bullet vs twist

why

Well-known member
Yes, I know a faster twist will shoot heavier bullets. Here is my question. With most 223 barrels being made with fast twist so they will handle heavy bullets and still shoot lite bullets are the lite bullets being overspun so as to cause a splash. If, for example, a 22-250 14" twist shooting 40 gr @ 4300 and a 223 7" twist shooting same bullet @ 3700. 22-250 = 221,142 rpm's and the 223 = approx 380,000 rpm's. So which would be better for coyote's. It seems to me that the 223 would be more likely to splash. Am I missing something. Is it the rpm of the bullet that has caused some of the lite bullets to fall out of favor.
 
Why do you have to run them so fast. A coyote doesn't care if he's deaded at 2900 ft per second or 4000.

Speed doesn't make it fly further. Everyone gets wrapped up to much in the speed stuff learn to hit your target and speed isn't an issue.
 
Trapshooter, you mean a bullet going 1000 fps will go just as far and flat as a bullet going 4000 fps. COME ON MAN. My question was about twist and bullet performance not speed. The example I gave was just that, an example
 
Originally Posted By: whyCOME ON MAN.

sounds like something joe biden would say.
smile.gif
 
why- I have often contemplated the same thing. I think the rpm's are sure enough a factor in bullet performance, particularly thinner jacketed bullets. I have shot a lot of prairie dogs and have noticed an obvious difference in how the same bullets perform differently in different twist; faster twists definitely produce more dramatic bullet performance on prairie dogs. My thinking is the same as yours regarding faster twists likely contribute to bullets coming apart before getting as much penetration as bullets out of slower twist barrels. I have noticed that the vmax bullets are not as stout made as the Nosler ballistic tips of the same weight when comparing performance on coyotes and prairie dogs.
 
obaro, that is my thinking. After reading many pages about bullet choice I find some guys love a particular bullet while others hate the same bullet. I think twist rate has as much to do with bullet performance on game as velocity. A bullet my splash @ lower velocity in a fast twist and work great in a slow twist barrel @ a higher velocity.
 
I always though a person choose the bullet type/construction according to his needs, not barrel twist. A varmint bullet having a thinner jacket and being constructed differently than say a typical rifle hunting bullet - many choices there re: partition, bonded, heavy jacket, solid etc for heavier/big game.

I've shot prairie dogs over several decades with various types of bullets. This last summer I tried a target 77 grain hollow point - thought it should work - it did, but you had to make a CNS strike or if making a solid body hit, you had to follow up with another or he would drag himself down into the mound. That 77 grain punched two holes, didn't expand much, if any, at all.

The Berger 52 grain target and varmint match bullets perform the same on prairie dogs and coyotes, no difference noted.

I've never noticed a difference in killing power from a 1:9, 1:12 or a 1:14 twist rate using the same bullet at different velocities on prairie dogs or any other animal for that manner.

What I have noticed is finding a sub moa load for a 223 AR using 52 or 55 grain bullets with a barrel twist of 1:7 or 1:8 has been extremely difficult for me. Not so with a 1:12 twist but when going to a 77 grain bullet with a 1:7 or 1:8 that sub moa group is fairly easy to come by.

I've never pushed a thin jacketed light bullet fast enough to experience a splash or to disintegrate in flight - I have splashed all types of bullets on steel.
smile.gif


I think it's the barrel, not twist, that has one shooter liking a Sierra bullet with the other guy hating Sierra but liking Hornady. I know there's not many disliking the Sierra Match Kings for accuracy but not many shooting the Speers in competition - but in the game fields, Speer has a good reputation.
 
Last edited:
I'm going to go with Joey and tripod on this one. This question resurfaces from time to time in bullet terminal ballistic discussions. So to first keep apples to apples...I have shot coyotes and seen coyotes shot with with plenty of .223's from a variety of barrels with 1:7, 1:8 and 1:9 barrels using Hornady Vmax's and the results were all pretty much the same...hard hit big exit hole. Then we started getting runners. Same guns, same ammo, runners. When we weighed the bullets we noticed a variation in weight. So we wrote the runners off to manufacturing inconsistencies. I never saw any one twist rate cause "splashes" over any other.

Now I have seen splashes from fast, thin jacketed bullets that expand before the bullet gets through the muscle. That's why we use hollowpoints for foxes and bobcats out of our 17 Remingtons and 204 Rugers instead of polymer tipped, thin skinned bullets.

I think a lot of splashes are also the results of shot placement and odd entry angles.
 
If you call the bullet company they can tell you the velocity and twist rate their bullets are made for. Just talk with a technician who works with the testing part.
 
I have a load with 45gr speers that I shoot in my Savage 1-12 twist 22-250 that shoots good. I was loading for the the old lady's grandpa's new Ruger 1-10 twist 22-250 and tried the same load. They were accurate hitting the target but we're splattering on it. The target is backed with a piece of plywood and it looked like a mini explosion on it.
The only difference was the twist rate.
 
^^^^^^^^^This is my experience with shooting prairie dogs with the same loads in different twist rifles. Faster twists results in more dramatic and destructive impacts with the same loads. Nothing scientific, granted, just first hand observation.
 
There is a difference in how a groundhog acts when hit by a 50 gr vmax shot from my 14 twist cooper or my 7 twist AR. With the AR there is more splatter which brings me back as to why some love a bullet and others hate them.
 
The Hornady Superformance 35 gr NTX Lead Free Varmint bullets at 4,000 fps through a 1-8" twist AR barrel slings ground squirrels higher and farther than any rifle bullet combination I have ever seen.


I have seen close to 20 coyotes killed with the Hornady 35 gr NTX Lead Free Varmint bullets at speeds of up to 4,400 fps with no bullet splashes.
 
Back
Top