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.308 twist with 130 / 150 grs bullets

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28 October 2009, 05:19
H�ctor Carlos Roveda
.308 twist with 130 / 150 grs bullets
New barrel for my .308 Win - 22": Shilen or Douglass premium air gauged for shot 130 to 150 grs. (Barnes X all the versions or Nosler partition) WHAT TWIST?
Thanks in advance.
Hector
28 October 2009, 05:26
MFD
Personally I would go with the 12 twist for all around use. Some mfg.s are switching to 10 twist, but believe I would stick with 12.
28 October 2009, 07:05
Duane Wiebe
Twist...well that debate has been around a while. Had a conversation with Roger Vardy a couple days ago re twist.

A friend of his culls about 600 animals per year in Australia and has kept detailed notes regarding twist. I was fascinated and will try and get a synopsis on various calibers, but the bottom line says "faster is better"

Will keep you posted....
28 October 2009, 07:30
butchlambert
My Grandson has a 30BR with 15 twist and shoots 125GRn. bullets. I can do the same with my 17twist Rock Barrel that I use in competition.
Butch
01 November 2009, 04:29
yes
i wonder why should you choosea rifle for only using 130 to 150 grain bullets?is it for bench rest competition or hunting. if for BR then you should choose the recommended twist from barellmakers, but if it is for hunting then you are best with 1/11 or even 1/10 .i have a ruger 77 in 3006 with 1/10 twist and shoots very well with 150 grain and even 125 grain fmj training rounds and can shoot upp to 220 grain soft point and 200 monolithics without problem too,
yes


Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy; its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.
01 November 2009, 04:43
Alberta Canuck
quote:
Originally posted by H�ctor Carlos Roveda:
New barrel for my .308 Win - 22": Shilen or Douglass premium air gauged for shot 130 to 150 grs. (Barnes X all the versions or Nosler partition) WHAT TWIST?
Thanks in advance.
Hector



When I used to shoot Palma competition, we were required to use ammo issued on the line, which normally turned out to be 7.62 mm NATO ball. Though it was nominally 147-grain .308" boattails, in actual fact it was more like .306"diameter and 144 grains, though it WAS boat-tailed.

Since we could not fit the ammo to our barrels, we had to fit our barrels to the ammo. We almost all used a 14" twist for that ammo, out through the full 1,000 yards. (We also used .298" bored barrels with .307" grooves, which we obtained from Sportco in Australia and Krieger in the U.S.)

For a hunting rifle, I believe I would use a bit faster twist for all bullets up through 155 grains...a 12" twist....especially if I thought I might want to use monometal or VLD types.

For anything heavier or pointier (longer) than that, I would simply skip the 11" twists and go with a 10" twist. Not because an 11" twist won't work for most .30 bullets, but because a 10" twist will work for pretty much all of them.
01 November 2009, 06:58
Westpac
For bullets up to and including 175 gr., I use a 12 twist barrel. One of the ballistic engineers at Sierra told me 12 twist works great up to and including 190 gr. bullets. I've never tried 190's through a 12 twist .308 barrel, but, I've never seen 175's, 150's or 130's fail with a 12 twist barrel.


_______________________________________________________________________________
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01 November 2009, 20:34
butchlambert
A 12 twist works great for 190s.
Butch
01 November 2009, 20:47
Bill Leeper
While a 14 twist will work just fine for anything up to and including the 168 Sierras, I think I would be inclined to go with a 12 twist. I have a 12 on a 30/40 and can shoot anything up to 200 Matchkings. In general, barrel twist, as long as the rate is sufficient to stabilize the bullet being used, is not worth obsessing over. Regards, Bill.