Thread: Best Feeding Cartridges

What is your experience of how well cartridges feed and which is the slickest ?

I have this idea that traditional cases like the .223, .3006, .375 H&H and 7.62x39 might have been engineered for trouble free reliable action, while those with compact powder columns like the PPC and Creedmore were designed for just single shot accuracy. Then, those set up to yield maximum power from a short action (every improvd, blown out and WSM chambering) have compromised and might give trouble. But maybe I'm wrong ...

I'll make a start and say my 303 would jam due to rims stepping over each other in the magazine, while the 7mm08 is pretty good.

There’s a reason the 375 H&H is so successful.

30-06 feed well in a Win Model 70

.270 winchester in my old Sako 85.

It would chamber a round if u held the muzzle down and let go of the bolt.

Pretty damn slick.

300 H and H magnum

Mostly its down to proper follower design (there is a "Mauser" formular) with the possible exception of the so called "alpha" type cartridges like the WSSM's etc. There is a great thread about it on Accurate Reloading forum by Duane Weibe (one of the finest contemporary custom gunmakers)

Originally Posted by Tentman

Mostly its down to proper follower design (there is a "Mauser" formular) with the possible exception of the so called "alpha" type cartridges like the WSSM's etc. There is a great thread about it on Accurate Reloading forum by Duane Weibe (one of the finest contemporary custom gunmakers)

What you say.
Follower and magazine dimensions especially width. Peter Paul Mauser had it right.

Originally Posted by Bagheera

What is your experience of how well cartridges feed and which is the slickest ?

I have this idea that traditional cases like the .223, .3006, .375 H&H and 7.62x39 might have been engineered for trouble free reliable action, while those with compact powder columns like the PPC and Creedmore were designed for just single shot accuracy. Then, those set up to yield maximum power from a short action (every improvd, blown out and WSM chambering) have compromised and might give trouble. But maybe I'm wrong ...

I'll make a start and say my 303 would jam due to rims stepping over each other in the magazine, while the 7mm08 is pretty good.

If your .303 is LE then there is a right way to load a 5 round clip before putting it in the magazine...or so we were told and shown as school cadets many long years ago.

long, slightly tapered, rounds, feed smother, than parallel , steep/sharp shouldered, brass,

300 H&H, 7x57and 6.5x54 MS, are the ones I own, that are smooth loading, quality of the action, and smoothness of action, play a large part.

300 H&H has a well deserved reputation for smooth feeding.

No bolt action, will feed as smooth as a SXS rifle.

I have had problems with rifles not feeding, but I don't put up with it. As has been said above follower problems are the most likely cause. These can be experimented with by cutting strips of plastic like icecream container lids for example to fit the follower and gluing one on to see if it helps. Once the cure is found the plastic can be replaced with metal or better still, a strip of slippery wear resistant nylon. Another problem can be the lead into the chamber, that can be opened with a rotary file. Problems there cause rounds to ping up and miss the hole. Most likely a problem when putting a fat case into a standard action. The other problem I have had to fix is the follower binding on the sides of the mag box

Originally Posted by Tribrit

.270 winchester in my old Sako 85.

It would chamber a round if u held the muzzle down and let go of the bolt.

Pretty damn slick.

Different story on the way back out though...

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Different story on the way back out though...

Mine only did the notorious Sako extractor problem with one type of ammo.
Bought some Winchester Deer Season for whitetail and fallow, wouldn't extract at all.

Military cartridges designed for semi and full auto applications normally feed well e.g. .223, .308 (to be expected, one of the key design requirements)

Originally Posted by 7.62

Military cartridges designed for semi and full auto applications normally feed well e.g. .223, .308 (to be expected, one of the key design requirements)

Agree, oh and the humble .22LR , 2 billion rounds consumed in the USA last year I read somewhere, then we have the rest of the worlds use.......... the USA produce around 10 billion rounds per year of which a large percentage is the humble .22lr
So yeah they feed well , being around since 1884 and commercially going stronger than ever, entire rifle / platform built around the .22LR from the ground up.

well I had a feed of pork tonight...last animal I shot with the wee x39 before she went off to her new home.
fed the wife n I red fawn the other night shot with the .308
had pork mince from boar shot with the .223
venison steak last week....stag shot with .270
duck feeds me and the kids eat ducks n geese shot with .12ga or even the humble .410
plenty heaps of feeds have graced our table provided by the .22lr

so I guess all the above "feed" me well.