Which is better 18 or 20 twist rate

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In my opinion a 1:18 is better past 500 yards and/or with heavy lead
Other than those 2 factors 1:20 will do everything the 1:18 will do . So if shooting only 500 yards or less or not using heavy lead then it doesnt matter. In my book. Others may disagree
 
Knowing what I know and have experienced now, I'll say the 1:18. I think it'll handle just about any or some version, of today's jacketed bullets in a wide range of weights plus it will allow the use of lead. Like Sharpshooter has offered the heavy lead at distance will glow.

Caliber might come into play in this decision as well as whether one is shooting a bullet wrapped in a sabot or one riding the rifling. Personally I have a 1:18 in a smokeless capable .45 Patriot and haven't found a jacketed, saboted bullet it doesn't like at moderate velocities. I don't shoot the heavy lead, nor do I shoot long range so maybe what I offer is not what you are looking for. But if I were shopping today and had a twist rate choice that included 1:18, that would be my choice.
 
I have shot many many bullets the last 6 years out of both the 18 and the 20 it is hands down the 18, not because I wanted to be, because it is, the 18 is the most versatile twist I personally would never recommend a 20 ,22 or 24 to anyone ever again I'm talking about 45 Cal specifically. The 18 twist will shoot all of the Light 40 cal bullets in the light blue sabot as good as the 20,22 or the 24 and in my experience actually better, the 18 will shoot anything from 180 up to the 275 grain Fury bullets I'm sorry but the 20 won't do that ,,I'm talking about jacketed bullets and smokeless loads or Black Horn loads, I'm not talking about larger lead bullets with grease grooves I understand you can shoot large lead up to the 28 and even the 48 twist. It is caused me to lose complete interest ever in a 40 cal why would I want a 40 cal Muzzleloader when I can take an 18 twist 45 and the light blue and shoot anything 40 cal from 180 up to 275 kind of makes having a 40 cal that's limited to only bore riders and finicky ridiculous what do I need a 40 if I can do anything 40 related I want to do in my 45 Cal. I have had a dozen 2012 45 Cal rifles in the last few years I've sold some of them I've rebuilt some of them some of them I still have the 2012 would only take me to the two 40 and the 250 40 cal it would not shoot anything larger at least the way I want it to. I have developed an extremely strong stance on this topic again not because of any of the three choices of twists I wanted but because of results results of multiple rifles and shooting thousands of bullets both 40 cal and 45 oh and by the way that 1812 is 45 Cal will take anything from a 250 up to a 400 grain bullet bore riding. I would encourage anyone that thinks a 20 or 24 can do that to show me the results, the 18 is the most versatile twist and the most accurate if I was building a Muzzleloader company I could build the company around just this one aspect nothing but 18 twists cut rifle and 1812 button rifle the only thing I could see better might be a Game Twist that went from 24 to 17 but that's just an idea I still don't know that it would be the 18.
 
The 20 is good the 18 is better I read my post I sound so fired up,, I really am ,,on this topic,when I first started smokeless muzzle loading I'll listen to a lot of established views of twist and what was best when I put my hands on them and started shooting them I found out different than what was told. Not beating up on anybody's 20 or 22 or 24,,, but I asked all of you who have those have you shot an 18 and if you shot an 18 have you shot it extensively with every bullet you could find if you do that you'll come to the same conclusions I have let the conclusions and the accuracy speak for itself and you'll step away from the 20 and the 22 and the 24 I have 18 Twist on the brain
 
Mnt monkey said:
I have shot many many bullets the last 6 years out of both the 18 and the 20 it is hands down the 18, not because I wanted to be, because it is, the 18 is the most versatile twist I personally would never recommend a 20 ,22 or 24 to anyone ever again I'm talking about 45 Cal specifically. The 18 twist will shoot all of the Light 40 cal bullets in the light blue sabot as good as the 20,22 or the 24 and in my experience actually better, the 18 will shoot anything from 180 up to the 275 grain Fury bullets I'm sorry but the 20 won't do that ,,I'm talking about jacketed bullets and smokeless loads or Black Horn loads, I'm not talking about larger lead bullets with grease grooves I understand you can shoot large lead up to the 28 and even the 48 twist. It is caused me to lose complete interest ever in a 40 cal why would I want a 40 cal Muzzleloader when I can take an 18 twist 45 and the light blue and shoot anything 40 cal from 180 up to 275 kind of makes having a 40 cal that's limited to only bore riders and finicky ridiculous what do I need a 40 if I can do anything 40 related I want to do in my 45 Cal. I have had a dozen 2012 45 Cal rifles in the last few years I've sold some of them I've rebuilt some of them some of them I still have the 2012 would only take me to the two 40 and the 250 40 cal it would not shoot anything larger at least the way I want it to. I have developed an extremely strong stance on this topic again not because of any of the three choices of twists I wanted but because of results results of multiple rifles and shooting thousands of bullets both 40 cal and 45 oh and by the way that 1812 is 45 Cal will take anything from a 250 up to a 400 grain bullet bore riding. I would encourage anyone that thinks a 20 or 24 can do that to show me the results, the 18 is the most versatile twist and the most accurate if I was building a Muzzleloader company I could build the company around just this one aspect nothing but 18 twists cut rifle and 1812 button rifle the only thing I could see better might be a Game Twist that went from 24 to 17 but that's just an idea I still don't know that it would be the 18.
Click to expand...
what do think of 16 twist? sorry...
 
I'm taking a deep breath ,,I will say this the 20 the 22 and the 24 are sure better than the 28 I'm glad there's guns available with those twists now in this day and time of change shortages and sometimes hard to find product you would think from a practical point of view that you were going to invest the money on a nice Muzzleloader and you had options you would want the option that gave you the most accurate versatility it is the 18!!!
 
I have a 16 twist and a 14 the 16 is okay and the 14 are okay but the spin is getting so fast you're going to put a lot of stress on the Sabot,, I've had to reduce my standard charge of 57 grains of IMR 4198 both in the 14 and the 16 down to 55 or 56 grains I like the 14 in the 16s bore riding
 
I only shoot jacketed bullets in my 45 Cals no lead bullets for me,, I do shoot a lot of 40 Cals in the light blue sabot,, for the most part I only shoot the light blue the brown hasn't done me any good in any of my guns I've given up on it ,, my post and comments were only about the 45 Cal shooting either bore Riders or the light blue sabot with 40 cal bullets.
 
It all depends!! Are you using sabots, are you not? Bullet length and weight? So many factors to look at. If your shooting sabots, the 1/20 wins by a long shot. If your shooting bore diameter bullets, length and weight matters to effectively shoot bore size bullets out of a 1/18 or 1/20.
 
I have to respectfully disagree my friend the 18 with plastic has out shot the 20 hands down for me in multiple guns,, I have six 18 twist guns currently some of them had 20 twist ,,, the 20 twist does not win by a long shot,,, I have to ask you and friend and a friendly way have you shot the 18 with plastic a lot and compared it to the 20 side by side. Not looking at any kind of numbers no bullet links no charge none of that have you shot the two side by side and shot hundreds of bullets in plastic?,,
 
I shoot 20s a lot it's not that they won't shoot a 40 cal in a Sabot well they just won't do it with as many bullets from light to heavy as the 18. I would suggest this hypothetical and I know it to be true you take five rifles with 20 twist barrels quality barrels and you take five rifles with 18 twists again quality barrels and you shoot from the 180s to the 275s and you shoot all of the bull riders from 250 to 400 that you can you will change your stance
 
I've had a lot of 20 twist guns that would shoot one hole with a good smokeless load and I know you're one and 19 does, I do not doubt that ,the question was what is the best twist 18 or 20 having shot both I am of the strong conclusion that the 18 is just much more versatile, it doesn't mean you won't find a 20 with the right bullet that shoots one hole most of my 18 twist barrels do that with bullets size to bore,,, Encore if you and I sat down for a match between just me and you of course you bring your rifle your favorite load your favorite bullet we're only going to shoot at 100 there's no point in going any further you might beat me at 100 with your pet load and I know your rifle shoots and I know you can shoot I might beat you at a hundred with my pet gun and my pet load so that first group or two at 100 might go either way you're shooting your 19 I'm shooting my 18 you might even beat me let's say you just smoked me now for the next round we're going to go up 25 grains whatever your pet bullet was if it was friends and say 300 grain or a $350 doesn't matter we're going to go up 25 grains in bullet weight and it won't be your pet bullet it'll be a good bullet but it won't be your pet bullet might get different results on that next round tell you what let's do on round three round three let's go ahead and go to that 400 grain bullet either the fury or the Northern Pacific let's see what your 19 twist does with it but the contest is not through yet we're pulling our muzzle brakes off now we're starting with a or maybe the 180 40 cal and a light blue what I know you only wanted to boy ride but this contest and this topic is about the best twist not necessarily the best shooter we'll shoot around with the Light 40 Cals and we'll work our way up to the 275 in the light blue we're going to shoot five different bore riders, and then we're going to shoot five different 40 Cals in a light blue we'll take a average of all of the different bullets fired and of the groups,,, I believe you're 19 would have a lot better luck than the twenties but when everything was added up I would put my money on the 18.
 

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