I've been typingvery slow!

One way to determinethe twist rate is toattach a patch to a cleaningrod or ramrod that will be tight enough to fill and grabthe bore, or use a jag. Having a patch worm is a good idea. It attaches to the ramrod and has hooks on it which help to fish patches out from the bottom of the barrel in case a patchslips off. Butastuck patchcan always be shot out or blown outwith air.
You can put also putsome patch lube or BP solvent on the patch to to reduce the friction a little bit, but that's not necessary.

Push the patched roddown tothe bottom of the bore and place a piece of tape on the rod sticking straight out horizontally just above the bore,and note theexact direction that it's pointing.
Slowly pull the rod out of the barrel and notate the rotation of the tape.
When the tape on the rodrotates 1/2turn, then stop pulling out the rod and measure the number of inchesfrom the top of themuzzle to the tape on the rod. Multiply the number of inches by 2 to determine the twist rate.
If the rod makes 1/2 turn in 24 inches, then it's a 1 in 48 inch twist. If therod doesn'tmake 1/2 turn, then measurethe length ofthe rod after 1/4 turn of rod rotation and multiply by 4.
A 1 in 66 inch twist will rotate 1/2 turn in 33 inches, and 1/4 turn in 16.5 inches.
A 1 in 48 inch twist will rotate 1/4 turn in 12 inches.

Just make sure that the patch is tight enough to grab the rifling and measure the rotation of the rodas it gently pulledout of the barrel, since it's more likely to slip the rifling when the rod is being pushed in.

About the conicals, there's so many to choose from. Try to find one that shoots good in your riflle, and consider trying out a wool wad in between the bullet and powder to act as a gas check sincethey can sometimes improve accuracy.

These pages offer aselection of conicalsfrom Knight, Hornady & TC:



http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/index/index-display.jsp?id=cat200005&navAction=jump&na vCount=1&cmCat=MainCatcat20712&parentType= category&parentId=cat20712

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/department.asp?dept=%4D%55%5A%5A%4C%45%4C%4F%41%44 %49%4E%47&dept2=%43%4F%4D%50%4F%4E%45%4E%54%53 &dept3=%42%55%4C%4C%45%54%53%20%4F%4E%4C%59&am p;dept4=%35%30%20%43%41%4C


Also, always be careful when you carry a rifle that's loaded with a conical bullet. If a conical is too loose in the barrel breech and you carry the rifle pointed downward when hunting, the bullet could slip forward and thencause barrel damage bybeing off the powderwhen it's fired. You want to try tokeep the muzzle of the rifle up when traveling and hunting to help keep it properly seated on top of the powder. Or else the barrel can get bulged and becomea "ringed" barrel.