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50gr and 55gr Berger .204 bullets?

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 6:28 am
by 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.

Re: 50gr and 55gr Berger .204 bullets?

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:31 am
by 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.

Re: 50gr and 55gr Berger .204 bullets?

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:08 am
by 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

Re: 50gr and 55gr Berger .204 bullets?

Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:46 am
by 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

Re: 50gr and 55gr Berger .204 bullets?

Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 7:32 am
by 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