Yes there is a difference. May be noticeable and may not be depending on target, bullet and just how different the twist is.
In both ballistic testing and extensive use in animals, differences in twist can be seen. Now with some bullets out off 223's you can see the difference in small animals like Prairie dogs, coyotes, etc., but normally not on bigger animals such as deer. Monos do seem to be more consistent, or I should say show less inconsistencies with faster twists. Granted the differance between a 1/12in and 1/14in is slight, but between a 1/12in and 1/7in does show a difference with some bullets.
With most bullets it's hard to see a differance on bigger game like deer, but you can recreate the same as with 22's and varmints by using big varmint bullets. As an example- the 30cal Hornady 178gr Amax is really a big varmint bullet. It can produce very graphic wounds on deer when started around 3,000 FPS and normal 1/10 twists. With the same impacts velocity using 1/8in twist barrels wounds are noticeably bigger. Have done crop damage with two identical rifles using that bullet with the only difference being twist rate- 1/8 and 1-10. There is no mistaking which did what when looking at the deer. We're not talking a couple of animals either. Well into three figures with both. Anyone that looked at the animals could tell the differance between them, and the butcher even could figure out which was which.
There are no downsides to faster twists. However slight the differances may be, they are real, have been proven in ballistic testing and sometimes can be seen in tissue.
I'll take fast twists please.
Using the 178 gr example, do you lose any velocity by going from 1-10 to a 1-8 twist ?
