200+ Grain Bullets in 1:10 Twist .30 cal

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marksman13

marksman13

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I know folks are doing it and I see several folks online making a 1:10 twist barrel work with heavy-ish .30 cal bullets. I’m looking for personal experiences here if possible. I’m thinking about having a rifle built with a 22”-24” barrel that will mostly mimic the feel of the Springfield 2020 Waypoints I’ve come to love. I really like the BSF barrels they use, but BSF only offers their .30 cal barrels in a 1:10 twist rate. Not sure how the 22”-24” 1:10 twist barrel is going to play with the 212 grain ELD-X bullets I intend to use.

I know that 22”-24” is less than ideal for the 300 PRC, but the rifle will spend it’s life suppressed and I have no desire to lug around a 26” barreled rifle with a 7”-9” suppressor hanging off the end of it. I did that some last deer season and it was a pain. I figure with a 22” barrel I should still be sending a 212 grain bullet down range with a muzzle velocity of 2750 FPS or so and that should still give me enough velocity and energy to kill an elk reliably out to 800 yards which is further than I’m going to shoot at an animal other than pigs.

Anybody running a 300 Win Mag or 300 PRC out of a shorter 1:10 twist barrel wanna give me some feedback? I’m also not opposed to going with 300 Win Mag, but I don’t reload and don’t intend to start, and I like the 300 PRC’s 212 grain ELD-X factory loads from Hornady. I’d like to continue using those cartridges in a shorter, lighter package than my Browning X-Bolt HCLRM. Thanks in advance.
 
1:10 in 300PRC will stabilize 215-225 class bullets. And fair pretty well with 230’s.

I went 1:9” with my long 300 a few years ago, after a lot of years with 1:10” 300wm’s and RUM’s. Takes a bit of doing, just to pick up 5-10grn of bullet weight, but it was painless. I’d be tempted to order a 1:9” carbon wrapped Bartlein in 400modBB if I were in your shoes. I’d also go 24” instead of 22.
 
Varminterror said:
1:10 in 300PRC will stabilize 215-225 class bullets. And fair pretty well with 230’s.

I went 1:9” with my long 300 a few years ago, after a lot of years with 1:10” 300wm’s and RUM’s. Takes a bit of doing, just to pick up 5-10grn of bullet weight, but it was painless. I’d be tempted to order a 1:9” carbon wrapped Bartlein in 400modBB if I were in your shoes. I’d also go 24” instead of 22.
Click to expand...
I honestly may shoot the gap and go 23”. I’ve had really good results with BSF barrels, and that’s why I was looking so hard at them and they only offer a 1/10, but Bartlein makes incredible stuff. Thanks for offering that suggestion.
 
@marksman13 are you married to having the suppressor on the rifle while hunting?
Years ago I had a Browning A-Bolt 300 wm with a 26" barrel plus their BOSS muzzle break. The rifle shot great and balanced very well, but the extra length made it like carrying a 8' 2×4 through the woods. I would want the longer barrel for the velocity and like the performance of the 24" barrel from my 7mm Rem Mag.
Just a thought...
 
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WisBorn said:
@marksman13 are you married to having the suppressor on the rifle while hunting?
Years ago I had a Browning A-Bolt 300 wm with a 26" barrel plus their BOSS muzzle break. The rifle shot great and balanced very well, but the extra length made it like carrying a 8' 2×4 through the woods. I would want the longer barrel for the velocity and like the performance of the 24" barrel from my 7mm Rem Mag.
Just a thought...
Click to expand...
Yep. The whole purpose of this rifle is long(ish) range, suppressed hunting. I’ve got plenty of Ruger No. 1s that I can use when suppression doesn’t matter, but I’ve got a few areas where loud noises attract unwanted attention and the land owners live close enough to where I am hunting that they really appreciate suppressed rifles on early Saturday mornings.
 
I just sold my X-Bolt HCLRM, so the funds are in place for a new rifle. Trying to decide between a Seekins Havak, a Fierce Carbon Rival and having a custom rifle built. Prices would be about the same with the exception of a Seekins being a little cheaper than the other two options. Decisions, decisions…
 
I was looking at the Hornady website at the 300pcr 212 EDL-X load it is impressive. Good luck with your project. Can't wait for the range report!
 
WisBorn said:
I was looking at the Hornady website at the 300pcr 212 EDL-X load it is impressive. Good luck with your project. Can't wait for the range report!
Click to expand...
I’ve been impressed with the cartridge and I have honestly been very impressed with my Browning, but I really didn’t want to have the barrel cut and the 26” barrel was just more than I wanted with a suppressor.
 
The original .30 caliber rifle used by the United States was the .30-40 Krag. The standard ammunition shot a 220 grain FMJ bullet.
The second .30 caliber rifle used by the United States was the .30-03 Springfield and it fired the same (as far as I can tell) bullet with a different case.
Then in 1906, the round was changed by altering the case length (never can remember if it was longer or shorter, but not very much), the bullet was still the same diameter but weighed around 150 grains. Several changes of bullet weight occurred later an then the 7.62x51mm (.308 Winchester) was adopted.

The rifling twist has NEVER changed for issue rifles. Always has been 1:10 twist. I've tested a 225 grain expanding bullet and it works well. Theory and practice tend to agree.
 
citizenconn said:
I am running 1:8.5 in my 24", 26" and 30" 300 PRCs so I can easily handle the 250 grain A-tip bullets.
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Yeah. That would do it for sure. I didn’t want to go any longer than 22”, but ended up going with a 24” Fierce Carbon Rival in 300 Win Mag for ammo commonality with my Ruger No. 1 in 300 WM. Wish it was a couple inches shorter, but I’ll manage.
 
Archie said:
The original .30 caliber rifle used by the United States was the .30-40 Krag. The standard ammunition shot a 220 grain FMJ bullet.
The second .30 caliber rifle used by the United States was the .30-03 Springfield and it fired the same (as far as I can tell) bullet with a different case.
Then in 1906, the round was changed by altering the case length (never can remember if it was longer or shorter, but not very much), the bullet was still the same diameter but weighed around 150 grains. Several changes of bullet weight occurred later an then the 7.62x51mm (.308 Winchester) was adopted.

The rifling twist has NEVER changed for issue rifles. Always has been 1:10 twist. I've tested a 225 grain expanding bullet and it works well. Theory and practice tend to agree.
Click to expand...

The 30-03 case is slightly longer than the 30-06 case.
 
You really think you can hit the "boiler room" on a moving elk at 800 yards? MY brother has hunted elk in north eastern Colorado for over 30 years using a variety of guns including .270, 30.06 and 7mm mag.
His ammo was usually 130 grain SP Interlock or Core Lokt, With the .06 it was either 150 or 165 grain SP. His longest shot was 300 yards. He says an elk isn't any harder to put down than a white tail deer. The problem is they rarely stop moving and the "boiler room" is much smaller on an elk, needing a precision shot.
 
Thomasss said:
You really think you can hit the "boiler room" on a moving elk at 800 yards? MY brother has hunted elk in north eastern Colorado for over 30 years using a variety of guns including .270, 30.06 and 7mm mag.
His ammo was usually 130 grain SP Interlock or Core Lokt, With the .06 it was either 150 or 165 grain SP. His longest shot was 300 yards. He says an elk isn't any harder to put down than a white tail deer. The problem is they rarely stop moving and the "boiler room" is much smaller on an elk, needing a precision shot.
Click to expand...

None of this is consistent with my experience.

Vitals on elk are massive, and they move and stop just like any other creature which walks the Earth. Yes, we need an animal to stay out for over a second for the bullet to reach them when we put that much air under them, but frankly, arrows need more time to reach 40 yards, but we don’t get this kind of complaint about common bowhunters as unethical due to time of flight.
 
I had a model 70 with the boss break.
Sold it because it was so loud.
Made a shot in the field once without ear pro on. The oh you'll never notice in the field does not apply to 300 win mag and boss break.
 
Archie said:
The original .30 caliber rifle used by the United States was the .30-40 Krag. The standard ammunition shot a 220 grain FMJ bullet.
The second .30 caliber rifle used by the United States was the .30-03 Springfield and it fired the same (as far as I can tell) bullet with a different case.
Then in 1906, the round was changed by altering the case length (never can remember if it was longer or shorter, but not very much), the bullet was still the same diameter but weighed around 150 grains. Several changes of bullet weight occurred later an then the 7.62x51mm (.308 Winchester) was adopted.

The rifling twist has NEVER changed for issue rifles. Always has been 1:10 twist. I've tested a 225 grain expanding bullet and it works well. Theory and practice tend to agree.
Click to expand...

Bullet length is also a factor in the twist rate required to stabilize a bullet. A 220 gr round nose is pretty stumpy compared to an ELD-X
 
Thomasss said:
You really think you can hit the "boiler room" on a moving elk at 800 yards? MY brother has hunted elk in north eastern Colorado for over 30 years using a variety of guns including .270, 30.06 and 7mm mag.
His ammo was usually 130 grain SP Interlock or Core Lokt, With the .06 it was either 150 or 165 grain SP. His longest shot was 300 yards. He says an elk isn't any harder to put down than a white tail deer. The problem is they rarely stop moving and the "boiler room" is much smaller on an elk, needing a precision shot.
Click to expand...
Re-read my post. I said it would be enough rifle for the task. I also stated that was further than I would ever shoot at an animal other than a pig. I shoot steel at 800 yards all the time. I limit shots on game animals to 500 yards to account for errors in wind calculation and other unforeseen field conditions.
Also, I’m no elk hunter, but larger animals generally equal larger heart and lungs. And, I’ve never seen an animal that never stops moving. I grew up squirrel hunting with a 22LR and even the most spastic tree rat pauses to contemplate life once in a while.
 
Caplock said:
I had a model 70 with the boss break.
Sold it because it was so loud.
Made a shot in the field once without ear pro on. The oh you'll never notice in the field does not apply to 300 win mag and boss break.
Click to expand...
This rifle will be suppressed for 99% of it’s existence. Zero concern for muzzle report.
 
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