11" twist rate, 30-06

the_big_mike

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my tikka has an 11" twist, 30-06..


what grainage bullets should I use?

anyone wanna help me understand the rate of twist - grain ratio?
 
It will shoot any standard bullet. Twist rate and bullet length are related. Longer bullets tend to be heavier, but the shape of the bullet controls the length for a given weight. Basically, the longer the bullet, the faster the twist must be to stablilize it. But commercial rifles are sold with barrels designed to work with the readily available ammunition in the calibre.
 
165 hunting bullets will do nicely. The rate of twist is usually a manufacturing standard by calibre. The Rem 700 twist is 1 in 10. So are Ruger's, Brownings and Savage. Your Tikka's is, um, odd. I wouldn't worry about it though. Your rifle will shoot 165's just fine. The .30-06 loves the 165 grain bullets and it'll kill any game you care to hunt.
In addition to what tiriaq says, heavy bullets tend to prefer a slower twist than lighter bullets. Matters mostly in cartridges, like the .243, that have light varmint bullets(under 80 grains) and deer bullets available. You don't want to hunt deer using varmint bullets. They're made to expand rapidly upon contact without much penetration.
 
That twist rate will stabilise all of the 30 cal. bullets from 125 to 220 grains, and do all of them well. You will probably have trouble with 110 grainers though.
Personally, I find that heavy 200 grain and 220 grain bullets are consistantly accurate in 1/10 twist bbls.
Remember, the 1/10 twist rate was standard for the 30 cals when they were first developed with 200+ grain bullets in military rifles.
The 1/10 twist rate is a holdover from the early milspec rifles from the beginning of the 20th century, over 100 years ago. Some of the commercial rifle makers are offering 1/12 twist rates now.
Many hunter bench rest rifles have 1/15 twist rates as they are purpose built to shoot 150 grain and lighter bullets with flat bases.
It's a proven fact that over spinning bullets can cause poor accuracy because the bond between the core of the bullet and the jacket becomes compromised, sometimes drasticly.
Another reason for slower twist rates is to lower pressures and supposedly increase velocity, not really sure how true the latter statement is, but it is part of the reason for slower twist rates, and it's pretty hard to argue the successes at the hunter benchrest matches as far as accuracy is concerned. bearhunter
 
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