Barrel twists and chamber advice

[DLT]

I’m looking for a replacement prefit barrel for my savage 12 223. I have talked to urban and Nss. I plan on mainly shooting 40-55 gr bullets at paper and critters with occasional 69s at 600yds just for fun not competition so speed and case volume isn’t a necessity. I can get a 1:9 standard 223 chamber with a .025 free bore from Nss in stock, or urban recommended a wylde chambering which has a .060 free bore but he only offers 1:8 twist. I’m afraid that a 8 twist might not do well with my 50gr vmaxs I have a few thousand of. It’s probably going to be tit for tat but please chime in on thoughts I could use it. Thanks. I will add that I reload

 

[jrh84]

It's by no means ideal, but I've had great luck with 50 and 52's out of a 1:8 twist. I've not yet blown any up, and the Hornady 52 gr v-max refuses to shoot over 1" out of my Rock River in load development. Most groups were 1/2-3/4".

 

[DLT]

It's by no means ideal, but I've had great luck with 50 and 52's out of a 1:8 twist. I've not yet blown any up, and the Hornady 52 gr v-max refuses to shoot over 1" out of my Rock River in load development. Most groups were 1/2-3/4".

Yea I have shot lighter stuff out of a 18” and 20” wylde chamber AR and they seemed to shoot fine.

 

[Dgd6mm]

My buddy and I have been running 53vmax's in Urbanrifleman barrels with 1-7 twist. No blow ups. They shoot accurately. Actually I have a 1-8 Urbanrifleman barrel with a 53vmax load in a wylde chamber that is outstanding. It as always delivered 5 shot 100 yard ragged holes, always. 300 yards under .5 moa. I would not hesitate to run a 50gr. bullet in it, 40's not so sure of. Hopefully you'll get some good information.

 

[Hotshot]

Over several decades I have fired thousands of rounds of 223 50-80grain bullets from 9twist barrels. A good quality barrel will provide excellent accuracy.
I heard that if a gunsmith screwed up a 223 chamber job he just called it a wylde.

 

[Dgd6mm]

Gee and I thought all this time they actually made a Wylde chamber reamer.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Over stabilization is over hyped, mostly. As long as you don't suffer bullet blow ups, you'll never see any accuracy difference between a 8 or 9 twist, and I think they are very unlikely at 223 speeds. I've done it a lot as have others..shooting light 40 grainers from 8 twist and even a little faster. As for accuracy, I won a nationals shooting 68s from a 12 twist 6 Grendel. I've been told "that'll never work", more than once.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Here

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Main thing is to get the freebore right

 

[DLT]

Main thing is to get the freebore right

Get the freebore right ? Can you explain ?

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Get the freebore right ? Can you explain ?

The chamber that is optimized for a 40/50gr bullet is not close to optimal for an 80

 

[DLT]

The chamber that is optimized for a 40/50gr bullet is not close to optimal for an 80

Correct. I have zero intention of shooting anything over 69s.

 

[SSL]

My current .223 is a Ruger American with a 1-8" twist. That is the fastest twist I have used to date, so I was somewhat concerned about lighter bullets. No worries. It shoots selected loads with 50-grain VMax, 52-grain HPBT, 53-grain VMax, 55-grain SP and 68-grain HPBT into nice, tidy groups. I have no experience with lighter or heavier bullets but would strongly recommend that you not try 50-Grain Hornady SX bullets. I have had them come apart with 1-9" twist barrels.

 

[K22]

I have 223 Rem bolt rifles in 12, 9 AND 8" twists.

Not surprisingly, the 12" twist rifles shoots the 50 and 55 Nosler BT's and 55 Vmax's in the sub 1/2 moa range. With my custom barreled rifles, 1/4 moa in not uncommon with these bullets. I hunt a lot of eastern ground hogs and the 50 Nosler BT is my go-to bullet. It has outstanding accuracy and terminal performance.

The 55 grain Nosler BT's and Vmax's shoot about 5/8 to 3/4 moa in my 9 and 8" twist rifles. The 60 Vmax shoots consistently in the 1/4 moa range with my Tikka's which have 8" twist. The 60 Vmax is now my go-to bullet for predators. This could double as a varmint option, but I prefer the 50's for varmint hunting due to the flatter trajectory for the distances I shoot using the maximum point-blank range concept. In my 8" twist rifles, the 60 Vmax shines accuracy wise.

If you're seeking one rifle (i.e., one twist) as a do all, I'd decide which is more important, hunting varmints with varmint bullets or target shooting with the heavies because I don't believe one twist with be optimum for both purposes (i.e., bullets). With that said, even though there are some general principles regarding optimum twists vs bullets, every rifle is different, so I don't believe there are any absolutes.