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.243 winchester twist rate

titus123

Silver $$ Contributor
Hey all I was thinking about a savage bvss in 243. My questions is, what is the heaviest bullet I can shoot with the factory 9.25 twist? And does anyone have any experience shooting the 105 Amax in one?
 
The heaviest bullet will be shape dependent. A 100gr round nose will probably shoot fine, the 105gr Amax may or may not shoot depending on conditions. I calculate a Sg of 1.18 at 2800 fps & standard temp & pressure. Lower temps and high pressures make it worse. VLDs under 1.1 inches long should be ok.
 
I've shot the 105 A-Max in a Savage. They seemed to do just fine at 200yds. I only had one box and I got it grouping 3's, 4's and 5's at 200 but there was always one huge flyer in a group of five destroying an otherwise excellent group.
Wrong powder? Wrong seating depths?
Switched to 87 V-Max which I had plenty. Same groups, always a flier. Quite a few different propellants.

Ended up trying 80gn Bergers and IMR-4350. That combo was excellent. No copper or excess carbon fouling to mess things up. A happy medium.
The barrel is off the action until I buy more 4350. The the expierimenting can continue.
I'll be sure to try the heavier stuff again with a powder the barrel says it likes.
 
Against the advice from Hornady, i shot their 105gr Match bullets from my wife's 1:10 twist barrel.
She shot just fine to 500 yards.
 
A 1/10 ( seems to be standard twist) or a 1/9.5 twist, may or may not stabilize that bullet. You would have to test it in your rifle.
Other wise, if you want heavier bullets in your 243 W, so with a 1/8 twist.
 
My experience with same barrel indicated that Hornady 105 BTHP stabilized just fine but the barrel failed to stabilize EVERY sexy 105 I tried: Amax, VLD, Hybrid, etc.

700’ ASL.
 
You raise a great question. Why is the industry stuck on the 1 in 9.25. They should he 1 in 8. You might get lucky pushing them hard in certian conditions to shoot fair but that is not the rule. Plus, I don't believe getting stabilization with velocity gives you the same flight path or resistance to yaw you get with proper twist. But, it is the industry in general being out of touch. Might cost a little money to make a change. I had a beautiful 85 Stainless Sako Varmint in my hands last week. If it had been a 1 in 8 dealer would have made a 2000.00 sale and Sako would have made a sell. It's still in the rack. Same industry mentality that Rem never made their 700 Varmint in 6 br. But put it in a handgun?. Yah, that worked out well.
 
105g hornady btsp will work in the 9.25, use H1000 or N160 if you have it for long barrel life.

R#26 will get you close to if not over 3200 fps, barrels will vary.
 
Gotta wonder if titus has figured this out in the last eleven years...
I guess that he wore the barrel out, or ran out of tumbling bullets, as he has just posted about changing his barrel on another thread.
 
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