50gr and 55gr Berger .204 bullets?

[tpcollins]

I was stumbling around various sites and found the Berger .204 bullets available in 50gr and 55gr bullets. Is this too much weight for a 1:12" twist and has anyone tried these? Thanks.

[jlc204]

yes, these bullets are too long to stabilize in a 12 twist.
Berger recommends 9 twist for 50's, 8 twist for 55's.
Although, I think I read somewhere that someone was shooting 50's in a 10 twist, but I could be wrong.

[Bill K]

I have found the 12 inch twist does not stablilize those weight bullets, in my rifle anyway. They tend to keyhole and have a different POI. Bill K

[HoundofSC]

from what I have read a 12 twist is good up to 40 gr, Berger recommends a 9 twist for their 50 and 55's

[Bayou City Boy]

Bullets stabilize based on length, and not weight. It just so happens that extra jacket length generally requires extra core weight to keep the bullet balanced.

If you took a very dense material - denser than lead - and stuffed it into a short bullet jacket, and you arrived at a finished bullet weight of 54 grains that was roughly the length of say a 35 grain Berger, it would shoot just fine in a 12" twist barrel with a good load for the cartridge.

-BCB