Great Plains rifle twist

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DirtyDusty

32 Cal
Joined
Sep 9, 2023
Messages
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Location
Louisiana
Anyone here know if the GOR will stabilize a 420gr conical or would it require the fast twist bbl of the Hunter model?
 
Maxi-balls and Lee R.E.A.L. bullets have always been accurate in my Great Plains Rifle.
 
Depends on when it was made. Earlier GPR barrels were 1:48. At some point they began Making them at 1:60. The 1:48 would probably work but not sure about the 1:60.
 
Based on the norms that we all have been told that would be the expected result. 1:60 for patched ball only. 1:48 can shoot many but not all conicals and the faster 1:30 or faster twist can shoot long bullets.

I do not have personal experience but I have spent time studying this in preparation of trying some conical moulds and this seems to be a consensus opinion.
 
My Great Plains was a 54cal roundball twist gun and at 75yds it shot the same 2in+/- groups with conicals as it did with roundballs. YMMV
 
My Great Plains was a 54cal roundball twist gun and at 75yds it shot the same 2in+/- groups with conicals as it did with roundballs. YMMV


What year was in manufactured?

I still have the barrel from my 1981 manufacture. I always assumed it was the 1:48 but I never checked it. It would shoot a Hornady bullet very well. But it wasn't anything that I pursued.

If I get a chance later today I'll check it.
 
What year was in manufactured?

I still have the barrel from my 1981 manufacture. I always assumed it was the 1:48 but I never checked it. It would shoot a Hornady bullet very well. But it wasn't anything that I pursued.

If I get a chance later today I'll check it.

I don't recall the exact year. Let's just say, 'it's been a while'. LOL
 
My .54 GPR is an awesome accurate RB shooter, and considering it will not shoot a conical worth crap, I would like to find a faster twist barrel for it some day to accommodate concials better.

But I ain't holding my breath.
 
Yes, slow twists like the 1-60" to 66" rifling can sometimes can be made to shoot some elongated bullets reasonably well. Often this has more to do with the depth of the grooves than the twist. I tested my .54 (1-66") with the maxis someone gave me and they would certainly take down a deer at 50 yards. But since prb shot such tiny groups and killed deer DRT, prb is all I ever hunted with.

Bores with the commonplace 1-48" shot prb very precisely and did well with the maxi hunter and the longer maxi bullet. It's been decades since I fired them at paper and I was never actually impressed with the results.
 
Is this a .54? I have used 250 grain REAL bullets with good results in a .50 rifle, 1:60 twist. Compare the length of the conical with a round ball. If standing them side by side the conical is noticeably longer than the RB it probably won't stabilize as well. That 250 grain REAL was about the same as a RB so it gave me 4" groups at 100 yards, plenty good for hunting.
 
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