Looking into re-barreling one of my rifles into a 22 Creedmoor and my smith has a 6.5 twist on the shelf. Is that too fast of a twist rate? Most I have seen are 7.5 or 8 twist.
6.5 twist too fast for a 22 Creedmoor?
- Thread starter Southpaw Shooter
- Start date
I have no personal experience with it but they were just talking about this on the Everyday Sniper Podcast. Bryan was talking about how when you get below 7 twist, they were having a hard time getting consistent groups. Throw in the super high velocity of the 22creed and you're throwing some serious torque at the bullet. For those reasons, Bryan/Berger settled on the 85.5gr bullet and 7 twist as sort of a ceiling.
I currently shoot 95gr SMKs from a 7 twist 22br with no stability issues or lose of B.C. So unless you've found a longer .224 bullet a 6.5 twist is unnecessary in a 22 Creed and will likely cause more issues. 95s also stabilize just fine in a 7.5 twist when driven over 3100fps.
I have evidence that 88 ELD-Ms are blowing up out of my 224 predator, 6.5 twist, when pushed past ~2800 fps. Roughly one in 10 would not make it to the 100 yard target. Then I caught one in the act. There should be 6 in that group. That low-right mark is not a staple pull...
Now that’s really catching it. I’ve seen bullets turn into a puff of dust from my 22-250 but you caught that one tumbling. Great catch and thanks for sharing that pic
Thanks, I was kinda thinkging that. I have run 7 twists in the past in .223's and was thinking that was a ceiling for twist rates. I may ask him the reasoning behind the 6.5 rate on that barrel.
The 88s are getting a reputation for being easy to blow up. That said by the time i got to 700rds my 1 in 7 22-250 was blowing up everything kind of bullet I had.
It may come down to where you live in the county also. When I built mine I didn't want a 6.5 twist. I talked to a lot of people about this before I ordered my barrel. I live in the northern part of this county. Temps are cooler average 80-90s in summer, with a good amount in the 40-70 range also. I was told a 7 twist looks like it well be fine, but going to a 6.8 wouldn't hurt. Cause of the cooler temps up here. After shooting it now for awhile, I'd probably just do a 7 twist. I'm really not sure if that .2 in twist is going much. Also I'd do a 219 over a 218 and 5R rifling over conventional rifling. And if you can maybe a gain twist. Plus cleaning it every 100-120 rounds. All of that should help with the bullets coming apart. I'm only shooting the heavies out of mine and they shoot great. I posted some seating depth test groups in the 22 creed reloading forum. All the groups were under half inch.
It can be really aggravating too. I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t hitting the target until I passed my rifle to a friend and watched through the spotting scope. Then I caught a glimpse of the puff of dust that used to be my bullet.
yes, you are going to blow up a good amount of bullets. in testing guys were blowing up 88 eldm and 90g atips with a 6.7 twist barrel in a 22 GT
i wouldn't go any faster than a 7. if you are shooting lighter bullets, you don't even need it that fast. there is no advantage, and only downside to going a 6.5
i wouldn't go any faster than a 7. if you are shooting lighter bullets, you don't even need it that fast. there is no advantage, and only downside to going a 6.5
Velocity x 720/twist rate = rpms
Stay at or under 300,000 and you should be golden. Go more and you are pushing the limits and should consider shooting solids for that application. I have had things work fine past 300k rpms and had things be a shit show. When you get into the heavy for caliber .22 and 6 mm bullets at high velocity, you are pushing the limits. Some bullets will take 300k rpms or close just to be stable in those categories. That is why Bryan said what he said on the podcast as mentioned above.
Will it work sometimes? Yes. Trying to have it be consistent and use it for any application that you are serious about will be like dating a redheaded psychopath named Tiffany.
Stay at or under 300,000 and you should be golden. Go more and you are pushing the limits and should consider shooting solids for that application. I have had things work fine past 300k rpms and had things be a shit show. When you get into the heavy for caliber .22 and 6 mm bullets at high velocity, you are pushing the limits. Some bullets will take 300k rpms or close just to be stable in those categories. That is why Bryan said what he said on the podcast as mentioned above.
Will it work sometimes? Yes. Trying to have it be consistent and use it for any application that you are serious about will be like dating a redheaded psychopath named Tiffany.
I’m piecing together a 7 twist right now that’ll get throated for 95 SMKs. I’m thinking it’ll be fine, 6.5 might be in the border line of too fast.
6.5 twist to fast for 22CM. I don't care what bullet you are shooting!
As has been mentioned and I say I draw the line in the sand at 300k RPM. You start approaching or going past that number....expect bullet failure. Even if it doesn't happen right away as soon as the throat of the barrel starts to get rough from wear....that's gonna add to your headaches.
At 3150fps and 6.5 twist that bullet will come out spinning at 348K+. Again I don't care what bullet you are shooting. Expect things to go sour.
Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels
As has been mentioned and I say I draw the line in the sand at 300k RPM. You start approaching or going past that number....expect bullet failure. Even if it doesn't happen right away as soon as the throat of the barrel starts to get rough from wear....that's gonna add to your headaches.
At 3150fps and 6.5 twist that bullet will come out spinning at 348K+. Again I don't care what bullet you are shooting. Expect things to go sour.
Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels
I never figured out how fast they were spinning but I had a serious number of 110 gr Vmax blow up out of a 28" 8 twist 260 Remington.
I was trying to make a light recoiling load for my Model 70 match rifle to use in the 200 yd rapid fire stage of NRA highpower matches. They were blowing up in mid air about 120 yards down range. Gotta get to the target to score.
Last match I was at, the last stage of the day, one of the guys in my squad started blowing up bullets. Well, he was having problems all day, but someone started seeing it happen then. Anyway, we had a couple of guys on spotters and one was calling puffs of dust at about 100 yards or so. Funny enough, the spotter on the target was also calling impacts. They were failing, but enough was keeping it together to get to the 400 yard target. Yes, it was pretty generous- like a 10” target...
Wasn’t a 22 anything. This thread just jogged my memory.
Wasn’t a 22 anything. This thread just jogged my memory.
