Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles .224 60-64 grain optimum twist rate

He obviously doesn't know.

I shot some SpSX bullets out of a 1 in 8 twist 223 barrel...and they seem to not be hitting anything...

It was about 90+ degrees at the time, pulled the trigger on one, with my head looking over the scope, to see if the bullet was just coming apart. Pulled the trigger and the only way to describe the results, is out the barrel it looked like one's breathe on a 10 degree day, just like cold steam...

So I called up Hornady, told them what happened, and their response was that the bullet was designed fragile for varmints and could with stand up to 180,000 rpms... with the velocity it was moving out of my 1 in 8 twist barrel, he estimated that it was turning 360,000 rpms plus.... Well that certainly explains that puff I saw out the end of the barrel, even on a 90 degree day...

Did have some of those with me, when I was out by Applegate Reservoir, where it was very damp and foggy one day. The Reservoir is fairly isolated, surrounded by mountains and forest service land, so no houses around it either. I decided to stop and put a few rounds out across the water, with a mountainside back stop, 3 or 400 yds on the other side..

It was actually fun to watch. In the fog, you could easily see the bullet come out the barrel and come apart, and then watch the various parts zip off thru the fog and their paths for a good 50 yds... they didn't come apart, the bullet just exploded.
Parts flying up, down, east & west... gives one a good idea of what 'coming apart' really means...

it was exactly what you see when you watch a video of a jet hit by a missile and the plane just explodes...

I shot the thin jacketed soft point bullets for years, Hornet designed bullets, Sierra's Blitz and Hornady's version, virtually all in between 45 and 55 grains, a lot of 52 grain bullets the Speer hollowpoint being a favorite. The odd thing is I was using the .224 diameter for just what it was originally designed to do, shoot varmints. I even shot a few deer using the Hornady flat based HP and SP 60 grain bullets and used the Speer semispitzer 70 grain bullet a small amount. Mostly out of 1-12 twist 223 barrels or 1-14 twist 22-250 barrels. Today my slowest twist centerfire .224 barrel is a 1-9. I don't shoot the old Blitz or SPSX bullets through it but it will tightly group Hornady's 75 grain BTHP. It also does well with the 50 grain Nosler Varmegeddon bullet. When the box of a thousand 75 grain bullets runs out I am going with a 69 grain bullet probably from Hornady.

Go on the Shilen website and look under “calbers an twists”. When I have a doubt, that’s where I look.
The guy that makes my rifles was the president of the National Benchrest Association. For what it is worth, he has told me that he gets the best accuracy out of a bullet when it is on the verge of instability. I never used his advice, as I never knew what bullet I would be positively using, but I did know what would be the longest, heaviest one that might be a choice. That’s how I have always decided the twist.

This

it's not the weight

It's the length

Do a 8-9 twist & call it good

https://pac-nor.com/barrels/#