GordonGekko

Absolutely, I do agree and have said myself there are not accurate cartridges just accurate guns. But, we can't ignore the fact that some cases allow for more consistent ignition of the powder. A smaller capacity case is generally going to burn more consistently than a large capacity case (less material to burn the more consistent it burns), and all else being equal it seems that the powder in a wider case burns more consistently than in a narrow case (more powder closer to the primer). This makes it easier to obtain a load that doesn't vary much from one shot to the next, which can help to make a gun more accurate.

Yes, I agree that a lot of the acccuracy benchpress shooters get is not due to the cartridge. However, I know enough of them to know that they will shoot whatever cartridge they perceive to give them an advantage, and that usually boils down to whicher one is easiest to get consistent velocity from which usually is a shorter fatter cartridge. That is not to say that they can't be competative with larger capacity cartridges, it's just that they are more difficult to get consistent results from than smaller capacity cartridges. And this ease of loading is most likely where the "Accurate Cartridge" theory comes from, people take a 308 and shoot factory loads through it, and since it an easy cartridge to load for the factory's produce good ammo, and as a result they have good accuracy with whatever they shoot through it, hence it's an accurate caliber.

Now how much difference does this make, not much in hunting terms, but in a competition it can make a difference because as someone noted "they measure in .001's of an inch".

Gordon