Smooth Twist - Has it made a dent in the shooting world

[Steyr]

I am genuinely interested in hearing peoples views on the smooth twist barrel.

I think sufficient time has elapsed for reliable in the field feedback to be their and to see if the system has lived up to or surpassed all the hype or is it just another barrel and an expensive one at that.

Now I confess that I have not knowingly shot a S/T rifle but would like to hear from real high street users as to what the think.....

[RobF]

Not in FT.

Perhaps because it's .177

I've heard various theories... but no evidence of how it performs has come to light. 2nd hand sources say it's not great past 45 yds. Who knows?

A lack of interest. That's understandable, with .22 it probably has a wider market at higher energies. Just would actually be interesting to know how it, and hell why not other barrels, perform. It seems to be like trapping fog trying to find out.

[snock]

Could it be that Taylor's idea has been a duck because the perceived benefits just weren't there?

[premierpistol]

The only experience i have had is on a s/h FX T12 i have and its quite accurate out to 50 yds but with it being .22 i've never really tested it much further to be honest. I will admit I was a bit put off when I found out it was a smooth twist as I'd read poor reports for sub 12 rifles but in practice its very good. Maybe a lot of poor issues were to do with the shrouded versions being a poor fit? Who knows..

[Steyr]

I have to say that it was promoted as being the next evolution in rifelry and tha5 all the barrels made to date would be surpassed by this revolution. I am cautious and rarely do I spend money on a MK1 idea just to be the comapnies extended R&R team.
I am always happy to be proved wrong though especially if it can produce 5 pence piece groups at 90 yards in a sub 12 but thats another thread story ☺☺☺☺
Anyhow......interested to hear the real life story soooo.......tell us what you think please.

[angrybear]

Seems to be doing rather well in USA competitions.

[spike589715]

Have smooth twist rifles won lots of comps ? I guess if they were really better they would have found their way to the top shooters .....
Perhaps they have I have not really been following I assume if they had the manufacture would be shouting how much better they are ?

Cheers
Si

[Baxterbasics]

Shortly after the news of the new smooth twist barrels, I phoned Ben Taylor and had a good chat about them.

Synopsis of chat:

He wasn't particularly interested in .177
He wasn't at all interested in FT / HFT
He WAS aiming this barrel at rimfire target shooting which is huge in Europe (hundreds of thousand's of regular competing shooters) as opposed to what is, if we are completely honest about FT / HFT, a very small minority sport.

Ben told me that the new smooth-twist in .22 for rimfires had already been well received and had taken a few major trophies.

If you want a decent .177 barrel, source a BSA one and have it machined to fit your gun

[snock]

I'm not sure if this is true or not, but I heard Ben Taylor refused to let some other manufacturers have the technology due to personal differences with members of senior management.

IF this is true, it may explain any reluctance by the manufacturers to take it up.

[Vermin Al]

FX did well in the 2014 Extreme Benchrest competition.


http://www.extremebenchrest.com/2014...atch-results/6

[SuffolkRifle]

Both my wife & myself are currently using them at the Iceni FT club (Colchester) & not disgracing ourselves, several of the other members are trying out our guns, and the general consensus is that they are accurate enough out to 55 - but as to why they aren't being used/winning comps - how many new(ish) FX rifles (AFAIK, FX are the only manufacturers using them) are used around the circuits?
We're finding that the two barrels in .177 seem to prefer 4.53 pellets, possibly with the slightly larger head size the pellets don't 'chatter' in the barrel as much - no proof on this, just a 'gut' feeling.

[zanes]

He WAS aiming this barrel at rimfire target shooting which is huge in Europe (hundreds of thousand's of regular competing shooters) as opposed to what is, if we are completely honest about FT / HFT, a very small minority sport.

Ben told me that the new smooth-twist in .22 for rimfires had already been well received and had taken a few major trophies.

Any idea which rifles are shipping with smooth twist in .22LR?

[xbow]

Smooth barrels for Air rifles is nothing new, Gerald Cardew spoke of the idea in his book.

Bens concept sounds like a clever idea to me and if I still shot FT I'd be keen to try one of his barrels if he made one in .177.
I don't think the damage that rifling makes to airgun pellets makes much difference to accuracy in still conditions but I'm still of the opinion that it can make a big difference with a side wind over the longer FT distances. The rifling on my FWB certainly imprints fairly deep "teeth" on JSB's.

It's probably of bigger benefit to average shooters who can't read the wind as well as the top shots though.

[Stuart_B]

Haven't read anything to say they are more or less accurate than a standard barrel.

If they gave a noticeable advantage every competitive shooter would use them.

[RobF]

Haven't found one to try. For ages it was said they weren't made in .177.

Bench rest in .22 over the pond the USA use high energies I believe. Happy to be corrected but in terms of target relevance to the UK airgun scene anything but .177 isn't of interest.

Not sure about the .22 lr match market but those I know in tens seem to favour blieker. It would be interesting to see if lapua or Eley have any records of batch test results published.

Dunno. But as before actual info and actual documented material seems to not exist.

Just one little 50m 12 ft-lb group would be nice. There's got to be one out there surely?