2500 HD wrote:I'm not a fan of short looking barrels. I like the looks and feel of a 26" barrel on the encore. My question is, will 26" barrel hurt the performance of the 450 bushmaster? MGM uses 1:16 twist. I have not ordered my barrel yet. I plan to hand load and bump up the speed all I can but keep accuracy. I have 265 gr swift A frame and 260 gr. Nosler Partitions.(have 100) till there gone. Want to try the 460 xpb 200 and 275 gr. As well when I get some.
Is 26" too long at that twist?
I want a fluted barrel. Should I get the bull barrel??
Thank Ken.
Ken-
I have a 26" bbl with a 1:24" twist on my heavy bolt gun and a 20" bbl with a 1:16" twist on my light bolt gun, so I've some experience with your questions.
Short direct answer #1: The 26" barrel should be fine with a 1:16" twist if you use good well-balanced bullets.
Short direct answer #2: I don't know how to advise you about the fluted-bull barrel. A 26" bull barrel is a real truck axle. If you're a husky sort who would be at home dashing over woods and plains with a 1874 heavy Sharps buffalo gun, then you should be OK, with or without fluting. I'm planning to take my 14-pound 450B rifle on a hog hunt soon, but I'll be sitting in a blind resting the monster on a window sill and walking maybe 40 yards, so it will be fine. There's little chance I'd lug it into the Upper Peninsula bush seeking to slay a deer, however.
Here's a thread from four years ago,
BARREL LENGTH AND TWIST RATES DISCUSSION, that covers a lot of your area of inquiry. Give it a read and play with the on-line stability calculator cited there, and ask more questions here.
--Bob