Savage barrel twist 50 cal

[deadon]

Why is it that I have never heard on this board that "the twist in the barrel of the ml 10 is too slow for that long of a bullet. It will never stablize that long a bullet". My 6.5 X 284 was a 1 in 8 twist and it shot the 142 gr bullet great, asleep right out of the barrel ,but it would not shoot short ,lighter bullets worth a C@#$. Why does twist never come into play when working up loads for the ml 10? I hope I am asking this the right way. Can anyone please tell everyone here what I am asking? Thank you

[youp50]

I am uncertain as to the length necessary to make a bullet too long to stabilize in a stock ML. I calculated some 1 3/8 inch long necessary to properly stabilize in a stock Savage.. I managed some cast 490 grainers from Montana. Perhaps a 750 grain bullet is too long. I know that a long bullet putting down range will upset the position of a recoil reducing rest and 50 pounds of weight.

Essentially, stock 50 ML guys are stuck with two things. The rate of twist and the current stock of bullets. So you hunt for a sweet spot. That special load that will provide the level of accuracy that is acceptable. Always understanding that the higher velocity can overcome a twist/bullet combination that is less than ideal.

[sw]

The 24" twist will stabilize all the 45 cal bullets we might want to shoot, IMO. The 36 twist SMI 50 cal will stabilize the 300g Barnes X but not the 290g boattail Barnes. The 300g Barnes is on the ragged edge for a 36" twist. Our 24" twist is adequate for all but the heaviest 45 cal bullets, well thru 400+ gs. I do not believe that we can "over stabilize" well made bullets. Numerous articles in Precision Shooting discussed this very thing as well as articles in the now defunct Accurate Rifle, by the same publisher. Also, Gun tests did a test of 4 22 cal rifles: 2 12 twist and 2 9 twist. The 9s stabilized all bullets from 40-70gs but the 12s only 40-55gs with the 60-70g bullets shooting very poorly thru the 12s. However, the 9s also outshot the 12s with 40-55s. My 22-250 AK IMP(Fred Moreo) shoots 80 Sierras and Starkees very accurately at 3300'/sec but is nearly as accurate with 40 NBTs @ 4500+'/sec. This is a 8" twist barrel. If I got another 50 cal smokeless MLer barrel, it'd be a 20" twist. If another 40 cal, it would be a 13" twist instead of the 16" twist I now have.

[rangeball]

Just to add for posterity, SMI will do custom twist for no added cost. Mine is 1:22.

[deadon]

GREAT info Guys, Thank you very much, Rusty