I design and build performance suspension parts for 'Hot Rods' and race cars.
I get asked the same question all the time,
"How do I make my car go faster around the track?"
I don't lie to them, sell them the 'Super Duper' this or that.
I tell them to spend the money, go to a good DRIVING SCHOOL and learn to drive,
Learn the difference between understeer and oversteer,
Learn the difference between aiming at the open spot between cones and aiming at the cones,
Learn to control loss of traction, ect.
Once you KNOW what the car is *Supposed* to be doing,
Then you can make a rational decision on what you need to make the vehicle go around corners.
The same thing applies to shooting ACCURATELY.
Shooting accurately IS NOT an inherent skill set we have.
We MUST learn how to shoot accurately...
That means finding a qualified instructor,
Doing EXACTLY what he/she tells you,
Correcting your behavior,
And PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!
Shooting is a PERISHABLE SKILL SET.
If you don't exercise it, IT WILL ATROPHY.
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One HUGE misconseption I keep hearing is 'Over Stabilization' of the bullet,
Spinning the bullet TOO FAST...
First off,
"Over Stabilization" is an Oxymoron.
There is no such thing.
The bullet either stabilizes or it doesn't,
There is no 'Over Stabilization'.
Secondly,
It's pretty easy to get a long bullet stabilized,
MUCH HARDER to get a smaller bullet to stabilize.
It's like trying to put spin on a base ball or a foot ball.
The foot ball is going to stabilize sooner and better, for longer distance every time...
I know this runs contrary to the 'Internet Experts' version of things...
Third thing is, It's VERY DIFFICULT to spin a small bullet so fast it becomes erratic.
What you are normally doing with a fast twist barrel is stripping the jacket off the bullet, so the bullet never gets up to the spin rate it needs to stabilize.
Again, against 'Popular' beliefs,
But after 'Key Holing' a few rounds, digging a few bullets out of backstops, seeing the rifling missing from the jackets, you will figure it out on your own.
That's where you SLOW THE BULLET DOWN a little, see if it's still 'Key Holing' and running all over the target...
If the bullet comes in reasonably accurate, then you found the issue.
Finding long curls/ribbons of copper when you swab the bore is a sure sign you are throwing too much velocity at the bullet you are firing.
Copper should NEVER come out of the bore in 'Strips' of any kind,
And even if you find 'Flakes' that are 'Kind of long' you are stripping the jacket...
SLOWING DOWN some bullets help keep them MATED to the rifling.
Most guys that strip the jacket are trying to load to MAXIMUM and well beyond,
Or they are loading 'Hot' and using MUCH too fast of a twist barrel for the load bearing surface they have on the bullet.
What I've seen, and this may not apply to others experience...
The old 1/12 (1 turn in 12") or 1/14 barrels throw those little, light weight bullets fine.
The 5.56 version of ARs were built for 52 & 55 grain, boat tail bullets.
When you shoot like I do, mostly 55-65 grain bullets,
You want a little tighter twist rate,
But if you are shooting boat tails, with LONG tapered snouts,
Then there is less bearing surface area in contact with the rifling.
While 1/10 to 1/14 is pretty common for 'Varmint' bolt rifles that use 35 to 45 Grain bullets,
You want something a little tighter twist for the 55-65 grain bullets I run most times,
(Or you want to slow the bullet down a little so it can hold the rifling...)
Now, some guys won't accept a .223 or 5.56 that isn't running AT LEAST 3,200 to 3,400 FPS.
I used to be one of those guys...
When you are driving the bullet that fast, with SEVERAL TONS of pressure behind it,
It's a REALLY GOOD IDEA to have a 'Loose' twist rate so the copper jacket doesn't strip off the bullet!
I found the accuracy goes up with a REASONABLE weight bullet when you load at right around 3,000 FPS,
Which is plenty for about any 20" barrel 'Varmint' rifle, and it's a VERY reasonable target load.
I shoot 1/8 or 1/9 twist barrels most times,
They are VERY forgiving while out shooting 90% of the rifles on the range.
No problems with bolt bouncing off the back of the stock,
No extraction or ejection problems,
No 'Super Duper' (read: $$$) parts required to control gas impulse to the bolt...
There are tighter twist rates out there for REALLY LONG, HEAVY bullets,
But I've never seen a need with paper punching and varmint shooting to have that big, heavy bullet that REALLY needs to get spinning to stabilize.
Using the CORRECT bullet for the appication.
Hollow points (not varmint rounds) for paper punching often makes the rifle more accurate.
The reason is the open nose creates a 'Cutting' action in the air column.
(Ever notice the 'Match' rounds are usually 'Hollow Point' or 'Open Tip'?)
Something like A-Max or V-Max rounds do a REALLY good job of making it a 'One Shot' kill on varmints.
(I have a duty to NOT make the critter suffer, even if it is eating my garden, killing my chickens, digging holes in my pond levee...)
Since 95% or more of what I shoot is 55 grain FMJ (cheap) and 55 or 60 Grain V-max,
I can charge the loads to the same REASONABLE powder load,
Only make SLIGHT adjustments in zero for the switch,
(and swap ballistic cards),
And I'm off to the races between range paper targets and varmint hunting.
As I get older, I'm trying to consolidate,
This makes ONE RIFLE/One barrel do double duty with a minimum of issues.
I don't need 6 different rifles/calibers for 6 *Slightly* different applications anymore...
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I know this flies in the face of what is printed in 'Magazines' these days.
Today, the magazines pump what the advertisers are selling,
The more they spend on advertising, the 'Better' their 'Product' becomes...
Some of it work, some doesn't, rarely does it work like the magazines say it does...
The simple truth is,
Most barrels/rifles are more accurate off the shelf than the shooter behind them...
That might not be the case for the guys on this forum, since they seem to REALLY have their collective crap together,
But think about the other 750 million people in this country that don't know ballistic tables from ingredients in microwave popcorn...
You can tell them ANYTHING and they will believe it because it's in print!
Do your own testing, reading, research.
This just gives you one old man's approach to things,
And I've been wrong many times in the past, usually daily,
So take anything you get on the internet for free,
For EXACTLY what you paid for it...
I picked up 55 grain Hornady FMJ-BT and after reading your viewpoint of the shorter bearing surface it makes me question if this is the wrong pill? When you say load light to break in the barrel, do you load lighter than published minimum loads or just light enough to cycle the action? I have loaded pistol for years but this rifle stuff is all new to me. I have IMR6064 and Hogdon H335 on hand to start out with. Any pointers you care to share would be appreciated.