Best barrel twist for .54 Caliber

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My TVM Lancaster has a 1 in 60 ish twist rate. It's very accurate and is meant for roundballs.

Get a 1 in 48 twist if you'll be shooting balls or conicals. Slow twist rates aren't good for conicals from what I'm aware of.b
 
My best round ball rifle has a 1:48. In my experience, in .50 caliber and larger with that twist have a sweet spot powder charge. Very accurate at a particular amount but no so good with less or more. Whereas dedicated round ball guns with a slow twist is more forgiving. With a slow twist longrifle I can usually get outstanding accuracy at a particular hefty charge and then cut it in half for a much lighter practice/small game charge without changing POI except of course at long distance. A .50 with 30 - 40 grain charge is going to drop at long range but shoots the same at squirrel distance. Sounds like a lot of meat damage, right? But counter that by not shooting at the main edible parts. My only muzzleloader turkey was still fit for the table because my 40 grains in my .50 caliber (1/2 of 80) was hit behind the breast but forward of the drumsticks. Of course that would never work with a head-on shot.
 
I concur with Mike. I had a .54 w/ 1in48 twist and could not get it to shoot well with heavy PRB loads, shot Maxis pretty good. but would shoot centers out of Clay pigeons at 35yds with about 50 grains using PRBs. I have another barrel (Rice) for the same gun that has a 1/70(?) twist and shoots great with any PRB load.
 
Tony Rothrock said:
The optimal twist rate is determined mostly by the length of the projectile your using. In any given caliber the longer your bullet is the faster you got to "twist" it to stabilize it in flight. That's the simple answer. If you want a more complicated explanation all the ratios and formula stuff, look up the Greenhill Formula.
Click to expand...
Thank you spot on... I fully agree the results across my entire fire arm collect and experience...
 
I do believe twist rates relationship to projectile length is a modern idea for use in modern high powered rifles, as the 1861 rifle muskets, used a twist rate of 1-72. They seemed to shoot relatively long bullets rather well.
 
J.D. said:
I do believe twist rates relationship to projectile length is a modern idea for use in modern high powered rifles, as the 1861 rifle muskets, used a twist rate of 1-72. They seemed to shoot relatively long bullets rather well.
Click to expand...
...they may look long but are "short" compared to their large diameter. The twist rate relative to length is still important, length to diameter ratio goes into the calculation as well.
 

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