What Twist for 30 cal using VLD bullets

[Varminthunter]

Hey guys, I am getting ready to order a barrel for my custom 300 WSM. I want to shoot the Berger 190grn, Berger 210grn VLD and Hornady 208grn A-Max.

The 208grn A-Max has the highest BC,.648) of all the bullets I listed. So I am thinking that will be the bullet I want to concentrate on first. Also, I have heard the A-Max bullets expand much better than the Berger VLD's or Match-Kings and that's important for the killing effect. I have no experience with either of these bullets, so your information would be helpful

What twist rate should I use and how many grooves should I go with. I am thinking the 1-11 twist will be best for the bullets I mentioned above. I am going to have Bartlein build the barrel. I have been hearing they are building some incredible .30 Cal barrels. The barrel will be 30" long. Should I go a little longer say 32". I would like to squeeze as much velocity as I can out of the 300 WSM. I am thinking with my Nesika Action, 30" Barrel and the right powder, I should be able to run the 210's close to 3000fps.



VH

 

[Bryan Litz Ballistics]

VH,
A 1:11 is the perfect twist for the bullets you mentioned. Number of grooves is not very important, just so the barrel is well made it doesn't matter.
Barrel length is a trade off.
True, you will get a little higher velocity from the extra 2 inches, but not much. What you will affect greatly is the stiffness of the barrel. For a given contour, the stiffness is related to the third power of length. So a 32" barrel is 18% less stiff than a 30" barrel, but you'll get much less than 18% more velocity from the extra 2",probably closer to 2% more velocity as a rough guess).
30" is considered a good compromise between velocity and stiffness. In my opinion, if you go longer than 30", you should use a barrel heavier than a medium Palma contour. This is just my personal rule of thumb, not based on hard calculations.
Good luck with whatever you decide,
-Bryan

 

[Varminthunter]

Bryan, thanks for the info. The barrel will be a 1.250 straight cylinder and it will be attached to a Nesika Model K 1.470 Diameter Action. I am thinking 30" will be perfect. I don't think the extra 2" would be beneficial, so I will stick with the 30" barrel. I am probably going to go with the 1-11 twist, but I will wait to see if I get anymore responses.

VH

 

[SilverEagle]

I've had very good sucess with the Berger 210 VLD in a 1-10 twist Krieger barrel.
I would rather over stablize a bullet than under stablize it

 

[ballistic64]

I went 1-11 in my 300rsaum,the 190 and 210 vlds shoot great.Im running the 190s at 2950.The best accuracy in my gun for the 210s was at 2800.