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Author Topic: Gain Twist Rifling  (Read 1468 times)

Offline Gordon H.Kemp

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« Reply #15 on: November 14, 2010, 04:40:57 PM »
No matter if it's a slow twist , a fast twist or a gain twist , "dem dar grooves spin thet ball , like  da button on a out house door " :lol:
Gordy
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Offline Sir Michael

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« Reply #16 on: November 15, 2010, 02:28:43 PM »
Gordon,  :rotf  :rotf  :toast
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Offline Loyalist Dave

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« Reply #17 on: November 17, 2010, 10:57:19 AM »
Ah but let us not use what has been learned about ballistics in the past two centuries to cloud what was known back then to those who made gain twist...,

Mr. Kemp is correct, it takes a very little turn to stabilize a round ball.  This was known.

It was "known" that at least a minimum 1/4 turn prior to exiting the muzzle was needed to stabilize a round ball, and that American and German rifles, especially the Germanic target rifles, had faster twists than that minimum, with the Germans often using very fast twist on those rifles.  (Source Instructions for The Formation and Exercise of Volunteer Sharp-Shooters Barber 1804)  Barber also noted that such fast twist rifles had several problems including "disagreeable recoil" and tougher to keep clean, both not wanted in a military rifle, and his observations influenced the Baker Rifle.

Rifle shooters of the time, especially in Germany where target shooting was much more of an advanced competition than in the United States, wanted faster twists as they thought they were  necessary..., today we know this isn't true for the patched round ball, but it was part of the idea behind the gain twist.  Again not faster RPM, but their "percieved" need for a fast twist coupled with higher MV to be accurate at very long ranges.  

I'm not suggesting that the gain twist in a ML barrel has any major advantage, especially now that we have round bottom rifling, I was simply explaining what was the accepted idea behind it.  
:rt th

LD
It's not what you think you know; it's what you can prove.

Offline Gordon H.Kemp

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« Reply #18 on: November 17, 2010, 05:31:32 PM »
L.D. thanks for that bit of information . I think the most of us tend to forget that the Germans were well advanced in target rifles and competition prior to the early 1800s . Also the fact that many of the early gun makers in the Colcnys  were bilingual .
Gordy
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Offline Loyalist Dave

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« Reply #19 on: November 17, 2010, 09:33:56 PM »
Yes, I was actually "floored" when I saw how specialized they had become with their rifles 200+ years ago, and not just for the gentry, while I had thought that it was mostly a rural, frontier pastime, and an American one at that.  

LD
It's not what you think you know; it's what you can prove.