Barrel twist rate help

[Bigeclipse]

I understand barrel twist, i think. My remington 700 has a 1:10 and so does my browning x-bolt. I believe this means the bullet would make one full rotation every 10 inches...How does this affect accuracy and bullet weight? I will be reloading for both rifles and am starting to try and determine which bullets to try first. I know there are no guarentees for accuracy as every rifle is different but just trying to understand this twist. The remington 700 is a 3006 with 22 inch barrel (mountain rifle) the browning is a 300WSM with a 23inch barrel. My goal with both rifles is accuracy out to 500 yards (which 1.5MOA would be minimum needed accuracy). Both would be used for deer with the possibility for ELK/Moose but for now are very unlikely until next year.

 

[MHO]

Depending on Bullet weight will determine suggested barrel twist. You can reference this in your reloading manuals or the bullet manufacturer. Hunting Bullets | Berger Bullets this is one site you can use to help you understand a little better. Normally the smaller grain bullet requires a faster twist than your heavier pills. Its pretty simple.

 

[kraigwy]

Proper barrel twist has more to do with bullet length then weight. The longer the bullet the faster the twist.

Certain twist are needed to stabilize the bullet.

Having said that, longer bullets normally means more weight.

To make a long story short, 1:10 twist in an '06 will handle anything up to 220 gr bullets.

Rule of thumb, a fast twist will shoot light (short bullets) better the a slow twist will shoot heavy (long) bullets.

The exception to that rule is super light, thin jacketed bullets for varmints. If pushed to fast in fast twist barrel the may come apart in flight.

Most gun manufactures take into account shooters/hunters will shoot a variety of bullets, therefore the sell their rifles with twist that will work for a variety of bullets.

So to answer your question your 1:10 twist will work fine on elk/moose size animals with any normal hunting bullets for those animals.

 

[Bigeclipse]

well my local shop is having a weekend sale this weekend on reloading supplies. I know they carry a plentiful supply of noslers...accubonds, ballistic tips, and partitions. So my thinking is maybe ill use this opportunity to buy 2 boxes of each: 165, 180 and 200s (in accubonds). Im sure even if these rifles dont like them, id eventually have rifles down the road that would. I like the idea that the accubonds expand similarly to the ballistic tips but hold together much better for penetration. Too many bad stories where ballistic tips exploaded on impact.

 

[MHO]

Kraig is correct. Length normally means more grains. I was just trying to keep it as simple as possible to help you understand twist rate. Good luck on finding the recipe your rifle likes. There are a ton of guys on here that are great at helping everyone with a lot of knowledge.

 

[Bigeclipse]

I am hoping that both rifles will like something in the 165,180, or 200 grain weight with these nosler accubonds. Optimumly it would be nice if one of the rifles shot the 200 grainers well just in case I do a moose hunt next year. I know 165 and 180s would take out a moose but I am definitely a person who believes in OVERkill as opposed to underkill especially with large moose shoulders entering the equation on a poorer shot.

 

[Scrubbit]

Bryan Litz has the best (layman terms) explanation of bullet stability and twist rate in his book "Applied Ballistics" that I've seen. As well, he includes stability data in his bullet database included in the book. Well worth the read on this and other topics.

 

[Bigeclipse]

thanks for the advice. Ill look into that read...

 

[WildRose]

I understand barrel twist, i think. My remington 700 has a 1:10 and so does my browning x-bolt. I believe this means the bullet would make one full rotation every 10 inches...How does this affect accuracy and bullet weight? I will be reloading for both rifles and am starting to try and determine which bullets to try first. I know there are no guarentees for accuracy as every rifle is different but just trying to understand this twist. The remington 700 is a 3006 with 22 inch barrel (mountain rifle) the browning is a 300WSM with a 23inch barrel. My goal with both rifles is accuracy out to 500 yards (which 1.5MOA would be minimum needed accuracy). Both would be used for deer with the possibility for ELK/Moose but for now are very unlikely until next year.

The 180gr Sirocco, Interlock, Interbond, or Accubond would be ideal for both rifles at that range. You can go bigger if you wanted but there's no need.

All of the above give excellent performance on game with good BC's.