Rate of Twist selection: HELP

sgt_scarecrow

sgt_scarecrow

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I have a Tikka T3 Tactical in .308 which has a 11:1 rate of twist (20" barrel).

I'm having a hard time figuring out which bullets would be ideal for my gun. I've shot 110, 150, 155, 168, 180 and even 220 with varying degrees of success for hunting. I've been doing more target shooting now and I reload and my very unscientific method is to work up a safe load (checking it with Quickload for chamber pressure, etc) and building various ranges of bullet weights and powders using RL15. So far my most accurate load I think was 168gr with 41.5gr of RL15 with Winchester brass and a Fed Gold Comp primers.

I speaking with others the question of twist comes up and its effect on the bullet and I quickly get lost in that discussion. Advice on this would be appreciated, especially specific to the above mentioned gun.

Thanks!
 
Whichever hunting bullet groups best in your rifle. Really, this worrying about twist (within reason) is just not that important in a hunting rifle. As the twist will have more (or less) effect on accuracy depending on the length of the bullet, any advice we give you on "the magic bullet", wull really only be true in our own particular cases. GENERALLY speaking, 1:12 works well with 155s, 1:11 with 165/68s, and 1:10 with 180s, but I own rifles that make a liar out me in each instance. Keep experimenting, and use what groups best. - dan
 
Agreed. EVERYBODY told me that 168 SMKs would work great in my heavy barreled .308. They said 175 SMKs would work even better.

Turns out neither of them shot worth sh#t.

The 155's on the otherhand, shoot tight little knots.
 
Sgt SC; Your 1-11 twist is a compromise, which should be able to handle all bullet weights up to and including 200 grainers with decent accuarcy. Here is the Skinny on 30 cal twists. The 1-10 twist was originally designed to work with the 220 grain bullet used in the 30 Krag and 30-03/30-06 platforms. In fact, this twist is a bit fast for bullets weighing under 200 grains, but works just fine right down to 125/130 grain bullets in most rifles. The 1-12 twist will work with flat based bullets to 200 grains, and most match bullets to 175/180. Rifles specifically built to shoot the 150/154/155 grain bullets work best at 1-13" or 1-14" If 110-130 grain bullets were your only choices, a 1-15 or 1-16" twist would probably do just fine. So you can see where your 1-11" twist sits in the overall picture. Keep in mind that some rifles will display a marked preference for a specific bullet, while others are quite Catholic in their tastes, shooting many different bullets well. I have a 30-06 that is very cosmopolitan in it's tastes, shooting all weights from 130 grains up very well indeed. These are keepers, IMHO. Hope this helps, Regards, Eagleye.
 
ah twist rates and bullets.

I have a heavy barrel win70 in .308 that does not like light bullets, patterns not groups anythign less then 180grn, and the 180grns are not that good either.

Now a 30cal 200grn BT is a long bullet and seems that is long enough for this rifle that it will group about 1"

I don't understand it and when I tried to measuer the twist rate it seemed to be 1-11" ut that was with a cleaning rod and tight fitting jag.

it just seems to work
 
Thanks, this has been helpful. I was shooting 110gr flat base Hornady GR V-MAX and in test firings got good groupings, but with the odd flyer which I assume is me. I am handloading and looking for wisdom beyond what I already know and I don't know #### about twist rates or their impact on accuracy so when someone asks me what my twist is and I can't even tell them (I had to look it up when I got home) I felt I might have been missing something important... sounds like a lot of opinions on this issue...
 
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