ...."
Do you agree or disagree with the statement? Is it mediocre to have a rifle that shoots everything well? Is it exceptional to have a rifle that performs well only with one type of ammo? Whats your opinion??? Interesting statement. swede

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WyomingSwede

I have several bad shooting rifles and a couple of good shooting rifles. The good shooting rifles shoot better with the loads they don't like than the bad rifles shoot with their best stuff.
One rifle in particular, my Remington Light Tactical in 308 Win. caliber, seems to shoot everything well. During initial load testing I bought 6 or 7 boxes of factory ammunition with different bullet weights and from different manufacturers. The worst stuff was the real light bullets which shot well at 100 yards but did very poorly at 200 yards. Remington, Winchester, Federal, Black Hills; all shot under one MOA at 100 & 200 yards with 150 grain and heavier bullets.
No real flyers and no stringing. Just a good solid shooting rifle.

I've found the opposite, really.

My "good" (read expensive) barrels shoot just about anything well. They lesser barrels are persnickety, shooting only select loads decently and scattering the rejected concoctions all over the map.

Either can be made to shoot well. It's just a lot easier finding a load for the "good" barrels.

Redial

By "mediocre" I am assuming he means acceptiable. Rifles that shoot mediocre for me, often only shoot a few loads mediocre and spread the rest everywhere else. However... accurate rifles I own often shoot "poorly" to the point where the groups are still acceptiable. It seems to me that accuracy deteriorates in multiples.
take care

I answered on the Big Game forum, but I'll add a bit here. Load-specific rifles are not exceptional rifles, they are pain-in-the-ass rifles.

Too many guys have varmint hunting requirements and statistical accuracy confused with big game hunting accuracy. I'd rather have a forgiving, versatile, consistent one-inch rifle than a load-specific half-inch paper-puncher any day of the week, and for any sort of big game hunting in the world.

AD

Wyoming Swede--

I'm kinda glad to hear I haven't missed anything by not reading the "funny books".

I think the author is altogether wrong.

A good rifle will shoot an amazing variety of factory and handloaded ammo very well. A mediocre rifle will sometimes shoot a group or two but usually shoots everything not too good.

A rifle that won't shoot good groups with factory ammo won't shoot *much* better with anything. (assuming proper bullet-twist ratio)

I agree with Alan-- Persnickety rifles, even if they occasionally shoot bugholes, are a PITA and I consider them no fun at all.