I read a lot about guns and reloading. But I just read something today that made me change what I thought was one thing but turns out to be another. Most or all of you probably already know this. But even talking about reloading with friends and acquaintances at the range made me realize I am not the only one who used to think this is the way it is when it isn't.

Okay, if you know me you already know I am a bit touched and not working with a full deck here. But what I read just surprised me so much I have to share it with everyone. So I have this .223 rifle with a 1 in 9" twist. The prevailing thoughts are that one should not shoot a bullet heavier than about 70grs because any heavier bullet won't stabilize. And that bullets heavier than 70grs need a 1 in 8" or 1 in 7" twist. Even the bullet manufacturers insinuate that this is correct. Yet I have reloaded bullets in weights of 75grs and 77grs and they stabilized and shot damn good! As a matter of coincidence it turns out these things that were written usually were speaking in terms of shooting matches and reloading match bullets. I never noticed this coincidence. So today I am reading an article about reloading the .223 cartridge and talking about Ballistic Coefficient and Very Low Drag bullets.

So here is what I learned. The actual truth about the matter is that it is not the weight of the bullet that has anything to do with why a bullet over 70grs won't stabilize in a 1 in 9" twist barrel. It has everything to do with the length of the bullet. As it turns out in order to make match bullets shoot flatter/straighter they try to lower the B.C. by creating VLD bullets. Which are longer than say a hunting/varmint bullet. Which is why the heavier bullets I loaded stabilized just fine. What I find weird is that the bullet manufacturers are not doing anything to change this common misbelief.  They don't state that the bullets that should not be used in a slower twist barrel is due to the length and then print the weight of the bullet right under or over the barrel twist statement.

I am friends with numerous people here on this island including someone who has been reloading for 30+ years and is trying to find the right load for hunting pig in his AR. He tried a VLD in a weight that should have worked in his barrel and it keyholes at 50yds. He has not been able to figure out why and I keeps saying he loads other bullets in the same weight and it shoots fine. Now I know but I am not sure he'll believe me! 

...................So here is what I learned. The actual truth about the matter is that it is not the weight of the bullet that has anything to do with why a bullet over 70grs won't stabilize in a 1 in 9" twist barrel. It has everything to do with the length of the bullet. As it turns out in order to make match bullets shoot flatter/straighter they try to lower the B.C. by creating VLD bullets. Which are longer than say a hunting/varmint bullet. Which is why the heavier bullets I loaded stabilized just fine. What I find weird is that the bullet manufacturers are not doing anything to change this common misbelief.  They don't state that the bullets that should not be used in a slower twist barrel is due to the length and then print the weight of the bullet right under or over the barrel twist statement.

I am friends with numerous people here on this island including someone who has been reloading for 30+ years and is trying to find the right load for hunting pig in his AR. He tried a VLD in a weight that should have worked in his barrel and it keyholes at 50yds. He has not been able to figure out why and I keeps saying he loads other bullets in the same weight and it shoots fine. Now I know but I am not sure he'll believe me! 

In general the heavier the bullet, the longer it is.  Rather than deal with length of bullet, it's easier for manufacturers to just use weight.

BTW got a varmint gun with a SS barrel built to shoot 70+ grain (yeah yeah the length thing  ), for now it stabilizes a 62 grain incredibly well to 200 yards, but beyond that it's tough to hit the broadside of a barn.

One other interesting tidbit is that barrels may not actually be the twist stated.  The twist in yours may be slightly faster than 1:9 , which will work out great for you.  Other people may not be able to stabilize the longer projectiles or their tubes may be marginal, but your will use them just fine.  Only way is to try em.  But like gzire said, longer range may show the stabilization problems.

 

In general the heavier the bullet, the longer it is.  Rather than deal with length of bullet, it's easier for manufacturers to just use weight.

BTW got a varmint gun with a SS barrel built to shoot 70+ grain (yeah yeah the length thing  ), for now it stabilizes a 62 grain incredibly well to 200 yards, but beyond that it's tough to hit the broadside of a barn.

Yes, generally speaking the heavier the bullet the longer it is. What I didn't tell you is that Barnes makes a full line of high BC VLD non-lead bullets. And that is what can make someone scratch their head as to why a proper weight bullet won't stabilize in some barrels. The Barnes Bullets I bought a year ago makes no reference to twist rate. Barnes makes some unique bullets.

I agree with Wirecounter:

  HEAVIES

Yes, generally speaking the heavier the bullet the longer it is. What I didn't tell you is that Barnes makes a full line of high BC VLD non-lead bullets. And that is what can make someone scratch their head as to why a proper weight bullet won't stabilize in some barrels. The Barnes Bullets I bought a year ago makes no reference to twist rate. Barnes makes some unique bullets.

..........unique and expensive.  Man one of these days I need to take a pic of the bullet hoarding I got going.  I seem to buy and never get around to loading my stuff up.

..........unique and expensive.  Man one of these days I need to take a pic of the bullet hoarding I got going.  I seem to buy and never get around to loading my stuff up.

  you and me both G.

Now, we hear about barrel twist rates all the time in rifles... Why not in handguns?

Now, we hear about barrel twist rates all the time in rifles... Why not in handguns?

I can't say for sure this has anything to do with twist rate or I just ran across a load my gun prefers, but.....

When I got my .357 I immediately started working up loads for it. I wanted to shoot heavier bullets out of it like 140gr and 158gr. I worked up a bunch of loads and went to the range and while I found some acceptable loads but I knew my gun was capable of better. So I found the rate of twist for my gun and did some research and found that it was the same twist that was originally used when most .357 loads used the 125gr bullet. I loaded some 125gr bullets and found very good accuracy especially in the .38 Special +P velocities. I did read there were others who found good accuracy with 125gr bullets in my revolver as well.

But during my research I found people were shooting other revolvers and re-barreling my revolver with custom barrels with a different twist. And they are shooting heavier bullets and a different velocity range. I don't know if there is a correlation or not. Am I missing something?

Just remember my research is general in nature as there was specific information that sometimes contradicted what most people generally used. I always take most info with a grain of salt.

I can also tell you that my two combat pistols (Glock 17 and Sig P228) both prefer 124gr bullets to 115gr. I am only now starting to try 147gr bullets. Again, I don't know if it has to do with twist rate or something else or a combination of things?