OK, so I'm a sucker for history and stuff like that. The Smooth Twist X barrel uses a pentagram pattern instead of standard riffling. It basically reshapes the pellet as it goes down the barrel so the pellets are pretty much the same size when they exit. Pretty good, but, not the first arms manufacturer to do it.
While back I posted a link to a "Getting Smarter Every Day" video on a canon with a Whitworth barrel. Black powder canon shooting at 600 yards and nailing targets.
Today, :Forgotten Weapons" posted this one about the Confederate Whitworth. Only 19 or 20 examples exist, but a black powder gun that could hit 1 MOA at 500 yards was pretty good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi-S_horZGk If I remember the video correctly at 1000 yards, still hitting 2 MOA. I'm impressed.
Here's an example of 1300 yard shooting. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW6UQyzaGZc. This gun is a modern production using original machine tools that were stored since the US Civil War. The shooter isn't using the bullets the gun was designed for, but really, a muzzle loader at 1300 yards! still incredibly accurate in my book.
Of course, the barrel making was expensive, so not many of these guns were made either in the Civil War (maybe 125 imported to the South total), or in the reproductions. The Whitworth rife company went out of business because it was a really expensive gun, and not many people wanted something that expensive, that required special bullets that exactly mated to the rifling of their guns.
Now, having said all that, the smooth twist barrel has a heritage that goes way back, and best part is that FX overcame the business side of the equation and is able to produce the increadibly accurate guns at a price, yes expensive, that enough people can afford to make it worthwhile. Good on ya, FX!
Moderators, if this post fits better elsewhere, just move it.
While back I posted a link to a "Getting Smarter Every Day" video on a canon with a Whitworth barrel. Black powder canon shooting at 600 yards and nailing targets.
Today, :Forgotten Weapons" posted this one about the Confederate Whitworth. Only 19 or 20 examples exist, but a black powder gun that could hit 1 MOA at 500 yards was pretty good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi-S_horZGk If I remember the video correctly at 1000 yards, still hitting 2 MOA. I'm impressed.
Here's an example of 1300 yard shooting. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW6UQyzaGZc. This gun is a modern production using original machine tools that were stored since the US Civil War. The shooter isn't using the bullets the gun was designed for, but really, a muzzle loader at 1300 yards! still incredibly accurate in my book.
Of course, the barrel making was expensive, so not many of these guns were made either in the Civil War (maybe 125 imported to the South total), or in the reproductions. The Whitworth rife company went out of business because it was a really expensive gun, and not many people wanted something that expensive, that required special bullets that exactly mated to the rifling of their guns.
Now, having said all that, the smooth twist barrel has a heritage that goes way back, and best part is that FX overcame the business side of the equation and is able to produce the increadibly accurate guns at a price, yes expensive, that enough people can afford to make it worthwhile. Good on ya, FX!
Moderators, if this post fits better elsewhere, just move it.
