Well the long wait for the Rayl custom barrel has ended. It showed up today. So I'm back on this project. Here's a pic of bbl. in wood. Stay tuned. Tom
Tom, a little something to think about, when you get a chance.....
I've got a 32" 1:28 GM .50 barrel, in fact it's one of the barrels for that same stock you now have, and I assure you that the old wives tale about NOT being able to shoot RB in that fast twist is nothing short of just old tales that this sport is plagued with.
There is a one fly in the ointment though, and that is the amount of powder you use before the grouping goes south on it, but that is also true with a lot of other barrels, be they 1:28 / 1:48 / 1:62 / or 1:78.....
In a .50 T/C 1:48 barrel 110gr FFFg and more, will open the group considerably using a round ball and patch.
In the .50 GM 1:28 barrel, the group starts to open at about 95 / 100gr FFFg.
Does that 10 -15gr difference really make a difference, especially when you consider dwell time on a 1:28 is
longer than that on a 1:48? (of course such things are measured in mili micro seconds and used to support a theory, not necessarily to mean a whole lot outside of theory or provide anything visual.)
Still yet....Is it possible the 1:28 could be seen as more efficient than a 1:48 and the other rates?
There is this theory on "skipping"... whereas a hot load will push the ball and patch so fast it will "skip" on the grooves and create galling, or leading of the bore, and then
when ignored the grooves get all leaded up and the patch can't get stuffed into the grooves to hold the ball properly and impart the proper spin on it.
I'm not sure I buy into all of that...
It makes some sense, some times, but the problem is you can't duplicate the process at will....not just by dumping more powder in, firing a shot or two, dropping a bore light down and see galling.
I suppose if you ignored proper cleaning of the barrel long enough, overtime that scenario could take place, and then grow exponentially to a point you would have a smooth bore, but you could do that no matter which twist you're using, and that makes me think that the old saying of "
every gun barrel is a science within itself" totally out weighs the theory of "skipping".
Now the beauty of a 1:28 twist, if you can say such a thing, is the fact that it does better stabilize a conical bullet, or a solid base Minie, much better than a slower twist.
Our NSSA guys shoot some amazing groups with hollow base Minie-Ball even out to 150 yds.....and they do it with a s-l-o-w twist, without leading.
Other than that, a person could shoot a 1:28 for years using a round ball and never know the difference until someone told him "you can't do that in a fast twist".
Uncle Russ...
