I was browsing the Winchester website basically looking for a .45 Colt w/o barrel bands and a 20" twist and noticed the spec's on the new Timber Scout in 44Mag. Can anyone confirm the 14" twist? Why on earth would anyone want a .44Mag carbine with a 14" twist?

TMC

P.S. Anyone care to convince me which of the two (.44Mag or .45Colt) is a better round in a lever action carbine for bear stopping at close quarters if it comes down to a fight over who gets to keep the huckleberries? :-)

Oh yeah... I don't shoot factory ammo.

The faster twist allows you to shoot longer bullets more accurately. The faster twist rate stabilizes them better.

A .45-70 is better than both, but either should handle a bear with the right ammo. I sure wouldn't want a lever gun chambered in a pistol cartridge when dealing with bears.

[QUOTE=koolaid39]The faster twist allows you to shoot longer bullets more accurately. The faster twist rate stabilizes them better.

Agreed; however, a 14" twist will stabilize a 500 grain .458. A 20" twist is more than tight enough to stabilize a 340 grain .430 and I would be concerned that a 14" twist would be hard on .430" cast bullets.

TMC