50 cal 1:28 twist

[Digger]

If you have a 1:28 twist in your barrel can you shoot any balls or bullets in it ,or are you restricted to only sabots to get the best performance.

[Dick284]

Ideally it works like this.
1 in 66 for patched round balls
1 in 48 is a compromise twist, not great for round balls, and not great for bullets, usually best with the lighter conical bullets in the particular calibre.
1 in 32 or 28 is ideal for sabotted bullets or heavier cast slugs.
Now that is not saying you cant get decent results with round balls in your 1 in 28 twist, but just that likely optimal results are likely with a 1 in 66.

You can shoot round balls but few do it well and truthfully, I can not think of one good reason to shoot a round ball unless you plan on keeping your ranges sub 75 yards. They'll shoot further but become very ineffective due to their lighweight and slow speeds at which they must be pushed. A +100 yard shot with a round ball is very unethical in my mind. There are a number of manufacturers that make non-sabot lead bullets (conicals) for use in faster twist rifles and some shoot very well from 1:28 twist guns. Some of the most popular are likely Precision Bullets.

If you plan on shooting conicals or even pure lead bullets in sabots, you need to keep your velocities sub 2,000fps and are likely better in the 1,850fps range. Despite the claims of some manufacturers, pure lead does not perform well at +2,000fps, especially in sabots. 209x50 has some real world experience in that department!

But be warned that you might learn more about bullet obturation than you ever wanted...lol Another sad sabot story!