Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Slow twist rate in Savage 212 12 gauge slug shotgun

The Savage 212 slug shotgun has a 1 in 35 twist barrel.

Every other slug gun manufacturer that I am aware of (Remington, Tarhunt, Browning, Benelli) uses a faster 1 in 28 or 1 in 26 twist.

I called Savage and no one could tell me why they settled on the slower twist.

I am concerned that a 1 in 35 twist is too slow for modern sabot slugs.

Any thoughts or insights?

You'll get an actual user to post soon, but in general, slower twists for lighter bullets as a rule of thumb, and since the modern sabot is typically lighter than a full size slug, I'm thinking you should be kosher.

Now this has me wondering if Savage uses the same twist rate on the 20 Ga.? 'Cause a friend of mine has the 20 Ga. version and it's so accurate it's making me want one. I'd bet that the slower twist really is due to the lighter sabots. Savage apparently knows what they're doing based on what I've seen of those things. I'm starting to have dreams of seeing one in my gun safe.

The 20 gauge Savage has an excellent reputation for accuracy. It is much harder to find reviews of the 12 gauge. A 12 gauge may require a different twist rate to stabilize a sabot. Since they are the only manufacturer with such a slow twist rate, it would be nice to understand why.

The 220f is a 1:24 twist. Mine loves the faster loads like Remington AccuTips.

Don't know why the 12 has the slower twist. I do know the velocity of loads will make all the difference in it.

The 12 gauge slugs I shoot are just as fast as the 20 gauge slugs I shoot. That's my concern.