Which twist rate for 223

My first centerfire rifle was a Ruger Mini with a 1-in twist. If you're happy with and grain FMJ bullets, you don't need any more twist than this. In my mind, however, the 1-in twist is just a bit too restrictive. This is the beginning of the road for the shooter wanting to take advantage of the heavy bullet trend. The 1-in-9 is a great compromise twist rate—not too fast to cause problems with the grain bullets, but fast enough to stabilize all but the heaviest bullets under most circumstances.

This twist will stabilize most traditional bullets up to 75 grains, and monolithics up to 70 grains — but they do so right at the edge of the envelope so not all rifles will do it. With longer barrels and commensurate faster velocities, this twist can be more forgiving. For a inch general-use carbine, the 1-in-8 twist is about as versatile as it gets. This twist rate will comfortably stabilize bullets up to grains, and the excellent and grain bullets also work great at a wider spectrum of velocities — which means barrel length isn't critical.

My 3-gun rifle, built by my friend Iain Harrison , wears an inch, 1-in-8 twist White Oak Armament barrel and shoots just about anything well. This is the twist chosen by the military since the switch was made to the M16A2 — and the grain M cartridge — in the s. Its ability to stabilize tracer rounds in-flight is one of the reasons that the military chose this twist rate. This barrel will stabilize bullets of up to 90 grains, and can handle the to grain bullets at just about any velocity, which makes it well suited for carbines with very short barrels.

If you want a Mil-Spec clone, the 1-in-7 twist is the way to go. I currently own two ARs with 1-in-7 twist rates — a To illustrate how velocity and twist rates can be the ying and the yang of bullet stability and accuracy, I fired a variety of loads side-by-side from the two rifles. The Matching the rifling twist in your rifle or carbine to the appropriate ammunition won't guarantee great accuracy, but it will ensure the bullet is properly stabilized in flight. On the other hand, using a bullet that's too heavy for your barrel's twist is a virtual promise of poor accuracy and ineffective terminal performance.

If you're struggling with the accuracy of your modern sporting rifle, be sure you've properly matched your ammunition to the barrel's twist. Give a Gift Subscriber Services. See All Other Magazines. See All Special Interest Magazines.

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He's wanting to shoot out to around yds and doesn't home load as yet, so factory gr loads will be used. Any advice greatly received. An 8 twist could future proof the purchase, it will shoot the 55s ok and if he wants to reload and stretch its legs in the future he has the twist for it.

Is the 8 twist as accurate as a 12 twist with lighter loads? Or do they come into their own with a heavier and longer bullet. Definitely go for the twist. As Alan says it will future proof your friends gun if he takes up handloading in the future. Plus the twist will stabilise the gr factory rounds easily. You can also but hornady tap ammo which is the same bullet as the 75gr bthp in factory rounds which are great bullets and hit very hard indeed. I have personally taken rabbits with these to yards.

From my own experience with a twist there is no discernible difference between the and the with lighter bullets. I have shot from 53 - 75 in my rifle with very little difference in accuracy.

I've actually settled on the 69gr tmks. But if I had the it would stabilise the 75amax and the 77gr tmk. My friend has a twist howa and it changing it to a A twist is a no brainer imho. Cheers for the advice and knowledge guys. I wanted to to make sure the right rifle was bought the first time. Probably a bit late, but i have a 1 in 8 Tikka T3. And have even better results from the 50 to 55 grain bullets. Not to late at all, it's reassuring to hear from people what the rifles are capable of with different ammo.

I'd go with the advice already given. A 1 in 8 may suffer marginal MV loss due to the tighter twist, but gain with flexibility of choice of ammo. I have shot 55gr factory ammo no problems with mine sub moa, and my standard do-it-all round of 69gr works very well to the ranges your friend wants. I've even found flat base 60gr V-max shoot well to yds but not much beyond if driven pretty hard and is devastating on fox.

Home loading is worth consideration. It's one of the things that make the. My Sako 75 shoots 40g int sub. My super accurate 22 and 6PPCs have a slower twist and lose out after y,but sub. The 1;8 is way way more flexible,and really has no short range deficit.

In extreme instances, bullets can become damaged in a poor quality bore and fragment upon exiting. Many highly frangible varmint bullets, typically between 45 and 55 grains, often cannot take the high rotational speeds produced by the one-ininch barrels that can reach between , and even up to , rpm. Effectively, common lead-core, jacketed bullets can separate during flight and fail to reach the target. On the other hand, the same bullets in a slower-twist barrel can perform flawlessly.

In other instances, as previously indicated, poorly rifled barrels i. A perfect rifling twist rate will stabilize given bullets within a reasonable distance usually within 40 to yards , yielding accuracy as soon as bullet yaw settles, and will retain that accuracy at long range. In instances where a bullet is not fully stabilized typically found with a too-heavy bullet for a too-slow twist rate , accuracy may be good at , or even yards but can destabilize at longer distances.

The point being, there are no absolutes. The following are general guidelines for bullet and twist rate combinations. This twist rate was used on early AR rifles, and custom builders can still make an upper to this specification. It generally stabilizes bullets ranging from 35 to 55 grains but especially thrives with virtually all cup-and-core to grain weights. These bullets have become particularly popular with varmint shooters for their ability to reach high velocity and give explosive performance at common prairie dog shooting distances of to yards.

Interestingly, many. The comparatively slow bullet rotational speed permits its use with many of the highly frangible varmint bullets without their disintegration in midflight. This twist rate will generally stabilize to grain bullets; however, I have seen select grain bullets produce good groups at to yards, but they showed signs of accuracy loss at longer ranges due to becoming unstable.

Generally speaking, the inch twist offers its best accuracy with to grain bullets, which covers a broad spectrum of popular varmint bullets. When conditions came together perfectly, MG was getting three-shot groups under 2. Although I was unable to duplicate that level of accuracy at home, with my most impressive group being 2.

If middle-of-the-road weight bullets will serve your field or hunting needs, such as prairie dog shooting, the inch twist is an excellent choice.

This is a standard twist rate used by many AR rifle manufacturers, including Colt, Ruger, Bushmaster, Remington, Mossberg and others; and it is doubtful that will change anytime soon. The 8-inch twist is steadily becoming more popular, as it shares many of the same virtues as the 9-inch twist, but it is better suited for virtually all grain and most grain bullets for long-range work. It is slightly less suitable for lightweight varmint bullets.

One test gun, however, proved accurate and reliable using Nosler grain Ballistic Tips and Hornady grain V-MAX bullets, each pushed to around 3, fps inch barrel by