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Hot Topic (More than 10 Replies) Barrel twist on a 50-90 Remington Rolling Block. (Read 902 times)
YippyKiYay
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Re: Barrel twist on a 50-90 Remington Rolling Block.
Reply #15 - Jul 20th, 2026 at 7:16pm
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joelpend wrote on Jul 19th, 2026 at 1:22pm:
The torque can be substantial with fast twist big bores.


I'm thinking a 28/1 twist.  And if it'll stabilize a 450gr bullet the torque may be tolerable.   

Who here shoots the 50-70 or 50-90?  I've heard the heavy 600-700gr bullets almost twist the gun out of your hands. 
I'd like to hear from actual owners for their experiences. 
  

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ssdave
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Re: Barrel twist on a 50-90 Remington Rolling Block.
Reply #16 - Jul 20th, 2026 at 7:38pm
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I've shot the 50-70, .50 Alaskan, and .50-110 extensively with bullets from 450 to 720 grains.   

Most of my twists are 22 or faster, although have shot 36 twist also.

I have never noticed anything appreciable in torque, quite truthfully I would never know the rifle twists, but sure know it recoils back into my shoulder.   

I've never really experienced twist on any rifle I've shot.  Anything that has the potential to torque has so much recoil that the small amount of torque  is lost in the sensation of the recoil.  I see it as a non-issue.  It certainly wouldn't try to twist the rifle out of my hands.   

In fact, I often shoot my rifles off of cross sticks, without gripping the rifle at all with my left hand.  Minimal grip with my trigger hand, just let the rifle sit there and free recoil.  No noticable twist doing that.  Maybe I'm just unaware?  I've shot tens of thousands of high recoil BPCR rounds, and never noticed it at all.
  
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joelpend
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Re: Barrel twist on a 50-90 Remington Rolling Block.
Reply #17 - Jul 21st, 2026 at 12:27am
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It's physics so I do not think torque somehow does not exist. I sure feel it twist on the big bullet stuff not even pushed very fast.
  
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joelpend
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Re: Barrel twist on a 50-90 Remington Rolling Block.
Reply #18 - Jul 21st, 2026 at 12:31am
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I had a Cimarron/Pedersoli 50-90 with 28/1 twist and it shot 535gr just fine. I think that twist is not too slow for a 50 cal.

YippyKiYay wrote on Jul 20th, 2026 at 7:16pm:
joelpend wrote on Jul 19th, 2026 at 1:22pm:
The torque can be substantial with fast twist big bores.


I'm thinking a 28/1 twist.  And if it'll stabilize a 450gr bullet the torque may be tolerable.  

Who here shoots the 50-70 or 50-90?  I've heard the heavy 600-700gr bullets almost twist the gun out of your hands. 
I'd like to hear from actual owners for their experiences. 

  
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ssdave
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Re: Barrel twist on a 50-90 Remington Rolling Block.
Reply #19 - Jul 21st, 2026 at 9:40am
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joelpend wrote on Jul 21st, 2026 at 12:27am:
It's physics so I do not think torque somehow does not exist. I sure feel it twist on the big bullet stuff not even pushed very fast.


Absolutely, it exists.  The question was what are real world perceptions, and I gave my real world perception.

I took the liberty of calculating the torque.  For a 550 grain bullet at 1300 fps in a 18 twist barrel (typical hot load 45-90), the torque amounts to about 1 foot pound.

The caculated recoil of the same load is about 35 foot pounds, so the torque is about 3% of the recoil.   

That explains to me why the torque is nearly inperceptible, it's lost in the overall effect of the recoil.  At least to me.

M = (1.7x10^-9 x W x R^2 x n )/T            
M= torque in lb ft            1.093813329
W = bullet weight in grains            550
R = radius of bullet diameter in inches            0.229
n = RPM of bullet            51480
T = time bullet is in barrel in seconds            0.0023077
  
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YippyKiYay
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Re: Barrel twist on a 50-90 Remington Rolling Block.
Reply #20 - Jul 21st, 2026 at 12:41pm
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SSDAVE, JOELPEND, thanks so much for your real world experiences.  That's the hardest thing to get on an internet site,  real experience.   
I shot a 416 Weatherby and the torque felt like Yo Momma slapping across my face,  so I know it's there.  Of course,  that beast carries about 100 pounds of recoil, so it's expected.
My 500NE isn't a picnic,  but it's not a target rifle. Unless things go very bad very quick I'll never need to fire it more than twice in one setting.
  

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oneatatime
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Re: Barrel twist on a 50-90 Remington Rolling Block.
Reply #21 - Jul 21st, 2026 at 12:48pm
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I've shot 600 grain bullets in my 50-70 with one of the faster 24-26 twist barrels and didn't notice much besides the recoil. My 450-400 3 1/4 with 80 grains of 4350 and a 400 grain bullet at 2150 did tend to recoil in an arc to over my left shoulder.
  
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Bulseyetom
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Re: Barrel twist on a 50-90 Remington Rolling Block.
Reply #22 - Jul 22nd, 2026 at 7:30pm
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I have a #5 in 50-70 with a 26 or 28 twist and it shoots 450 and 515 grain bullets great.  The longer 515 actually shoots better.  I can't imagine shooting anything heavier as it is not fun to shoot off of the bench for more than ten rounds or so.  I am glad that i went with the 50-70 and not the 50-90.  Tom
  
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