Alternative Bullet Weights For A 1/12 Twist

[chp5]

My favorite upper has a Colt 20” 1/12 twist lightweight barrel (a/k/a pencil barrel). I mostly shoot XM193 out of it with good results. I sometimes shoot GA ARMS “Precision Plus” 55 grain rounds on the longer range stages.

There’s discussion on another thread that a 55 grain round won’t reliably knock down a LaRue target at 250+ yards with a center hit. There’re supposed to be some of those shots at Ft. Benning this December.

Assuming that’s true, what will reliably knock down a LaRue target at 250+ that I can shoot our of my 1/12 barrel?

Thanks.

[Dan Sierpina]

My favorite upper has a Colt 20” 1/12 twist lightweight barrel (a/k/a pencil barrel). I mostly shoot XM193 out of it with good results. I sometimes shoot GA ARMS “Precision Plus” 55 grain rounds on the longer range stages.

There’s discussion on another thread that a 55 grain round won’t reliably knock down a LaRue target at 250+ yards with a center hit. There’re supposed to be some of those shots at Ft. Benning this December.

Assuming that’s true, what will reliably knock down a LaRue target at 250+ that I can shoot our of my 1/12 barrel?

Thanks.

Maybe a 60 grain Sierra hollow point. The 69 grainers claim to need at least a 10" twist to stabilize.

[BillL223]

At the SMM 3-gun in 2002, I had no trouble knocking down the targets at 300+ yards using Black Hills 52 gr Blue Box ammo. According to an observer, I had very good hits. Now that I "know better", I will be using 69 gr SMKs. Last year at Fort Benning there was no target longer then 200 yards. My 52 SMKs worked fine although I was a little slow. I'm not convinced that they have built the 300 yard range. I would try some Black Hills 68s and see how they work in your 1:12 twist.

[Jaxshooter]

Does anybody know if they are going to use the 300 yard range for the AMU 3 Gun?

[Mickster]

From what I have heard of late, I'll be sure my rifle is ready to go for 300 yard shots.

The only reason the 300 range was not there last year was because some birds (owls, I think) had set up house. The base is very touchy about disturbing the wildlife.

Hopefully, by this time, they have been encouraged to move on.

[chp5]

Assuming that’s true, what will reliably knock down a LaRue target at 250+ that I can shoot our of my 1/12 barrel?

Thanks.

Any other suggestions on alternative bullet weights for my 1/12 twist barrel? Thanks.

[Bronco]

Your basically screwed with a 1 in 12 as far as anything over the 55's. You can rebarrel an AR for under $200.00 if you do it yourself, suggest you get at least a 1 in 9 so the 69's and 70's will shoot well. If you want the most options put a 1 in 7 on, good from 40gr to 80gr. I know this isn't what you wanted to hear but imho it's the best course of action. Keith

[TBF]

My 1:12 tumbled 69 Gr. bullets, some of them were keyholing at 50 Yards.

55's and under worked fine.

Travis F.

[big_kahuna]

+1 to what Bronco said.

I wasted lots of time and effort trying to tune 55-grain loads to shoot well in my 12-twist barrel. In my experience, 55's need to be driven fast to avoid keyholing. YMMV, many factors involved (such as elevation above sea level, humidity, temp, etc.). I have had much better luck using 45-52 grainers for 12 twist. You will probably need to test them against your targets to confirm sufficient kinetic energy for knockdown.

I ended up buying a 9-twist barrel myself, just to be able to shoot bullets up to 70 grains.

[Dan Sierpina]

Berger lists up to a 64 grain bullet with a recommended twist of 12 inches.

http://www.bergerbullets.com/

[sargenv]

Winchester Bulk bullets in years past had 64 gr power points and I had some pretty good accuracy with them in a 14" Contender to 200 yards. I assume that in a longer barrel of equal twist that they should do pretty good. These are flat base bullets.

Vince

[kurtm]

Well I guess I'm like a bumble bee. No one ever told me I couldn't shoot down La Rue targets past 200 yds with 55 gr bullets. I have shot them out to 400yd with a nice XM193 out of a 20" carbine and they always fell over. Darn now I'm going to have to shoot heavier bullets....not!

[chp5]

Well I guess I'm like a bumble bee. No one ever told me I couldn't shoot down La Rue targets past 200 yds with 55 gr bullets. I have shot them out to 400yd with a nice XM193 out of a 20" carbine and they always fell over. Darn now I'm going to have to shoot heavier bullets....not!

Thanks Kurt.

[Bear1142]

Cy, you are not Kurt! He's the bullet whisperer. His bullets can do stuff yours only dream about. Suck it up, stop the murder/death/kill training, hit the weight room, and get the 1/9!

Erik

Edited August 2, 2006 by Bear1142

[chp5]

Cy - Suck it up, stop the murder/death/kill training, hit the weight room, and get the 1/9!

Erik

OUCH! That really hurts

[Bronco]

Cy, if Erik didn't care he would have kept still. He is right, few shooters have Kurt's skill and we mere mortals need any perceived advantage we can find. It is very comforting to step to the line and not worry about hitting the target, and not worrying about it going down when you do hit it. Keith

[kurtm]

Erik you crack me UP!!!

If you want heavy bullets thats fine, but I don't think you really need any more weight training other than 12 0z curls. Matter of fact in the time I save by NOT reloading heavy bullets I can get much stronger with the above stated workout !

[Mike P]

My favorite upper has a Colt 20” 1/12 twist lightweight barrel (a/k/a pencil barrel). I mostly shoot XM193 out of it with good results. I sometimes shoot GA ARMS “Precision Plus” 55 grain rounds on the longer range stages.

There’s discussion on another thread that a 55 grain round won’t reliably knock down a LaRue target at 250+ yards with a center hit. There’re supposed to be some of those shots at Ft. Benning this December.

Assuming that’s true, what will reliably knock down a LaRue target at 250+ that I can shoot our of my 1/12 barrel?

Thanks.

There is another thread that says that max distance will be 200 yds again. It was plenty challenging (for me anyway) at that distance.