18 twist 30BR

[skeetlee]

I am in the process of converting all my rifles over to BAT Actions and in the process my new BAT 3L 30BR is going to be an 18 twist instead of the 17 it had been. I bought a new Krieger HV 18 twist barrel blank for the project. I am not exactly sure what length i should cut it to just yet, maybe someone here could suggest a length. My barlein 17 twist was 21.5 inches and it is a heck of a shooter. I was curious if anyone here is shooting the 18 twist 30BR. R Robinett assures me the 18 twist will be fine, and he is a good man thats full of knowledge so i believe him. It sure seems a bit slow though. Anyone here shooting an 18 twist in there 30BR? Lee

 

[mrl]

cut the barrel so it makes the weight you want the rifle to be I have 1 that is 21" and 1 that is 24" your decision LV or HV

 

[skeetlee]

I will be fine on weight even if i go 23 24". I am also going to use a new sightron s3 10-50. Even at that i am sure i will have to add some weight to the stock. I am more curious as to how guys are getting along with the 18 twist barrels. Randy assures me i will still be able to shoot his 125gr bullets at 300 yards. Lee

 

[Keith Hansley in NC]

skeetlee,

FWIW----I shoot a 18 twist Bartlein in 30BR. I shoot the Knight 118 grain bullet. I am very satisfied

Good Shooting,
Keith in NC

 

[P1ZombieKiller]

I'm shooting a Kreiger in 18 twist, and my HV barrel is 21.5". I'm shooting 116 grain 7 ogive bullets. I would say it's shooting pretty good, I've won the last two matches.

 

[redrock]

R Robinett assures me the 18 twist will be fine, and he is a good man thats full of knowledge so i believe him. It sure seems a bit slow though. Anyone here shooting an 18 twist in there 30BR? Lee

I'm not sure, but are you doubting Randy Robinett? You can bet if he says it will work...theres no need to ask around the internet, because IT WILL WORK.

 

[skeetlee]

Thats not it at all red, Raandy is my friend. I just wondered how many folks were actually shooting the 18twist. Please dont try and make something out of nothing. Lee

 

[AlNyhus]

Lee, you'll have no problem with either the .925 or 1.00" jacket length bullets in your 18 twist. If you run the Sg numbers, you'll find that what people consider 'slow' twist barrels in these .30's (twisted 17 and 18) in reality give a higher stability factor than a .825 jacketed bullet (normally a 68 gr.) out of a 6PPC with a 13.5 or 14 twist.

Redrock is just joshin' 'ya a bit. We're both pals of RG's and one things for certain...if RG tells 'ya chicken can pull a train, go ahead a buy a ticket.

Good shootin'. 8) -Al

 

[SteveNash]

Lee,

I have shot an 18twist in 30br with 125gn Nosler BTs at 500m...no problems at all.

Steve

 

[skeetlee]

Thanks guys. I remember when i built my first 30BR on a Lawton action. I did a lot of research and everyone was saying (17 twist or nothing) Now i have sold that rifle i am building another on a BAT 3Lug i am hearing that the 18 twist is the way to go. I talked in depth with randy about this on the phone the other night and to my surprise the 18 twist actually sounds like the best bet. I was curious as to how many folks were actually shooting the 18 twist as compared to a 17. I shoot with a couple fellas that shoot 15 twist 30BR and they swear by them??? I like to talk about things like this so i thought i would bring the topic up. I appreciate the res ponces!! Shoot straight!! Lee

 

[AlNyhus]

Lee, percentage wise there's probably more shooting the 18's than the 17's at this point. A lot of this has to do with the jacket length that the shooter either wants to work with or has found to work well. If a shooter is committed to the .925's, the 18's make sense. For someone that wants the flexibility of using the 1.00" as well as the .925's, the 17's give most of the goodies w/o any of the downsides. The 18's will handily stabilize the 1.00" jackets...the 17's just add a bit of safety net.

The 17's will stabilize the 1.080's as well...though we're getting into the 1.4 Sg range, which is as low in Sg as I'd be comfortable going. I ran this combo all one season with my HBR gun and had no problems.

The 19's are out there, a few 20's and some 22-18 gain twist combos. One very popular mfg. of .30 cal. cut rifled barrels gives a small gain at the very end of their standard twist rate tubes, for a bit of insurance.

Just how I approach it.

Good shootin'. -Al