What will 1-10 twist rate stabilize?

Suputin said:
How heavy (or long) a bullet that can be stabilized by a specific twist rate and what is optimum bullet length for that twist rate are two totally different questions.
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Well what would be a optimum 30 cal bullet length for a 1-10 twist? For shooting long distances
 
ryanshaw44 said:
Well what would be a optimum 30 cal bullet length for a 1-10 twist? For shooting long distances
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The Berger 185 LRBT is a dead-reliable, "easy" bullet.

The very best 200+ grain "heavies" offer the promise of improved performance (less wind drift) over the Berger 185s, but word has it that they can be quite fussy w.r.t. loading technique and shooting technique. Not just any heavy bullet, it is important that it be a well-made one, e.g. 208 Amax, Sierra 210, Berger 200 Hybrid, 210 VLD, 230 Hybrid.

The 155s will also shoot well.
 
ryanshaw44 said:
Well what would be a optimum 30 cal bullet length for a 1-10 twist? For shooting long distances
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Whatever bullet shoots well. There is no "optimum".

My Savage PC has a 1:10 twist and it shoots 125gr bullets amazingly. That isn't really a long range bullet but it shows that twist rate is not the most important factor in accuracy. For long range 308, your best choice would likely be a 175gr match bullet.
 
My 1:10" twist barrel shoots the 208A-Max just fine out to 1500 yards. You can say thats fairly stable. And they are cheaper to shoot than Berger 210VLD's.

I prefer the Bergers though for really long shooting.
 
dthunter said:
My 1:10" twist barrel shoots the 208A-Max just fine out to 1500 yards. You can say thats fairly stable. And they are cheaper to shoot than Berger 210VLD's.

I prefer the Bergers though for really long shooting.
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Bullets gain stability with distance. So as log as a bullet is stable out of the muzzle, it will continue to be stable till it hits the ground.
 
The longest .308 bullet that I have data for is the 240 gr MK which is 1.591" long. Its stability from a 1:10 twist barrel is marginal, being dependent upon where and when you're shooting. If for example you shoot where I live at sea level, in say in January, at -35, with 30% humidity, I bet you'll have stability issues with 240s fired from a 1:10 barrel, but not from my 1:8. Conversely, if you're shooting at 80 degrees, at 4500 feet, in 70% humidity, the .308/240 1:10 combination will work just fine.
 
Suputin said:
Whatever bullet shoots well. There is no "optimum".

My Savage PC has a 1:10 twist and it shoots 125gr bullets amazingly. That isn't really a long range bullet but it shows that twist rate is not the most important factor in accuracy. For long range 308, your best choice would likely be a 175gr match bullet.
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Don't count on this. The 175 SMK has roughly the same BC as the 155's, but can't be pushed as fast, and so gets pushed around more by the wind.
 
The 175 SMK is far from the best, it's more like a starting point for long range 308. It was trendy a decade ago, but was overtaken by the 155's, which were overtaken by the 185's which are being overtaken by even heavier bullets.
 
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