Gain Twist, is anyone running one in a 30 cal for score?

R

Redrock

Steve Grosvenor
I'm in need of another 30cal barrel for next season and need to get things ordered,
just wondering if anyone is using the Gain Twist Barrels for there 30br, 30 BrX, 30 Major, or any of the 30's for that matter?

I shoot 1" length bullets (BiB's) usually in the 118-125gr range and currently have a 1-17Krieger and a 1-17 Bartlain both excellent it's just the "tread" is getting a little thin and will be time to replace for next season.

This particular barrel will be for a Hunter Taper 6x rifle chambered in a 30 Ware Wolf Pup.
Just curious as to if you are running gain twist barrels,
#1 What has been your experience?
#2 Would you do it again or did it tune up just as a straight twist?

Sorry if this has been asked before, I did a search and came up with very little pertaining to the 30's.

Thanks in advance
 
Steve,
I don't know how much my input is worth, but I have about 1,000 rounds down the tube of a 18.75-18" Bartlein on my 30br score gun. I am shooting 118gr BIB 7-ogive bullets jammed .030 and a 34+gr load of H4198, and have also had good luck with 110 Bergers (8.5 ogive according to their chart). My father's 30br 1:17 Kostyshyn tuned up the same way as my barrel, but I believe that we were very lucky with that barrel. It has shot sub .2's since we got into this game, and for a couple of beginners it spoiled us pretty well (When the bullets don't go into the same hole it is definitely our fault...one of those barrels that, when it goes, will quickly return us to the mortals we are). My bartlein is no slouch by any means, but I think the Kostyshyn is a special barrel.
Would I do it again... maybe. I suppose if I had the ability to have 2 or 3 of each barrel type to interchange and see which gave me the most stable agg's I would be better able to evaluate it.
I guess what it comes down to is that each type will have excellent and good and not so good types. My question would be whether there are more excellent and good barrels with the gain twist than a standard.

I had spoken with Randy Robinette when I purchased the barrel and he had some interesting stories about more radical gains than mine. It might be worth giving him a call.
Mike
 
Is anyone dominating with one?

I think the real test is when something new or different comes along, like the 30 BR did; not that it was new by any means, and folks start to dominate competition with them. I don't see anyone dominating in VFS this year, do you?

I like different things as much as the next guy, mebby more than the next guy but I have yet to hear of someone dominating competition with a gain twist barrel. I recently purchased a rifle with A Kostyshyn barrel on it. What I noticed is there is about 2" of choke in mine and guite noticably a choke. Perhaps this is where the magic of his barrels came from. The barrel I have has a big bore except for the last two inches. It shoots a lot better dirty.

Learn to read the flags and Mirage :)
 
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Thats very interesting Pete. I have heard of guys talking about having choke in there barrels. I dont think any of my barrels have any choke. At least i cant feel it with the cleaning rod if they do. Is there any real truth that a barrel with some choke will shoot better than a barrel without any choke? My gain twist experience is very limited and ill tell you why. I have one in a 6mm. I think it was something like 8.75 to 8.2?? This barrel is chambered for a 6br and it didnt show me anything really. Actually it would tear a 105 A-max up. The bullets wouldnt even make it 50 yards. I know this because i shot a big piece of white paper at 30 yards and it looked like bird shot. A Berger 105 is ok but i just cant seem to get it to shoot. This barrel is just sitting on my safe and i probably wont ever have it fitted to another action. ( i no longer have the action it was fitted to) I dont even feel right about selling it because of it tearing bullets up. A guy i know says i can use it to fireform with, but there again i dont want to pay to have it fitted to anything. Anyway maybe i have a rough barrel i dont know. I have pondered sending it back to the manufacture, but i havent as of yet. I wont buy any more gain twist barrels, as i really dont see any gain or real reason to have another. I just about bet within 10 years they will be a thing of the past for the most part.
Randy talked me into going with a 18 twist on this new 30br BAT rifle i have and so far its looking really really good. I have only shot enough bullets through it to amount to a barrel brake in, but .2's were the results. More testing to come. I think its going to be a bit hard finding a load as all the combos i have tried thus far shoot!! That's all i know! Take care!! Lee
 
Gene Bukys brought me and him back two Rock Creek 17 twist 30's from St Louis, when I get back from Midland, I will chamber it up and see what it does.

I think they told Gene it had a slight gain. I know Rock Creek has been making some really great 30 barrels, I hope this will be one.........jackie
 
About 4-5 years ago, just before Ed Shilen retired, he had some taper bore barrels. I bought a couple, one with 0.0005" taper and one with 0.001" taper. I also bought 2 straight bore Shilens at the same time. I never could tell any difference between them. They all shot very well. These were all 6mm 1:14 configuration.

Ed told me that it took about an extra hour and a half to two hours to lap a taper bore. Lap, clean, measure, lap, clean measure till they got the desired taper.

I know for sure you don't want a taper bore with the big end at the muzzle. Been there done that.
 
OK, I'll throw something out here for discussion purposes, and I'll probably get flamed for it.

If I'm not mistaken, the concept of gain twist barrels was originally for artillery to keep the shells from stripping in the rifling. Starting off slow then gradually gaining in twist kept the stripping/fouling down. Gain barrels have been around for a long time.

These new gain barrels, the example stated above 18.75-18.00 is hardly much of an increase given the length of the barrel. The success some have had with the gain barrels was probably more they got a good barrel, not because of the gain twist. Time will tell, it'll take quite a while to determine if the number of gains regularly shoot better, over the straight twist barrels. One or two doesn't necessarily prove they are better.
 
jackie schmidt said:
Gene Bukys brought me and him back two Rock Creek 17 twist 30's from St Louis, when I get back from Midland, I will chamber it up and see what it does.

I think they told Gene it had a slight gain. I know Rock Creek has been making some really great 30 barrels, I hope this will be one.........jackie
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Jackie,
You are correct all of our .30 cal barrels have gain twist in them, it is only slight, but there is some. We have been doing it in the .30 cals for about 10 years now. Lets say it starts at 17 it will be about 16.850 at the muzzle. Now on to what Wayne said, we aren't really sure if the gain helps it or not but we know one thing for sure it doesn't hurt :D

Paul
 
I believe Wayne and I really like the 17twist Rock Creek barrel that I got from Paul. It just flat shoots and you can go all day without cleaning.
Butch
 
Look, I'm not knocking the gain barrels, I just think it needs to be proven. However, since Paul says they have been doing it for a number of years, that says something cause those barrels shoot!

So why is a great 30 barrel easier to make than a 6MM?
 
Interesting, And I do understand that pulling data from a small sample gives limited results.
just like to look at all options before making a decision.

Wayne, so we need to try something like a 21 down to a 17??
 
Redrock said:
Interesting, And I do understand that pulling data from a small sample gives limited results.
just like to look at all options before making a decision.

Wayne, so we need to try something like a 21 down to a 17??
Click to expand...

Steve, I've been using gain 30's for a couple years now, some much more radical than the 21 to 17 you suggested. I've had a good amount of success with them, but no more than conventional twist barrels. My reasoning for using a radical gain twist was to give the bullet a more gentle entrance into the rifling. I was hoping this would create less torque in the bags for a LV gun, as well as take in a bit easier on the throat. I beleive it does both. As far as accuracy goes... A GREAT barrel is a GREAT barrel, don't matter much how the rifling is cut, IMO.
 
Hal D, Exactly

Hal D. said:
My reasoning for using a radical gain twist was to give the bullet a more gentle entrance into the rifling. I was hoping this would create less torque in the bags for a LV gun, as well as take in a bit easier on the throat. I beleive it does both. IMO.
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This is exactly why I asked the question and Thank you for your response Hal.

It would be hard to get barrels that shoot better than the ones I have (straight twist 17's) but if the torque could be reduced in the Hunter package (10lbs, 2 1/4" forend) maybe there would be a slight advantage at the bench.
 
Is torque really an issue with these 30br's? I havent noticed my self. 18 twist has to be pretty gentle, doesnt it?? Maybe i just never thought about the torque. I will see if i notice any next time out. Lee
 
skeetlee said:
Is torque really an issue with these 30br's? I havent noticed my self. 18 twist has to be pretty gentle, doesnt it?? Maybe i just never thought about the torque. I will see if i notice any next time out. Lee
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keep up lee i'm not talking about a 30br...HBR 6x which is usally a 30x 47 and in my case its gonna be a Ware Wolf Pup and i'm also talking a 10lb 2 1/4" forend...now do you understand?
 
whatever the case, i havent noticed torque being an issue in my 30br's. I dont have a hunter class rifle. Lee
 
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