Asking what’s the best barrel in any caliber can set off an explosion of opinions. Almost like walking into a bar on Friday night and asking people what 3/4 ton truck pulls a loaded horse trailer the best. That’s where the LOL came from, thankfully this thread has remained very civil, something I like about accurateshooter, people tend to try and help and not bash. I almost got a 1/10 twist but if I remember correctly Lilja offers a 1/9 and a 1/11. Recoil/torq isn’t an issue so I went 1/9, I have a couple with a 1/11 already. Maybe the fast spin will enhance the red mist effect, we shall see.
Oh you thought you might have dropped a live grenade asking that
Did not trigger a thing in me but yea I get it.
I choose 1/10 for my .204 ruger so I can shoot anything. I think 1/9 is a pretty good compromise for 223. How fast are you shooting from it? 1/9 should be a little better for the mist and if they don't blow in air. I would guess 3800 fps and lower you will be safe from mid air blow ups. Beyond that maybe 1/11 "might" shoot lighter bullets a tiny bit more precise. I was choosing between 1/12 and 1/10" I chose 1/10 because 1/12 seemed to be hit or miss on the 40gr bullets. I would have maybe picked 1/11 if it was offered.
In your case were you thinking "I might shoot 45gr" or was it more of I want more spin?
I remember seeing a test with 223 1/7 vs 1/9 vs 1/12 and with 55gr bullets the 1/9s and 1/12s were tighter groups vs 1/7 for the lighter weight bullets. Guess there is no free lunch on a do all twist barrel.
I just went 1/9 on a 24" 223 Varmint barrel, I don't plan on shooting anything over 3700 fps (296,000 rpm) on your gun you could exceed 300,000 rpm depending on bullet charge.
Dunno some guys might put RPM 1st and precision 2nd. They want to be on bleeding edge of the bullet almost by not quite blowing up in mid air (they better not have a suppressor)
I would probably choose twist rate first, then find a company that was good at making a barrel in that twist. I skipped quite a few companies because I did not want a 1/12 or 1/7 twist on my 223.
On a 20 cal I would think it would be 1/10, 1/11 or 1/12 I guess they made 1/9 for people that shoot ever longer bullets for the normal 32-40gr range I probably would have gone 1/11 over the 1/9. Maybe some of the less dense alloy bullets are longer.
I did notice 26gr Varmint grenades were longer (.636") than (.585") 40gr bullets.
They are not pure lead but copper/tin alloy mix. Since the are long with low BC and density a 1/9 actually stabilizes it better than a 1/11 twist. SG = 1.59 (4000 fps) 1/9 vs SG=1.06 (not stable) for 1/11 twist. At 320,000 rpm if they hold together that would be some good red mist for ya!
