Skip to content

Rate of Twist

Definition

The barrel length required for the rifling to complete one full helical revolution, expressed as a ratio (e.g. 1:9 means one complete rotation per nine inches of barrel).

Related terms

BKA
Bundeskriminalamt, the German Federal Criminal Police Office, which operates the German GRC and ballistic identification database feeding the European EBIS network.
CFSL
Central Forensic Science Laboratory: a central government lab operating under DFSS. India has CFSLs at New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Pune, Guwahati,...
General Rifling Characteristics (GRC)
The class-level barrel properties (land count, groove count, land width, groove width, twist direction, twist rate) that allow a fired bullet to...
Grooves
The recessed channels cut into a rifled barrel between the lands. They create raised land impressions on a fired bullet's surface.
Lands
The raised ridges of a rifled barrel. Lands engrave groove impressions into the surface of a passing bullet. They are the harder...
Left-Hand Twist (LHT)
Rifling that spirals counterclockwise toward the muzzle. The defining house convention of Colt Manufacturing Company and of the Lee-Enfield rifle family.
NABIS
National Ballistics Intelligence Service; the UK police intelligence service that maintains a national headstamp and firearm reference collection and coordinates ballistic intelligence...
Polygonal Rifling
A rifling form that uses a rounded hexagonal or octagonal bore profile instead of discrete lands and grooves. Characteristic of Glock barrels;...
Right-Hand Twist (RHT)
Rifling that spirals clockwise toward the muzzle when viewed from the breech. Used by the majority of the world's firearm manufacturers.

Explained in

Your journey to becoming a forensic professional starts here.

Practice with mock tests, learn from structured notes, and get your questions answered by a global forensic community, all in one place.