I will be buying a 6x55 swede and I usually load it hot or close to it, I will be using 120 grain and up for hunting and mainly a deer/ black bear/ elk rifle, I may load up some 160 grain rnd nose to have on hand for black bear over bait, but some bllack bear hunting will be out west and shot at a 100-250 range with a pointed bullet. I will punch paper with it with lighter bullets for fun. For the 120s and up what is the better twist rate, 8 or 9. Will one cover all bullet ranges better then the other, if not which one is better for the 120 and up bullets.
TIA,
Bob
Unless you're going to be shooting at really long range, with some of the newer elongated target-type 140-grain bullets, then 1-9 will handle anything. Most modern factory-made 6.5x55's have 1-9 twists.
That said, a 1-8 twist will also shoot light bullets very well. There really isn't a downside to a 1-8, except a custom barrel is often the only way to get one.
I'd not go any less than 1-8", but I'm a twist whore. Difficult to screw up a box of Barnes TTSX's by dropping them on the floor.
1:8 twist is what I suggest.
Tikka t3 has a 8 Howa is 9 and cant find out yet what CZ 550 has.
Scott,
It wasn't a box, but I fumbled a .25-06 round with a 100-grain TTSX when getting ready for a pronghorn hunt a couple of weeks ago. It fell on the hardwood floor and the plastic tip fell out of the bullet....
Pay some attention to the chamber dimensions too in a custom rifle. SAAMI has a generous range and you can optimize use of 120 and 140 gr modern bullets by selecting a slightly tighter cahmber that is still within SAAMI limits. Since I do not plan on using on RN 160s in my cuastom #1 rifle I chose the tighter chamber and a 1 in 9 twist. Worked great for me.
1B
John, that should teach you to use those gimmicky bullets that have an uneeded tip shoved in them!