shaocaholica
Member
My gun is still at the shop so I can't read its markings right now. Not even sure if the twist is marked on it. Does anyone know what the twist rate is for the 243 and if they made changes to it throughout its production?
-
Hey All! Lately there has been more and more scammers on the forum board. They register and replies to members requests for guns and/or parts or other things. The reply contains a gmail or hotmail address or similar ”anonymous” email addresses which they want you to reply to. DO NOT ANSWER ANY STRANGE MESSAGES! They often state something like this: ”Hello! Saw your post about purchasing a stock for a Safari. KnuckleheadBob has one. Email him at: [email protected]” If you receive any strange messages: Check the status of whoever message you. If they have no posts and signed up the same day or very recently, stay away. Same goes for other members they might refer to. Check them too and if they are long standing members, PM them and ask if the message is legit. Most likely it’s not. Then use the report function in each message or post so I can kick them out! Beware of anything that might seem fishy! And again, for all of you who registered your personal name as username, please contact me so I can change it to a more anonymous username. You’d be surprised of how much one can find out about a person from just a username on a forum such ad our! All the best! And be safe! Jim
Finnwolf VL63 VL63 243 twist rate?
- Thread starter shaocaholica
- Start date
Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum
paulsonconstruction
Sako-addicted
SAAMI specifications for the 243 Win is a 1 in 10 twist. That will stabilize bullets up to the 105 grain Speer at 243 velocities. Heavier and/or longer VLD bullets may require a custom barrel with a faster twist. No one "changes twist throughout production" once the SAAMI standard has been established. BTW, SAAMI stands for Small Arms & Ammunition Manufacturers Institute. It's the industry's agree to standard for making chambers, barrels & ammo. You may want to look into it. Some good info there!! The only barrels I am aware of that have the twist stamped on them would be custom barrels that have a different twist than SAAMI specs.
mark garrison
Member
I concur, but feel that the 105 bullet is at the edge of the stability with a 10 twist. I obsess about twist rate and bullet length. Shorter bullet the better is my observation.
3 shots in that hole. best performance of all my rifles.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Nice group.
No, the twist rate will not appear anywhere on your Finnwolf. It almost certainly has a 1-10" (or close metric equivalent) twist. At the time it was built no one considered shooting anything heavier than a 100 or 105 grain bullet in a 6mm hunting rifle. The same is true today of a hunting rifle, which the Finnwolf is.
Some target shooters using some 6mm rounds will shoot heavier (or longer) target bullets which may not stabilize in hunting rifle barrels, but these are bullets that you would never consider using in a Finnwolf, which is by no stretch a target rifle. So what is it that elicits your concern with twist?
No, the twist rate will not appear anywhere on your Finnwolf. It almost certainly has a 1-10" (or close metric equivalent) twist. At the time it was built no one considered shooting anything heavier than a 100 or 105 grain bullet in a 6mm hunting rifle. The same is true today of a hunting rifle, which the Finnwolf is.
Some target shooters using some 6mm rounds will shoot heavier (or longer) target bullets which may not stabilize in hunting rifle barrels, but these are bullets that you would never consider using in a Finnwolf, which is by no stretch a target rifle. So what is it that elicits your concern with twist?
shaocaholica
Member
Just curious because I couldn't find any mention of it in the literature or articles on them. I know of SAMMI but I'm not that versed with what they do and I wasn't aware they publish twist rate spec. I'm more used to hearing, "this twist goes with this weight" not "all chamberings for X must have Y twist to be 'in-spec'".
mark garrison
Member
The unstated point of my comment (other than seeking flattery) was that I picked the bullet weight (and thus length) based on the close ideal for a 10 twist. See Don Miller in Precision Shooting-June 2009. The 243 has a good reputation for small game with 100 grain, because a little tumble is good entering flesh. Unfortunately barrel twists are highly standardized in production rifles - I understand it must be so - but there is really only one bullet in a caliber that is ballistically 'perfect' for its twist. I really want a Finnwolf now
Take your cleaning rod with a free rotating handle and a brass brush. draw it out from the lock slowly, measure the length it travels for one rotation, and you will have the actual twist which will be 1 in 10".
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It is currently very fashionable to attribute good or poor accuracy to twist rate. About every two weeks another "expert" comes out with an article or even book on twist rates "proving" that Greenhill has been wrong for the last 150 years and that the author's new formula is gospel and if followed to the millimeter will result in astounding accuracy.
This fad, too, will pass. Past decades have seen faddish preoccupations with primers (sometimes brand and sometimes "heat"), barrel metallurgy, bolt face squareness, ammunition concentricity, case shape, bedding method, barrel taper, powder type (stick or ball), barrel stiffness, muzzle crown type, and a few other things that, for a period of time, everyone seemed to concentrate on as THE most important factor in accuracy. Fads are what sells magazines, but as those of us who have fiddled with rifles a bit through the years are aware, a large number of variables play into accuracy; among them is rate of twist, but it is several steps down the line behind other fundamentals.
A given rate of twist will adequately stabilize a range of bullet weights/lengths. Your 6mm rifle with a 1-10" barrel may happen to shoot a 55 grain bullet the most accurately of any, while mine may be just the opposite and shoots 100 grainers best. Chasing accuracy with twist rate is a losing proposition, particularly if you approach it with the notion that some particular bullet weight (length, actually) should do much better than some other.
This fad, too, will pass. Past decades have seen faddish preoccupations with primers (sometimes brand and sometimes "heat"), barrel metallurgy, bolt face squareness, ammunition concentricity, case shape, bedding method, barrel taper, powder type (stick or ball), barrel stiffness, muzzle crown type, and a few other things that, for a period of time, everyone seemed to concentrate on as THE most important factor in accuracy. Fads are what sells magazines, but as those of us who have fiddled with rifles a bit through the years are aware, a large number of variables play into accuracy; among them is rate of twist, but it is several steps down the line behind other fundamentals.
A given rate of twist will adequately stabilize a range of bullet weights/lengths. Your 6mm rifle with a 1-10" barrel may happen to shoot a 55 grain bullet the most accurately of any, while mine may be just the opposite and shoots 100 grainers best. Chasing accuracy with twist rate is a losing proposition, particularly if you approach it with the notion that some particular bullet weight (length, actually) should do much better than some other.
paulsonconstruction
Sako-addicted
Being overly concerned or obsessed with twist rate & it's affect on accuracy is like a dog chasing it's tail. So many things contribute to any particular rifle's accuracy that singling out twist rate as being a dominate force is kind of foolhardy. As Stonecreek pointed out, "fads" come & go. For decades benchrest shooters have believed that the slowest twist possible to stabilize a bullet provided the best accuracy potential. Now, all the gun gurus writing for the mags, preach that the faster the twist, the better. Seems to be a contest going on over who can spin a bullet the fastest. Who should we believe, the guys actually shooting at targets & comparing the results or the guys writing about it??? A bullet is either stable or it isn't & I'm incapable of determining what the "perfect" twist for a particular bullet is as some experts claim to be able to do. Me thinks there is some Kool-Aid drinking going on with the current "twist rate" fad followers.
mark garrison
Member
Agreed guys ... i get caught up in the math and when the results happen to coincide with the theory i'm maybe too quick to attribute what is going on. I've always been reluctant to accept the 'magic' in ballistics.
"the effect of wind is much greater than is ordinarily supposed" - Homer S Powley
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
shaocaholica
Member
So I don't reload. What factory ammo should I get in 243 for shooting paper and steel? My local range has steel from 100 to out past 800 yds but I've been told 243 is hard to call hits out that far at least by the shooter alone. I could always arrange a spotter every now and then.
paulsonconstruction
Sako-addicted
Seems that 243 factory loads are offered with either varmint type bullets or controlled expansion hunting bullets, as I am not aware of any "target" type factory fodder. The Finnwolf in 243 is not really suited to punching paper or banging steel regardless of the load, especially at the extended ranges you mentioned. I would consider it a 300 yard (max) hunting rifle & practice with it accordingly.
