Another bullet to twist rate question.

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muckwa

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Just picked up a new to me 6mm Remington. It's a Sako aIII action with a replacement barrel and the barrel has a 1in11 twist. So what weights do you guys suggest for it. I will be hunting deer, song dogs, wolves and even the odd moose if the right shot prevails and the two season meet. Just curious as to what the masses suggest for 1in11 twist. As always thanks in advance for the helpful advice.
Cheers
Geoff
 
muckwa said:
Just picked up a new to me 6mm Remington. It's a Sako aIII action with a replacement barrel and the barrel has a 1in11 twist. So what weights do you guys suggest for it. I will be hunting deer, song dogs, wolves and even the odd moose if the right shot prevails and the two season meet. Just curious as to what the masses suggest for 1in11 twist. As always thanks in advance for the helpful advice.
Cheers
Geoff
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That twist is on the slow side. You can stabilize 100gr bullets but stay away from BT and VLD and drive them as fast as you can.
 
I think you'll be alright with conventional hunting bullets up to 100 grs. As gunrunner8 said, stay clear of VLDs and even boattail bullets in the heavier weights. Be sure to assesses the stability of any bullet you choose, any evidence of bullet yaw, even slight, in a paper target, is reason enough to exclude its use on big game. I would have a close look at the 80 gr TTSX or the 85 gr TSX; either of those bullets would produce excellent terminal performance, if they’ll fly straight from your barrel.
 
Have a Sako Mannlicher .243W with a factory barrel (1:10) ... my best factory ammunition results have been with Sako's own branded .243 with 90gr bullets. I have also reloaded 85,90 and 100gr Nosler Partitions in it - all with ok hunting accuracy (2 inches +/-) .. you might consider the 85gr Partition ... fwiw ... my "opinion" is that Partitions are ok but not exactly the lightening bolt from Thor that some people seem to experience - but at least you can expect the rear section to penetrate reasonably well.
 
swift scirocco 2 90gr but they are bt will that be a problem with this twist rate.
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.. you might want to try it .... lots of variables contribute to instability (like air pressure etc) but everything I have read indicates that there are no "absolutes" with twist rate and bullet length. For example .. I "think" (don't exactly know - but suspect) that bullet/twist combinations that are "on the edge" can be made unstable by slightly imperfect crowns etc alternatively, all things being ideal .. an unacceptable twist rate in one rifle may be fine in another. As they say YMMV.

I think of a child's spinning top when trying to visualize the effect of bullet length on stability when it is rotating around the long axis. A short fat top can be spun quite slowly and still go to "sleep" - spinning for a long time before it falls over .. and it can resist being pushed over. On the other hand a long thinner object ... like a pencil being spun on its lead tip - needs LOTS of revs to get it to "sleep" and will tumble over a lot easier. Same principle with bullets. The longer they are, the more "revs" they need.
 
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AP said:
.. you might want to try it .... lots of variables contribute to instability (like air pressure etc) but everything I have read indicates that there are no "absolutes" with twist rate and bullet length. For example .. I "think" (don't exactly know - but suspect) that bullet/twist combinations that are "on the edge" can be made unstable by slightly imperfect crowns etc alternatively, all things being ideal .. an unacceptable twist rate in one rifle may be fine in another. As they say YMMV.

I think of a child's spinning top when trying to visualize the effect of bullet length on stability when it is rotating around the long axis. A short fat top can be spun quite slowly and still go to "sleep" - spinning for a long time before it falls over .. and it can resist being pushed over. On the other hand a long thinner object ... like a pencil being spun on its lead tip - needs LOTS of revs to get it to "sleep" and will tumble over a lot easier. Same principle with bullets. The longer they are, the more "revs" they need.
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That's very interesting, thanks for the great info. Ideally I would like to shoot 90-100gr bonded bullets. That's what I'm hoping it shoots good, with shots no further then 400yards.
 
I have already expressed my opinion to Goeff on this one, but a little examination on the subject is worthwhile.
Originally Remington issued their 244 rifles with a 1-12" twist.
These rifles would usually fail to stabilize "spitzer" or pointed, 100 grain bullets due to their length.

However, it was NOT etched in stone.
I owned two of these rifles over the years, and both would stabilize 100 grain spitzer flat base bullets just fine, as long as they were driven 3000+ fps.

I think that a 1-11" twist will stabilize most 100 grain and down 6mm bullets without a problem.
However,the problem would appear with a VLD 105-108 grain pill, I'm sure, since a 1-8 or possibly a 1-8½" twist is needed to stabilize these very long pills.

As AP observed [post #6], there are no absolutes in this game. I'll illustrate.

I had a HB rifle in a large 6.5mm chambering. The barrel was 30" long, 1-10" twist.
I wanted to build a 6.5-06, so had my 'smith screw off that HB, turn it down to sporter contour, and fit it to another action and chamber it in 6.5-06
It finished up at 26.5" long.
By all accounts, the 1-10" twist should only have stabilized rather "short" 6.5mm bullets [possibly up to the 129 grain Hornady FB.]

However, that barrel completely surprised me.
It shot all bullets I tried in it well, including VLD 140's and 142's.
I even shot those VLDs at a 1000 yard competition, and did quite well with it.

All the press said it couldn't work, but it did. Why? No way to explain this.
So it is always worth a try.

My personal feeling is a 1-11" twist will work with most "hunting" 6mm bullets at 6mm Remington velocities.
[The Berger 105 grain excepted. (Don't consider these a "hunting" bullet anyway, lol)]

Regards, Eagleye.
 
i would suggest, i have a .243 win 1-10 twist, i use 70 grn,85grn and 87grn and they cloverleaf , use anywhere from 55-90 grn, higher then that you need a 1-9 or 1-8 twist for 95+ grn
 
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