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Matching the bullet weight to the rate of twist of your barrel is an important component in firearms accuracy. The rate of twist is the distance in inches the bullet travels to make one complete turn, or revolution. Because different weights of bullets require a different rate of twist for best accuracy, it's important that you know the rate of twist in your barrel. Start by placing a tight-fitting jag and patch on the end of a cleaning rod and inserting it into the bore until it engages the rifling.
Make a flag out of a piece of tape and place it on the rod to serve as an indicator. Now measure the distance from the tape to the receiver.
Gently push the rod into the barrel until the tape flag makes one complete revolution (360-degree turn around the rod).
Measure the distance to the receiver and subtract that from the original distance.
In this case, the total traveled distance was 10 inches. So that tells you that the rate of twist is 1 turn in 10 inches. That's how you measure the rate of twist in a rifle barrel.
--Larry Potterfield
