Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors 190gr bullets

A 1-12 twist is plenty fast enough to stabilize any bullets you might shoot out of a Savage .30 caliber rifle. I don't know where you heard the differing malarkey. If the gun shoots 180's better than 150's and you like the 180's, then by all means use them.

Calhoun is right as rain - it's all about bullet length not weight when it comes to stabilization in a given twist.

As for shooting thin jacketed .30-30 bullets at .300 velocity, you'll experience tremendous expansion for sure.

Short necks on .300 brass aren't much of an issue, and then mainly in the area of concentricity. It's easier to attain straightness in a loaded cartridge with a long neck than a short one. Beyond that don't sweat it.

Frankly, if I were hunting where a swipe at an elk was a possibility I would probably load Barnes TSX's of 130 or 150 weight. Note they are monolithic bullets and will equal the length of heavier cup-and-core bullets, but offer the advantages of higher velocity coupled with excellent expansion and penetration. And they'll certainly stabilize in the twist of your rifle.

Doncha love it when someone prefaces their response with "You are failing..." Ha! Can you fail posting what is essentially a question?

Here's another one i'll risk failing at - is the extra length of a spire point relevant when you consider that most of that length, if i am envisioning it right, is made up in a longer taper that doesn't contact the rifling? I can absolutely see the spire point creating issues with case length and potential intrusion of the bullet into the powder space, but would a flat or round point bullet not actually have more surface area in contact with the rifling than a spire point and so actually be the longer bullet where stabilization is concerned?

Thanks for the info on twist rates in the 99. Interesting stuff.

Why wouldn't a 190 spire point (if such a thing existed) stabilize in a 1-10" twist? Krags, Springfields, and God knows every .30-06 in existence, handle 220's with aplomb in their 1-10" twists.

Yes, it's the entire length of the bullet from the tip to the end. A long spire point or a boat tail which has more surface that doesn't touch the rifling doesn't matter - it's the entire bullet length.

I've done trials on this myself with 100gr Nosler Partitions in old 250-3000's with 1-14" twist. Without modification, the long Noslers (which Nosler says won't stabilize in old 250-3000's) get 8" groups at 100 yards. File the lead point off them (which never contacts the rifling), which reduces the weight about 2 grains but the length goes down 1/10th of an inch - and the groups tighten up to 1.5"-2.5".

Again it's all about bullet length, no matter its shape (or weight).

I see. Thanks!

It's not intuitive, we all go through it.

Just have to realize that it's not an issue of stabilizing the bullet in the barrel, it's a physics question of how much spin is needed outside of the barrel to stabilize a projectile of a given length and diameter in the air.

I do like the voodoo you do!