.223 twist rate

tacgnol89

CGN Regular
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Northern NB
Seems these days most .223 bolt action rifles come with a 1 in 8 twist rate. Are there still any current production rifles with 1 in 12 or 1 in 14 twist rates?
 
I'm mostly looking for something that'll do varmint and cheap plinking. I was hoping to find something new with a 1 in 12 twist rate but I can't find anything.
 
The Tikka T3 was available with a one in twelve twist, I think t3x may only be available with a one in eight twist. There a couple of t3x lite currently for sale on CGN, however not all of them are listing the twist.
 
+1 for Fast-twist

I agree with the above in that the faster twist is more versatile. I have a 5-6yr old Ruger Standard .223 in 1:8 and I've used down to 35g Hornady-NXP varmint with a MOA at 180yds and the same with 55g-FMJ PMC, 62gSP-MFS and 77g HP-Match Nosler. I don't think a 12" would handle the 77 that well ? I don't know as that's my only .223 and never had a 'slower' twist.
 
Thank you guys for all the input. I always thought faster twist rates meant you had to stick to the more expensive heavier grain bullets. I guess that's probably more of an issue with a 1 in 7 twist. A friend of mine had an NEA 15 with a 1 in 7 and he had issues with keyholing and copper fouling while using light bullets.

Edit: That NEA 15 also had a very short barrel so I think that may have been a factor in the keyhole issue.
 
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Thank you guys for all the input. I always thought faster twist rates meant you had to stick to the more expensive heavier grain bullets. I guess that's probably more of an issue with a 1 in 7 twist. A friend of mine had an NEA 15 with a 1 in 7 and he had issues with keyholing and copper fouling while using light bullets.

Edit: That NEA 15 also had a very short barrel so I think that may have been a factor in the keyhole issue.

I would suspect the issue with the NEA ILis that it was made by NEA.
 
I would suspect the issue with the NEA ILis that it was made by NEA.

TRUE! Lol! His was a first gen. He had the bolt carrier replaced under warranty I don't know how many times. He had the patience of a saint. I would have chucked that thing in the furnace.

Edit: Another guy I know had his barrel turn blue after mag dumping 3 or 4 pcv 50 mags back to back. NEA told him that was perfectly normal and not to worry about it.
 
BTW - I've found the MFS-62g and Barnaul 62g SP & HP are fairly accurate in my 'low-priced' .223 (ca 2 MOA @ 180yds) and about $10 or so per box. My Hornady 35g Varmint goes to about 1moa at that distance.
EDIT - Forgot to say this is a Ruger American Standard bolt with 1:8.
 
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