I just got done reading LL Year of the Bullet article. Its a great article. Most of it is way over my skill level but one thing that did resonate and stick with me was his statement about .308 twist rates:
One of the success stories of the Ruger Precision Rifle was the twist rate. Ruger recognized that most factory rifles were giving you the wrong twist rate to truly shoot effectively at long distance. For the 308 the rule was to use a 1-12 and assume the shooter will use the crappy 168gr bullet. That is one of the worst choices for shooting Long Range you can make. We have progressed so far past the design of the 168 is comical to even read about it. I get it, the 168 is a cheap solution for Long Range shooting, but trust me, Long Range Shooting is not cheap so stop taking this shortcut. To answer your question, the 175 will work in a 1-12, but part of the success of the RPR is the 1-10 twist rate. Companies reading this, please retire the 1-12. Minimum today should be the 1-11.25.
Here I am about to drop $5k on an AIAT and I read this and yup, you guessed it, all AI .308 rifles come with a 12 twist barrel. I hadnt planned on the factory AI barrel being a throw away so now I am second guessing my decision. I fully understand that there are better caliber choices for LR and I do plan on getting a 6.5 barrel as well but I hadnt seen anyone communicate such definative and unflattering thoughts on the SMKs(presumably) or the 12 twist barrel. Please understand this is not a criticism of LL or the article. To the contrary, my respect for his knowledge and insight has me concerned with my choice and quite honestly, has me wondering why AI continues to use a 1:12 twist on their rifles if the shooting world has moved so far beyond them.
One of the success stories of the Ruger Precision Rifle was the twist rate. Ruger recognized that most factory rifles were giving you the wrong twist rate to truly shoot effectively at long distance. For the 308 the rule was to use a 1-12 and assume the shooter will use the crappy 168gr bullet. That is one of the worst choices for shooting Long Range you can make. We have progressed so far past the design of the 168 is comical to even read about it. I get it, the 168 is a cheap solution for Long Range shooting, but trust me, Long Range Shooting is not cheap so stop taking this shortcut. To answer your question, the 175 will work in a 1-12, but part of the success of the RPR is the 1-10 twist rate. Companies reading this, please retire the 1-12. Minimum today should be the 1-11.25.
Here I am about to drop $5k on an AIAT and I read this and yup, you guessed it, all AI .308 rifles come with a 12 twist barrel. I hadnt planned on the factory AI barrel being a throw away so now I am second guessing my decision. I fully understand that there are better caliber choices for LR and I do plan on getting a 6.5 barrel as well but I hadnt seen anyone communicate such definative and unflattering thoughts on the SMKs(presumably) or the 12 twist barrel. Please understand this is not a criticism of LL or the article. To the contrary, my respect for his knowledge and insight has me concerned with my choice and quite honestly, has me wondering why AI continues to use a 1:12 twist on their rifles if the shooting world has moved so far beyond them.