best overall twist?

[dombra]

Dear all!
If you were to have One rifle, for all deeds(hunting and paper) and wished shoot both type of bullets-ie 308,jacket and cast= what twist would you get?

[Pat I.]

Probably 12

[Buckshot]

Probably 12

............Yup.

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

[9.3X62AL]

Pile-on here for the 1-12" twist. 1-10" makes sense only if very long bullets/boolits like 190 grain Matchkings are part of the program. I'm much more a hunter than target shooter, so a 165 Nosler Partition is about as heavy as I would ever go in 308. 1-12" will handle those ever well.

For heavier bullets than that, the 30-06 is my choice--and I would probably choose 1-10" to cover all possible bullets. Here, 165 grain bullets would be my SMALLEST option. The 180 grain Nosler Partition at 2650-2700 FPS in a bolt 30-06 is about as close to a "best all-around combination" for North American game that I can feed any of my rifles. If I could only have one rifle and load--that would be it.

[Bass Ackward]

Dear all!
If you were to have One rifle, for all deeds(hunting and paper) and wished shoot both type of bullets-ie 308,jacket and cast= what twist would you get?


If the purpose is hunting with jacketed and only plink with cast, I would get the 10 twist.

If the idea was to hunt with cast too once in awhile, I'd get a 12.

If the option were to never need jacketed bullet ever again in your lifetime, I'd get ahold of a 35 and never look back.

[dombra]

Thanxforthe info
to be more exact- I,m hoping I would be able to use the cast for fox/maybe deer and jacket for boar- maybe I,ll go inbetween and get an11twist...

[Pat I.]

Thanxforthe info
to be more exact- I,m hoping I would be able to use the cast for fox/maybe deer and jacket for boar- maybe I,ll go inbetween and get an11twist...

With what you've added if you have the option that wouldn't be a bad choice.

[Char-Gar]

Like most things in shooting, the answer is it all depends! I would agree with others that a 1-12 is probably the best...BUT..it all depends. It depends on how heavy/long are the bullets you want to shoot.

I have an 03 Springfield (30-06) with a 1-14 Phifer barrel. It shoots comdom bullets up to 150 grains with supurb accuracy. It will also do OK with 165 grain bullets but that is the limit. It throws 180s all over the target. It will do just fine with most cast bullet up to around 190 grains (311334) or so, but put some heavy 200 or above grain cast bullets (311284) down the barrel and the groups open an unacceptable level.

I have a number of 1-10 twist 30 cal barrels and they do very well from 110 to 225 grains bullets, both comdom and cast.

I also have some 1-12 30 cal barrels and they do just fine with comdom and cast up to 200 grains. Heaver comdom bullets don't do well. The heavy weight 30 caliber cast bullets like 311284 do just fine.

So it all depends on how heavy/long are the bullets you want to shoot? I wish there was one twist that would work to perfection with all bullet weights, both comdom and cast, but there is not. All of life is a compromise.

[Larry Gibson]

Quite frankly I've found the 1-14" twist to be the best. The .308 would be fine but I would look at the 30-06 seriously. I have found that in the .308 the 14" twist will stabilize bullets up the 175 gr MKs (haven't tried any heavier jacketed bullets but suspect it will shoot a 180 gr SP just fine) with excellent accuracy (sub moa in my Palma barrel). It shoots the lighter weight bullets with incredible accuracy. I haven't found a jacketed bullet it didn't like including M80 ball. Attached is a 10 shot group (that is a 1" paster - the sight adjustment was made after the 1st shot then 10 shots for the 1.38" group) with delinked M80 from MG ammo belt. I've one lot of WCC63 M80 in stripper clips and bandoliers (for M14) that shoots 10 shots into the .8s an .9s with boring consistantly. I've fired one hell of a lot of M80 7.62 and have never got that kind of accuracy with 10 or 12" twists. A 14" twist barrel will do it consistantly.

With cast bullets the accuracy is alway very good or excellent (sub moa to 2 moa at 100 and 200 yards). When usign a 14" twist barrel I do not have to get anal about weighing, sorting per cavity, orienting, preseating GCs, changing lube, forming cases for thicker necks, trying every primer under the Sun or tuning to the barrels harmonics for every change in weather. I just cast 'em, visually inspect 'em, push a GC on with my thumb, size and lube (Javelina) in a .311 die in the Lyman 450, load 'em (usually over 4895 with a dacron filler) in neck sized fire formed cases primed with WLRs and shoot them. I'm sure I could get sub moa accuracy all the time if I got anal about all the little things but frankly I'd rather shoot the bullets than play with them. Now I'm not critisizng those that do get anal as that's their choice - just saying I'd rather shoot the bullets than play with them. Sub MOA to 2 MOA (depends on the bullet) at 2300 to 2600+ fps fits most of my needs for a fast stepping cast bullet without a lot of the anal (alright, tedious to me) detail selection, techniques and/or preperation.

For example the RCBS 30-150-FN out of a DC mould with bullets not sorted, cast of WWs + 5% tin, Hornady GC pressed on and run into the .311 sizer to crimp GC and lube, over 39 gr milsurp 4895 with no filler in WLR primed LC92 NS'd cases runs 2496 fps (15 ft to ctr of Oehler M35P screens) and shoots 5 shots into 1 1/2 - 2 MOA all day long. That's EVERY day I choose to shoot in regardless of weather. That load will kill deer and varmints all day long too. Bass's 154 gr LBT bullets shoot close to MOA in the 2500 fps range when loaded over RL19. Bullets in the 2500-2600 fps range out of the 14" twist are in the 128 to 133,000 RPM range which is optimal for max velocity with accuracy. Optimal accuracy with both of those bullets is down in the 22-2400 fps range where RPM is 113 to 123,000. With regular bullets like 311291 or 311041 Optimal accuracy of 1 - 2 MOA is also in the 22-2400 fps range. Those velocities with those bullets are all are much higher in velocity with equal accuracy than what I get with the same bullets in 10 and 12" twists.

I've a M98 actioned sporter with a shot out barrel that will get a new 14" twist sporter 26" barrel in either .308 or '06 as soon as I make up my mind. I've also a pretty much shot out #3 Ruger in .22H that will get rebored to .30 cal with a 14" twist and chambered in 30-30. So, if one wants a .30 cal you don't have to get too anal about in loading cast bullets get one with a 14" twist. It will do very well with jacketed bullets also. I realize we are not going to get a factory rifle with a 14" twist but if rebarreling a rifle then it costs no more for a 14" twist than a 10" twist from most barrel makers.

Larry Gibson

[Char-Gar]

Larry.... I have found in my 1-14 30-06 the difference between a boat tail bullet and a regular base bullet has an effect. I can shoot a 165 regular base but not a 180 regular base. I would expect it would do well with the 175 Match Kings as they are a boat tail design. I guess it is the bearing surface that makes the difference, with the BT bullets having a shorter bearing surface.

IIRC, the cast bullet bench rest boys stick to 1-14 or 1-15 twist barrels with bullets lighter than 150 grains.

[Pat I.]

Larry,

I agree that the 14 twist is a good choice but the question was about a one sized fits all twist and I couldn't see limiting myself on bullet length at normal cast bullet velocities with the availability of so many excellent heavier designs so stick with my original choice of 12, and I don't even have one. Followed closely by 11 and 10.

Pat