Explaining to me about barrel twist rates on an AR

[Jose]

Thanks for the info guys. I probably should have written this up a little better. But ya I was looking for a better explanation on how twist rates affect the bullets being fired and I've got the explanation I needed now. I'm looking at buying an AR in a few months (or sooner) and doing a little more research that I didn't do the first time.

[CJ]

1:9 is perfectly fine for any AR-15. The only time you really NEED 1:7 is if you have a 14.5" barrel or less shooting 62gr+ projectiles, and that's probably only 1% of AR15's out there. I have a 7.5" barrel with a 1:9 twist and it stabilizes perfectly fine.

[Jose]

Damn. So I was looking at buying an off the shelf Colt AR and it has a 1:7 twist. Actually it looks like all Colt AR's have the 1:7 twist. And from what I'm reading here that would be a bad idea if I'm going to buy readily available ammo unless I order ammo specifically designed for that barrel (looks like military surplus and some self defense/hunting ammo comes in an appropriate weight).

My second choice was a S&W M&P AR but it has a 1:8 twist. Guess I'll need to research what brands of AR's have a 1:9 twist barrel.

[motoman]

Damn. So I was looking at buying an off the shelf Colt AR and it has a 1:7 twist. Actually it looks like all Colt AR's have the 1:7 twist. And from what I'm reading here that would be a bad idea if I'm going to buy readily available ammo unless I order ammo specifically designed for that barrel (looks like military surplus and some self defense/hunting ammo comes in an appropriate weight).

My second choice was a S&W M&P AR but it has a 1:8 twist. Guess I'll need to research what brands of AR's have a 1:9 twist barrel.

Why would that be a bad idea? You'll have no problem shooting the heavier projectiles.

[Semper299]

Damn. So I was looking at buying an off the shelf Colt AR and it has a 1:7 twist. Actually it looks like all Colt AR's have the 1:7 twist. And from what I'm reading here that would be a bad idea if I'm going to buy readily available ammo unless I order ammo specifically designed for that barrel (looks like military surplus and some self defense/hunting ammo comes in an appropriate weight).

My second choice was a S&W M&P AR but it has a 1:8 twist. Guess I'll need to research what brands of AR's have a 1:9 twist barrel.

The Colt is a great rifle, and you will be just fine with a 1:7 twist. My duty AR is a 1:7 twist, simply because it stablizes heavier bullets better. There really is not that much difference in the two when shooting out of a 16" BBL with 55-69 grain bullets.

[CJ]

Damn. So I was looking at buying an off the shelf Colt AR and it has a 1:7 twist. Actually it looks like all Colt AR's have the 1:7 twist. And from what I'm reading here that would be a bad idea if I'm going to buy readily available ammo unless I order ammo specifically designed for that barrel (looks like military surplus and some self defense/hunting ammo comes in an appropriate weight).

My second choice was a S&W M&P AR but it has a 1:8 twist. Guess I'll need to research what brands of AR's have a 1:9 twist barrel.

Not at all, 1:7 is fine, it isn't going to cause you any problems. It will just spin the rounds faster. Just be aware though that the higher the twist rate, the more lateral wear and hence shorter barrel life. But the differences are pretty minimal.

[Jose]

From what I'm understanding here and what I've read online over the past day, shooting the lighter bullets can cause premature barrel wear. I'm pretty sure I read that in a few different threads last night.

[Trick Pony]

As long as you're not trying to squeeze the most accuracy out of varmint type bullets lighter than 55gr, the 1:7 will serve you just fine.

[Semper299]

From what I'm understanding here and what I've read online over the past day, shooting the lighter bullets can cause premature barrel wear. I'm pretty sure I read that in a few different threads last night.

But you are talking after thousands and thousands of rounds. Most of us will never outshoot our barrels, and if we do, AR barrels are not expensive. If you have the funds, you really cannot go wrong with a Colt 1:7 AR.

[Jose]

You guys bring up a good point. I'm not going to try and squeeze out the last bit of accuracy out of it and I'm not going to be shooting hundreds of rounds out of it every weekend. I had my mind set on the Colt and I'm going to go for it once I've got the money together (sorry I'm not a DFWM millionaire). Thanks everybody for the advice.

[CJ]

Life on semi auto ar is about 7-10k with brass cased ammo, and 3-5k with steel cased.

[Jose]

Life on semi auto ar is about 7-10k with brass cased ammo, and 3-5k with steel cased.

So what do you think about the Colt AR with the 1:7 twist? I'll probably bulk ammo to accommodate the barrel and bases on what's been said above I'm not going to worry about barrel wear.

[David]

So what do you think about the Colt AR with the 1:7 twist? I'll probably bulk ammo to accommodate the barrel and bases on what's been said above I'm not going to worry about barrel wear.

A colt will hold some value over other ARs. But it won't do anything other ARs can do at a cheaper price. With money saved , you could buy ammo, scopes/optics, mags, whatever.

[Jose]

Certainly there was some appeal to owning a Colt. But I didn't feel like taking the time to build one or making it "tactical cool" the way I wanted and Colt had a model that had everything I wanted short of a red dot scope. Bachman has what I want with the Colt for a little under $1100 so I may go with that.

[YALE]

Certainly there was some appeal to owning a Colt. But I didn't feel like taking the time to build one or making it "tactical cool" the way I wanted and Colt had a model that had everything I wanted short of a red dot scope. Bachman has what I want with the Colt for a little under $1100 so I may go with that.

I bet you won't!