Twist Rates

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Kazman1960

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Good day .
I have a couple of Tikka rifles and cant seem to find the twist rates for them .
Both are Tikka T3 Tactical,s , ones chambered in .308 the other is .300 Win Mag .
Thanks in advance for any replies .
 
I dabbled with a 300 win Mag a few years back. I had real good luck with a Hornady 208 gr ELD-M. My rifle had a bit quicker twist, I'm pretty sure your near optimum with the 178 gr bullet. I'm not familiar with "pills", are those custom made? Russian? or ?

Twist is a factor, but as important is the magazine length. Some rifles come with a 3.34" max length magazine, and that severely limits your bullet selection in your quest for accuracy. My rifle had a bit longish magazine, my LOAL was 3.42".

My 300 win Mag project was real budget, traded some tires and rims for a rifle, worked on it to "fix" the neglect and abuse. I just used some old H4831, never fooled with any other powder. 300 Win mag is a very capable caliber. My bore was not smooth, it did not like to shoot when clean. I just ran a bore snake through it with some oil on it after a shooting session, no problems after that.

qzoE4Jn.jpg


I trimmed off about an inch and a half of the worst part of the barrel.
 
nitro-express said:
I dabbled with a 300 win Mag a few years back. I had real good luck with a Hornady 208 gr ELD-M. My rifle had a bit quicker twist, I'm pretty sure your near optimum with the 178 gr bullet. I'm not familiar with "pills", are those custom made? Russian? or ?

Twist is a factor, but as important is the magazine length. Some rifles come with a 3.34" max length magazine, and that severely limits your bullet selection in your quest for accuracy. My rifle had a bit longish magazine, my LOAL was 3.42".

My 300 win Mag project was real budget, traded some tires and rims for a rifle, worked on it to "fix" the neglect and abuse. I just used some old H4831, never fooled with any other powder. 300 Win mag is a very capable caliber. My bore was not smooth, it did not like to shoot when clean. I just ran a bore snake through it with some oil on it after a shooting session, no problems after that.

qzoE4Jn.jpg


I trimmed off about an inch and a half of the worst part of the barrel.
Click to expand...

Im using 71 g of IMR 4831 with either 178g Sierra Match kings or 178g Hornady Match and getting some pretty good groups from the 300 Win Mag .
 
I have no idea why Tikka use 1-11 rate of twist for their 300WM and 300 WSM rifles. Maybe it's a European thing.
 
Kazman1960 said:
Just gonna ask a question as im unfamiliar with various twist rates , for a 300 win mag , in your opinion , what is the ideal rate and why ?
Click to expand...

1-10 for most commonly used bullet weights. Heavier bullets will likely require a 1-9 or 1-8 twist. Haven't seen a 1-7 30 cal barrel yet, but that doesn't mean someone isn't making them. - dan
 
dan belisle said:
1-10 for most commonly used bullet weights. Heavier bullets will likely require a 1-9 or 1-8 twist. Haven't seen a 1-7 30 cal barrel yet, but that doesn't mean someone isn't making them. - dan
Click to expand...

Thanks for explaining , so 180 ish grain bullets would be close to the max weight for the 1-11 twist ? Not that i use anything heavier just good to know .
 
I have a Tikka Tactical in 300WM, it has a 1:11 twist.

RL-22 is good for 180-190 gn bullets. 185gn Berger Juggernaut's work well.

H-1000 for 200 gn and over but ~210-212 gn bullets are about max.

Shoot this at 1000+ yards and have gotten on the podium a few times.

At rebarrel time it will get a 1:9 twist as I like heavy bullets and their high BC's.
 
BCBRAD said:
I have a Tikka Tactical in 300WM, it has a 1:11 twist.

RL-22 is good for 180-190 gn bullets. 185gn Berger Juggernaut's work well.

H-1000 for 200 gn and over but ~210-212 gn bullets are about max.

Shoot this at 1000+ yards and have gotten on the podium a few times.

At rebarrel time it will get a 1:9 twist as I like heavy bullets and their high BC's.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. Approx how many rounds before re barrel is required and where would you get them done ?
 
BTW: There are a few good stabilisation calculators online. In addition for a lot of the match bullets, they list the optimum or minimum twist.

1:11 twist seems odd, after-all it was the Europeans that had fast twist calibers before they were even a thing in North America.

I too would choose 1:9 as a near optimum, if in the 200 gr high BC bullets. I think that is the area where the 300 Win Mag shines.

https://bergerbullets.com/twist-rate-calculator/

Y7LsbeT.jpg


For the 208 that I shot, 1:11 will not optimally stabilize the bullet.
 
I am not a expert ...

twist rates are affected by several variables ..
bullet length / shape bt etc / weight / material made from / tip shape ... plastic tip ....

speed = bullet twist = rpm = velocity

Barrel twist

Barrel length

it's why a bullet may be good in a 300 mag and bad in 308

found some info 2 cents worth

Barrel twist and bullet spin stabilization is directly related to velocity. For example, a bullet shot at 2400 fps from a 1:20" twist barrel will be spinning at 86,400 rpm. If the same load is shot from a 1:20" twist hand-rifle and only reaches 2220 fps from the shorter barrel it will be spinning at only 79,920 rpm. On the other hand, if the load is shot from a barrel not shorter but rather 6" longer and reaches 2520 fps then the bullet will be spinning 90,720 rpm. If, at these velocity ranges, the bullet is anywhere near the limit of stability then it may not be suitable for one or more of these rifles

Another thing to remember is that bullet length goes into spin stabilization predictions, not bullet weight (not in any meaningful way). The RCBS GC 300 grain SWC is 0.820" long, Hornady's 300 grain XTP is 0.827" long, Speer's 300 gr MAG SP is 0.840" long, and the Barnes 300 grain Buster is 0.928" long. Minimum stabilization rotational velocities, spin rate, of each of these will be different. At a given velocity one particular rifle might be able to shoot the Hornady bullets very well but might not be able to stabilize the Barnes, for example.

Thankfully, most of us are shooting bullets in rifles that tend to be mid-range for twist stabilization and are, therefore, more forgiving with different lengths of bullets and wide velocity changes. But the .444, it seems, is always on the precipice of such things.

As many people know, regardless of calculations and predictions, some loads work better in some individual rifles than in others. Sometimes it is mystifying just how big the differences can be. The only way to know for sure what your rifle will do with a particular bullet and load is to try it out and see.
 
Last edited:
just having some fun said:
I am not a expert ...

twist rates are affected by several variables ..
bullet length / shape bt etc / weight / material made from / tip shape ... plastic tip ....

speed = bullet twist = rpm = velocity

Barrel twist

Barrel length

it's why a bullet may be good in a 300 mag and bad in 308

found some info 2 cents worth

Barrel twist and bullet spin stabilization is directly related to velocity. For example, a bullet shot at 2400 fps from a 1:20" twist barrel will be spinning at 86,400 rpm. If the same load is shot from a 1:20" twist hand-rifle and only reaches 2220 fps from the shorter barrel it will be spinning at only 79,920 rpm. On the other hand, if the load is shot from a barrel not shorter but rather 6" longer and reaches 2520 fps then the bullet will be spinning 90,720 rpm. If, at these velocity ranges, the bullet is anywhere near the limit of stability then it may not be suitable for one or more of these rifles

Another thing to remember is that bullet length goes into spin stabilization predictions, not bullet weight (not in any meaningful way). The RCBS GC 300 grain SWC is 0.820" long, Hornady's 300 grain XTP is 0.827" long, Speer's 300 gr MAG SP is 0.840" long, and the Barnes 300 grain Buster is 0.928" long. Minimum stabilization rotational velocities, spin rate, of each of these will be different. At a given velocity one particular rifle might be able to shoot the Hornady bullets very well but might not be able to stabilize the Barnes, for example.

Thankfully, most of us are shooting bullets in rifles that tend to be mid-range for twist stabilization and are, therefore, more forgiving with different lengths of bullets and wide velocity changes. But the .444, it seems, is always on the precipice of such things.

As many people know, regardless of calculations and predictions, some loads work better in some individual rifles than in others. Sometimes it is mystifying just how big the differences can be. The only way to know for sure what your rifle will do with a particular bullet and load is to try it out and see.
Click to expand...

Yeah it seems like a life long work in progress , but fun and educational at the same time . Like you say different bullets and powders perform better in some rifles . Trial , trial and more trial
 
Kazman1960 said:
Yeah im still learning these rifles . The 300 Win mag seems to like the 178 g pills the 308 seems to like lighter ones
Click to expand...

Yes and Your still learning about twist rates too - if anything a 1-11 would shoot the 155 " BETTER " then the 178 - FASTER twist for longer heavier bullets and a SLOWER twist for shorter lighter bullets ! ;) RJ
 
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