hardyhunter

I'm brand-new at muzzleloading(at the research level before buying). I know basically that rifleing twist affects the spin of the bullet.I am going for a flat shooting trajectory since I use a .243 in centerfire.It seems that most of the current in-liners have a 1in 28" twist.One rifle touts muzzle velocities exceeding 2,650 fps with that twist(T/C Super XR .45 Rifle). Another one I'm looking at has a 1in20" twist with the same length barrel-26" (Lightning™ .45 cal. Long Distance).
Will the 1in20" provide even greater muzzle velocity and/or trajectory? Does a faster twist cause more recoil? One more gun I'm considering is:CVA Firebolt 209 Ultra Magnum.Any reviews on this gun?
It's open season on these questions-pro and con.
Thanks for the education.

eldeguello

Twist has some effect on muzzle velocities, in that a given powder charge will give higher muzzle velocities in slow twist than in fast ones, to some degree. A smoothbore will give higher velocities thamn a rifled bore. The reason for this is that rifling gives some drag on the bullet, so some of the available energy in a load is used up overcoming this friction. But a 1/20" twist .45 caliber rifle will NOT give you higher muzzle velocities than a 1/28" barrel, using the same bullet and powder charge. Don't try to make a muzzleloader into something it is not!! NONE of these things will give you the flat trajectory of your .243!! Far from it. Why? Because, as a rule, the B.C. of the ML bullet is quite a bit lower, so they shed velocity much faster!! There are a few exceptions to this rule, but in .45 caliber, to get a high B.C., you must use a pretty heavy bullet, and these can't reach the high (2650 FPS) muzzle speeds these folks are touting!! You have to use a 175-grain or so pistol-type bullet in a .45 with a sabot to get 2650 FPS, and such a bullet has no staying power!!

Keep yore powder dry!!

hardyhunter

Thanks Eldeguello. That makes sense about the bullet having some drag because of the rifling. It was a 155grain bullet the company said their gun shoots at 2650fps.
What twist rate would you all suggest for whitetail hunting in 45cal. and then in 50cal.?

bigbulls

I once read an article that said the optimum twist in a muzzleloader is 1 in 28 to 1 in 32. The author tested bullets and found that this range of twist rate gave the best accuracy over the widest range of bullet weights. When he got down to the 1 in 20 or so, or to the slow twist rates the bullets became very unstable, some resulting in tumbling bullets at less than 100 yards, except for very specific bullet weights. This ofcourse, was testing the conical and sabot style bullets and not the round balls. I hope this helps.

I would also strongly reccomend the 50 cal over the 45 as the supplies needed are more widly available. In a pinch you can find 50 cal. bullets and such almost every where you go. Also if you ever plan on hunting elk or moose with a ML the minimum caliber will probably be 50 cal.

Edited by - bigbulls on 12/07/2002 21:12:55

hardyhunter

hey Bigbulls, I really appreciate the input there. In my searching, I have only found one 1/32" twist,although there are probably more out there.Mostly I've found 1/28". I'm getting lots of feedback from different sources, and the pros and cons are definitely there when comparing the 45cal. to the 50cal.. 90% of all that WalMart had yesterday was for 50cal.. I go for flat shooting and good placement instead of a massive bullet, so that's why I considered the 45cal.
In sifting out all the advice I've gotten, I gather that any of the guns except the 1/20" twist will perform for me if I figure out a good powder/bullet combination. I will only hunt whitetails. I also gather that a 45cal. is flatter shooting and more accurate when using the 1/28"-1/32" twists. Have I got it sorted out right? Thanks much again.

eldeguello

As a rule, the longer the bullet, the faster it must be spun to remain stable. If you are going to use the 155 to 195-grain bullets, then a 1/32 to 1/28 twist is about right. I use a 1/20" twist to shoot .45/70 bullets in a .45 caliber muzzleloader. These bullets run from 345 grains to 400 grains or more. I size them to .451", and they are a tight but sliding fit in my bore. I also have a .45 and a .50 cal. with slow twists, made for round balls. But, the .45 will shoot short bullets (for example, the Buffalo Bullet or Maxi-ball) up to 275 grains, and the .50 will shoot 370 grain Maxi balls with acceptable hunting accuracy to 100 more more yards. Both of these barrels are slower than 1/60". In addition, I have a 1/60" twist /58 that shoots the Lyman 57730, a 570-grain Minie ball, to the same point of impact at 100 yards as the .570 round ball, both bullets using 120 grains of powder. However, if I were purchasing a rifle today for use with conicals or sabots, I would buy one with a twist of at least 1/32", or faster!!For shooting plain round balls or short Minie balls, I would get a 1/66" (or 1/72", if a .58 caliber).

Keep yore powder dry!!

Fran49829

Hardyhunter,
Just my 2 cents worth but I would not reccommend light fast bullets for a muzzleloader. It seems as though companies are trying to convince us that 150 grains of powder with 150 or 180 gr bullets is better when I do not think it is. I have found that 300 gr Barnes Expanders with 100 gr powder are awesome on deer and I can aim right on out to 125 yards. The guys who use heavier bullets than 300 gr have to be more careful about trajectory but they have even more power.

bigbulls

A rifle with 1 in 28 twist would be about ideal. If you want to shoot a light bullet then go with one of the sabots shooting a 44 or 45 cal bullet in a 50 cal rifle. Keep in mind that a 250 grain bullet would be considerd very light in a 45 cal rifle like the 45-70. The advantage that a 45 cal ML would have would be minimal at normal ML ranges. Don't go with all the hype in the ads as you read they used a 155 grain bullet with 150 grains of powder. Did they happen to tell you how tight the grouping was?