by Hoot » Fri Jan 12, 2018 7:55 pm
Welcome Aboard Eric!
The first barrels from Bushmaster were and still are a 1:24 twist. Many members here, myself included, dedicated a lot of time to working up load recipes that offered good performance, using a 1:24 AR platform. In recent years, some other manufacturers have made them available in a host of other twists, with 1:16 being the next most common, from what I've seen. Bullet length dictates the optimum twist rate more than weight. Generally speaking, longer bullets weight more than shorter ones but not always. A jacketed hollow point with a ballistic tip while long, may not weigh nearly as much as a shorter, solid lead alloy bullet due to the air in it. A 1:16 twist is a good choice as long as the rifling is strong. You wouldn't want the lead bullet skidding across them. There's plenty of reading material available online to assist you in picking the right barrel twist for the length and weight of cast boolits you want to use. AR platforms and cast boolits are not as easy a marriage as jacketed bullets but then most cast boolit enthusiasts I run into at the range, love a challenge.
Keep us abreast of your progress as many readers harbor a desire to find a cheaper projectile that delivers accurate performance in their AR based 450s.
Hoot
In Theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In Practice, there is.