Mr. D, the best rate of twist is solely dependent upon what kind of projectiles you want to shoot. If you are going to stick to conicals, or some kind of sabot arrangement, the faster twists are necessary. There should be no problem with the 1/32" for heavier projectiles in a .50 cal. However, such a twist would not shoot well with heavier loads behind a round ball. You would be limited to 50 grains or so with a round ball, which would be O.K. for target practice and plinking, but underpowered for hunting. Incidently, a fast-twist .45 caliber (1/22, or thereabouts)can be loaded to equal 19th Century .45/70 ballistics, which is nothing to sneeze at!! I use a Lyman .457122 Gould hollowpoint sized .451" and 90 grains of powder in mine, with excellent results.