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Help deciding on twist rate

jasmitty1978

Active Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2014
Messages
28
I am going to order a new barrel for my .300 wby. And I am unsure about what twist rate to use. 1in 9 , or 1in10? I want to be able to stabilize all of the long heavy bullets. I don't plan to shoot anything lighter than 208 grain Hornady ELD-M. But I plan on trying the 225 ELD-M and 215 and 230 Bergers.
So is there any negatives to getting a 1in9 twist barrel?
 
I am still kinda new and am a little unclear as the the impact twist rate has on accuracy, pressure, and velocity. I understand that a higher twist rate causes higher rpms which intern creates more gyroscopic stability.
 
I understand that a higher twist rate causes higher rpms which intern creates more gyroscopic stability.
It would be better if you forget the notion of RPMs (it isn't).
Our bullets are inherently unstable in that their center of gravity is behind center of pressure. So they want to overturn, and high drag(affecting pressure amount/location) only serves to contribute more & more to that end.

Notice bullet stability requirements are not declared in RPMs. This is because turns per time does not really matter.
What does matter, and what bullet stability requirements are declared in, is displacement(or drag) per turn.
For example, a stability requirement may be 9 inches per 1 turn(9:1), which is always at some air density standard(while rarely declared this way). So ideal stability needs change with air density changes, BC(which is velocity dependent), or anything else affecting drag.
The turn is needed to gyroscopically overcome the overturning moments that displacement is contributing to.

If you would like an example of how RPMs fail with stability considerations, I can provide this. Or, you can go on faith that RPMs won't help.
 
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