fast twist .44 barrels

kell2784

kell2784

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I've been doing a little research on the Ruger barrels (I have a 96-44), and found they are a pretty slow twist (20"). Rugers aren't known as tack drivers, don't get me wrong, they are basically the mack truck of the rifle world (not to belittle the 45-70). Why wouldn't Ruger pick up on the fact that to make a 300 grn. projectile accurate as possible, a 16" twist is more desirable. A 20" twist is fine, but to go through the trouble of handloading and tweaking for accuracy, a 'quicker' barrel might be in order. A lot of guys in the states install 14" twist barrels on their 44's, but then they load a lot slower rounds than 1600 fps to make them accurate. If anyone has any input on this, I'd sure like a second opinion. I'm also looking for a barrel maker to build a 16" twist for my Ruger 96. Thanks
 
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I don't really have an answer for you but I thought I would commend you on your sweet avatar. Mother's milk was a sweet album.
 
I believe the 1 in 38 twist ruger put in thier guns was considered optimum for the 240 grain factory loaded 44 magnum.The fastest twist rate I know of for the 44 magnum is the winchester which has a 1 in 26 twist.I think marlin also used the 1 in 38 also.
 
I'm positive that it's 1 in 20" twist on the Ruger 96-44. It was designed specifically to shoot 300 grn. loads. I do know that for a fact that Marlin uses a slower twist than Ruger. The Ruger family and close buddies took their early design 44 carbines out to Africa on some small Safari adventures, and were immediately impressed by the stopping power of the 300 grn. 44 load. They must have had balls to get within 100 yds of the animals with a small backpack carbine!
 
kell2784 said:
I'm positive that it's 1 in 20" twist on the Ruger 96-44. It was designed specifically to shoot 300 grn. loads. I do know that for a fact that Marlin uses a slower twist than Ruger. The Ruger family and close buddies took their early design 44 carbines out to Africa on some small Safari adventures, and were immediately impressed by the stopping power of the 300 grn. 44 load. They must have had balls to get within 100 yds of the animals with a small backpack carbine!
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I was talking about the older ruger carbines, I don't know about the new ones.
 
Hi Miles, it took me a while to find it, but we were both right.

The old carbine's rifling was reported to have 12 grooves with a twist of one turn in 38 inches. Back in the 1960s .44 Magnum bullets weighed 240 grains and there was not a lot of variety. I used the Barnes Ballistics Program and computed the optimum twist for a Nosler 240-grain hollowpoint bullet that is .711 inch long. The twist came up 38.8 inches. That's pretty dad gum close to what Ruger used back then. Today, with the increasing popularity of heavyweight bullets going to 300 grains and more, and with complex bullets that aren't all lead inside, which makes them even longer, a 1:38-inch twist is a little slow. It doesn't hurt to have a twist on the fast side. It's on the slow side where bullet stability becomes an issue. Indeed, Ruger now supplies a twist appropriate for today's bullets at 1:20 with a six-groove barrel for the new Deerfield.
 
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