Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Preferred twist for 165 - 168 out of 30 caliber?

If your wanting to hunt only 165 to 168 grain .308 deer bullets what would be your preferred twist for a custom barrel?
Thanks in advance

Call the barrel maker and ask them, you may be shocked.

10 twist is your huckleberry.

For 30/06, I use 1 in 12.Rick.

1-10"

Finally I get to agree with Steelhead about something, 1-10"

Damn, 8 years plus of stupid.

Without a doubt 1-12 twist. It will stabilize 180's with possible exception to VLD's. 1-10 is faster than needed in most all 30 cals. 1-11.25 will do about everything.

Here's a blurb right off of Shilen's website...I think they underrate the 12 twist though as 180's will do fine in the 12.

.308
- 7" * for heavy VLD bullets and/or subsonic ammo.
- 8" for bullets heavier than 220 gr.
- 10" for bullets up to 220 gr.
- 12" for bullets up to 170 gr.
- 13" * Ratchet rifled 4 groove
- 14" * for bullets up to 168gr.
- 15" * for bullets up to 150 gr.
- 17" * for bullets up to 125 gr.

Compelling.

And what would be the downside to a 1-10 in a hunting rifle, ace?

A 1-12" is akin to buying a vehicle with a towing capacity of 2000 pounds because your trailer weighs 1,995 pounds.

None to speak of, just that I've had some 12 twist custom barrels that just shot so incredibly well in that range of bullet weight that it seemed to be a great match. It is said it's no big deal to have an over stabilized bullet, but also that you may gain some velocity with a more suitable slower twist... For me there's no question in a 308 Win/30-06 sized chambering where I'm not going to shoot 200gr bullets...If given the choice I'll use a 1-12. That said if my barrelmaker had a 1-10 on hand and I would have a wait on the 1-12 I'd probably spin on the 1-10.

It's a myth that any significant velocity is gained with a slower twist, but recent research has shown that a faster twist will result in a higher BC if the "over-stabilized" bullet has a stability factor (Sg) of 1.5 or over. And some 168-grain .30 will not get to 1.5 with a 1-12 in some conditions.

I have yet to own any .30 caliber from .308 Winchester to .300 Weatherby with a good 1-10 twist barrel that didn't shoot 165-168 grain bullets very well.

All Sako .30 cals use 1:11, so I don't argue...;)

Works for me...

FYI, my 700 308 Varmint with a 12 twist spun 190 SMK's just fine.

Also, Msalm has been around more than his share of 308's.....

I'm pretty sure a 190gr SMK would be my first choice in a hunting bullet.

1-10"

Point is, the 12 spins a 190 just fine, and he ain't going there.

11.25" Rock.....

The Sierra 190 is designed to work in a slower twist, but a 1-12 won't fully stabilize a 168 Berger VLD, 165 or 168 Tipped TSX, or even a 165 Nosler Ballistic Tip in all hunting conditions. And yes, Bryan Litz's latest research demonstrates that it's better to over-stabilize than marginally stabilize.

such as John ?

Nough said!

RD,

When it's really cold.

The OP's question was about hunting rifles, not target rifles. We can probably assume it will be shot in different conditions than the average target match, and might just be shot with different bullets.

That was the reason I asked John because you named the 165 BT and I happen to own a Hart barreled custom Husky that I shoot mostly in cold weather and have had pretty spectacular accuracy with. Not talking about minus 0 cold when developing a load.