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I am debating about a build. its my understanding this caliber does best with 175 gr bullets. hornandy 168 amax are readily available and reasonably priced. I want the speed from the lighter bullets.
i'm looking at ordering a shilen barrel. standard is 10 twist for up to 220 gr. but if i'm going to shoot 168's should I just buy a 14 twist since that's max for that twist rate?
the only other bullet I would consider are the 175 vld's but the price on those has me steering to amax
It depends on how fast you are going to send them, and how aggressive you are with your reloading, if you are not then I would probably go with a 12 twist.
Dean
well i'm not scared to load hot I just watch the primers. 12 might be a better comprise though
Custom barrel? 11 twist. 150-210 grain no problem/
The WSM is an impressive little cartridge. Mine is a 1-11 and I find the 190vld was my best performer, my hunting partner use a 230 in his 1-10 and is doing some impressive work with it, even making wish I was running 1-10".
If your convinced you want to use light weights the 1-11 or 1-12 makes sense but.... don't sell it "short" it can do very well with heavies and if you have any doubt at all error on the fast side.
I definitely want to stay up around 3000 fps or better so I want to stick to the lighter bullets
You can throw the 178 a-max @ 3K easily. I could probably hit 3K with my 190s but it would be pushing hard, I run a mild accuracy load at 2875fps currently.
Both the 168 and 178 a-max are in my favorites list tho, great choice either way.
the 168's are so easy to find that's a big reason. otherwise I would be shooting bergers. can't justify double the price. both are terrific bullets, I shoot vld's in my creedmoor