AH HAH! THIS is what I've been driving at!
In my researching in the last few days on this subject, I've been unable to find anything which actually hints at an actual intrinsic characteristic of this (or any other) cartridge that explains WHY it would be "inherently more accurate".
At best, I'd run across some sort of comment like "it's believed that (fill in the blank) contributes to the inherent accuracy, but nobody knows for sure". In otherwords, hypothetical anecdotal claims with no theories or support behind them at all.
I can understand controlling pressure curves can contribute to terminal accuracy.
Now, the obvious question I have is "has anybody actually done any comparative studies of the pressure curves of sort, fat powder columns and other cartridge configurations?"
And the next question after that would be "has anybody developed a theory which explains the observed phenomena between pressure curves and accuracy?"
Hmmmm
Ok, so in understanding the way these different factors affect the accuracy, I'm trying to place myself inside the casing of a loaded cartridge and envision what is going on as the powder ignites.
In a longer case that has more empty space in it, the expanding gasses are going to have to fill that space to the point that pressure being exerted on the back of the bullet begins to unseat the bullet and push it through the barrel. So when I think of how the pressure could be graphed, I see a J curve at the beginning of the pressure build that will continue to increase in slope until the critical pressure is hit to move the bullet. So we would have a slightly longer build of pressure, but the pressure spike would be higher than in a shorter cased cartridge.
In the shorter case, the case has less or perhaps no empty space in it, so the pressure increase to the point of moving the bullet will happen much faster, but with less of a pressure spike, though probably a higher overall pressure, and then allow the remaining burning powder to exert a more steady push on the bullet as it travels down the barrel and exits the muzzle.
So if I have this correct, and the real difference is timing of pressure maxes and how that force exerts pressure on the bullet, would that generate more stabilization of the bullet in conjunction with the riffling of the barrel?
So I look at it as if I have a cardboard tube, like from a roll of paper or something, and I put a tennis ball in the end, the longer case concept would be like I pulled the palm of my hand back and then slammed it into the tennis ball. The ball will exit the other end of the tube, but may not come out very stable or straight because I did not apply even pressure to it. I just pounded it through. As opposed to placing the palm of my hand on the ball, and then giving it a quick shove, the ball will likely exit in a more stable way. Both scenarios involve pressure or force spikes to get the ball moving, but in the palm slap example, the building of force takes longer, but applies force in a less even way, thus destabilizing the ball. In the palm push example, there is again a spike in force, but it happens earlier in relation to when my hand starts moving, and is a more steady and even push, thus allowing more stability.
Is that what we are saying here? I've not done any research on pressure curves. This is just how my mind's eye is seeing it, but I might be totally wrong.
So then the final stabilization is left up to the riffling to spin the bullet and get it moving nice and trued up, but the case length will always have an impact on the
potential of repeatable accuracy, which is in fact precision speaking statistically. The BC of that particular bullet also plays a factor. As stated early in this thread, "inherently accurate" is really describing a combination of factors that makes a particular cartridge more easily fine tuned, that will result in repeatable results. It is however, a very overly simplified term.
I'm a handgunner, so this is new to me. What do you guys think, am I understanding this based on what I said, or am I still missing something. Am I understanding the pressure characteristics of longer vs shorter cases with the same projectile?
