Twist rate and boolit weight

[snaketail]

I have a 20” Rossi in .454 Casull that I use with .45 Colt ammo. The rifle has a 1:16 twist – a somewhat fast twist. I’ve had reasonable success with 250gr RNFP Cast Boolits now that I’ve changed to .454 size.

I’m considering another change - to a 200gr .454 boolit to take advantage of the quick twist rate.

I value the opinion of the shooters here, so I thought this would be the place to find out if I should change to 200gr, or stay with the relatively successful 250gr. (relatively successful – in that a change from.452 to .454 made a great difference my group size – but I’m still searching for the ideal load.)

Michael

PS: I used to work at Cabela’s. One of my coworkers said he remembered it as “Tighter is quicker”. I’m pretty sure he was referring to guns.

[Buckshot]

...........The heavier (longer) a slug is for a given caliber the faster the twist needs to be. The twist in my Rossi M92 chambered 45 Colt is 32". I also have a Winchester (Miroku) M92 rifle in 45 Colt. It has the 'Pistol' twist of 16". The 16" twist of the Miroku will stabilize the Lee 457-340-F (sized .452") while the Rossi will not.

..............Buckshot

[missionary5155]

Good morning
The fast twist will enable you to shoot boolits at a slower velocity. But you loose the ability to go into upper velocities with soft boolits. It is all a trade off.
If I was looking for a slow speed plinker that 200 grain would be effective. Be good on light weight critters also. No reason you should not be able to get a 200 grainer slipping along at 1500. Is this 200 gr a plain base ?
But for an all purpose load I would stick with that 250. Again with that 1-16 twist you should be able to go real slow (800 fps) and still be reasonably stable at distance. I would think you could get easily into the 300 grainers at slow velocity around 1000 fps.
Only problem with a fast twist is getting fast FPS. You can but you have to get into hard alloys and gas checks. It is always a trade off. But you see what it will do and live within the friendly confines of the barrel you have. It is niether bad nor good.
Mike in Peru

[snaketail]

Rossi is now saying the .454 Casull is a 1:30 twist. I'm not "plinking" much - I use the rifle for Cowboy Lever Action Silhouette. So I think I'll stay with the 250gr.

Thanks,
Michael

[OnHoPr]

With the 1:30 twist your original thought of the 200 gr might be better for accuracy and lighter recoil in the faster shooting sports.

[snaketail]

OK, I'll try some 200gr .454s. I feel like I'm shooting a different load every time I go out - gotta settle for "the one" soon.

M