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Gain Twist an option with heavy bullets?

curious what results folks have gotten using gain twist barrels with “heavy for caliber” bullets...
I’ve only read anecdotal reports over the years from those who have tried them. But in 2020 we see a lot more heavy bullets being offered and curious if gain twist could allow for “next node” velocity without running into overpressure...
 
I don’t think there’s really anything new about the number of long range bullets...it’s a thing, and the flavor of the week for a lot of the industry.

The gain twists shoot very well. That said, if it’s Bartlein, hell, it doesn’t matter much WHAT it is: they make as good a tube as anybody has made in the history of rifling.

My .224 90 barrel would do under 0.100” elevation at 100 yards, and shot as tight as ~1.5” at 300 for groups of 10-20. Cut the barrel some slack though...it’s in a Service Rifle with a Service Rifle shooter.

The barrel is spectacular..I have ZERO doubt that it would be a “zero” barrel in a BR rifle in something like .22-100.
 
Right at 1 month ago I ordered a 9.75 down to 9.3 gain twist for my .300 WSM. I want to shoot the 230s, which I never thought I would ever shoot. They DO torque! I can control the torque with a straight 9.5 twist. What I am hoping for is that right at the onset of the bullet entering the lands, with the slightly slower twist rate to begin with, may reduce the torque, at least to some degree. Whether or not it will or how much it may reduce the torque, obviously remains to be seen. However, one thing for sure>>>it can't hurt! I do not know about any potential velocity gain(s)>>>however, I think that may be "the icing on the cake"! The "cake", for me is the possibility of lessening the torque.
 
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With a gain in twist the rifling engraving in the bullet would further distort the bullet jacket, moving the wall of the groove sideways.
A problem??
LC
 
The only person I know of that has really sung the praise of gain twist is Frank Gali of Snipershide.

There was also a vendor on commercial row at Camp Perry who's whole sales pitch was 90 grain bullets and gain twist barrels. I tried the 90 grain bullet thing in a Service Rifle and I ended up concluding that I needed to shoot offhand better.

My gut tells me that if it was measurably beneficial, we would see more of them being used outside of a few guys that just love to tinker. Would it work? Probably... it's a Bartlein. Would it give you an advantage? Maybe a very small one. But it's just as likely to give you a small disadvantage at the same time.

Sometimes simplicity and a laser focus on the skills that matter is the best method. I think you're going to see a lot of trophies won with standard cut rifled 4 groove barrels in 2020.
 
Gain twist barrels for pistols were (maybe still) the vogue in USPSA. The sole reason was pressure reduction and, to my knowledge, no one saw any improvement in accuracy. When S&W designed the 500 & 460S&W gain twist was opted for to aid in reducing pressure. It worked for that and was not detrimental to accuracy. The first time I saw gain twist used in rifle barrels it was applied to short-range BR. My thinking was that if it really made a big difference in accuracy then it would have been proven there. Wonder how few in that game still use gain twist?
 
Black powder guys have been shooting gain twist for years. They do work.
To be fair, many things "work" in the black powder world that would fail miserably in the smokeless world.
The shape of heavy black powder projectiles, as well as construction, make them behave quite differently than those for smokeless cartridges. Also, even when employed in a black powder firearm, bullets designed for smokeless are in sabots.
 
To be fair, many things "work" in the black powder world that would fail miserably in the smokeless world.
The shape of heavy black powder projectiles, as well as construction, make them behave quite differently than those for smokeless cartridges. Also, even when employed in a black powder firearm, bullets designed for smokeless are in sabots.

Interesting,
Are you saying Gain Twists won't work with Smokeless powders and copper jacketed projectiles in modern firearms ?
 
Interesting,
Are you saying Gain Twists won't work with Smokeless powders and copper jacketed projectiles in modern firearms ?
Not at all what I'm saying.
I am saying I personally see no value in them over standard methods where accuracy is concerned. They WILL work for reducing pressure.
 
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Not at all what I'm saying.
I am saying I personally see no value in them over standard methods where accuracy is concerned. They WILL work for reducing pressure.
I have 4 rifles with Rock Creek barrels. All of their 5r bbls have gain twist. I asked one of the guys who make them why do it and the answer I got was just because. If you never tried a Rock bbl you don’t know what you are missing.
The two hits on the orange dot was shot using a Rock bbl.
270 Wby 165 Matrix bullet 850 yds
 
I have 4 rifles with Rock Creek barrels. All of their 5r bbls have gain twist. I asked one of the guys who make them why do it and the answer I got was just because. If you never tried a Rock bbl you don’t know what you are missing.
The two hits on the orange dot was shot using a Rock bbl.
270 Wby 165 Matrix bullet 850 yds
I would say that is quite an honest answer. There are "Innie's" and there are "outie's" but we all got a belly button. Why? Just because.
And I have owned Rock barrels, just not GT barrels. I' ve had barrels from quite a few different makers. The one thing I can say is that most all of those makers put the details in before they put their name on it. I've only had one that I can think of that just didn't shoot like it should
 

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