ORIGINAL: RJH

If I was in your shoes I would get a savage in .223 with a 1 in 9 twist. Just for the fact that it would work. Savage is a great for the money, and availablity of ammo would be a plus and barrel life would be good. 220 swift, .22-250, .243, 243 wssm, 25 wssm would all work but the .223 would probably "do" what you need. The other calibers shoot flatter and have more energy but may cost more money and mayhave shorter barrel life. If you get a fast twist rate then you can shoot heavier bullets that will have better performance at extended ranges. Personally I shoot a .22-250 (savage) and a .223 (AR) with a 1 in 8 but will probably go with a .243 or something for my next rifle. here is a little info on rate of twist somewhere. Good luck
[ul][*][/size]1x7
[/size]Technically too tight of a twist for any .224 bullet widely available, including the 80 grain. Manufactured originally to stabilize SS109 and/or tracer ammo, but further military testing has shown other twists to be superior. Some of the very heavy custom stuff (87 grain?) may work well, but why?[*]1x8
Great twist for 69-80 grain bullets. Sierra once informed me that the perfect twist for their 80gr was 1x8.2xxxxx (blah blah blah big long engineers explanation followed).[*]1x9
Good all around twist ratio. Best suited for 52-69 grain, but either end of the envelope will be questionable.[*]1x10
Practically the same as 1x9, but favors the lighter side a little more.[*]1x12
Great for the 40-52 grain bullets. Most often found on bolt action rifles as their primary use is varminting. All right for the 55 grain, but not the best.[*]1x14
If you want to under stabilize the .224 bullet, use this twist. Useless except for tumbling effect it causes upon bullet impact. IMHO, better to shoot straight with a good HP bullet as your chances to hit are better and damage will most likely be greater also. [/ul]
Wow....I seriously want to thank you for taking the time to give me such a detailed explanation of the twists! While I have been looking I have seen the 1 in 12 and 1 in 14, but in all truth I had no clue what the difference even if there was a difference. With my higher caliber weapons, I have never had to really concern myself with that sort of thing because I know I wouldn't find a good shot farther than about 100 yards out.

The savage that I was looking at actually was one with a 1 in 12, but it was the cheaper model. For 80 dollars more you can get one with a 1 in 10 I believe, or it was a1 in 9 I thinkis what it was. I'm going to go with that one now! So in retrospect...you costs me a few extra dollars, but for accuracy and barrel life span's sake...I thank you for that!

Sincerely grateful,

~Cam

People like RJH make these forums worth the time to make a discussion.





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