are 168gr. bthp ok to shoot in my fal ?

[jon coppenbarger]

I have only fired 147gr. rounds out of my fal and was wondering do 168 grain bthp or even the 180 bthp bullets shoot well out of the fal. I am sure they would function fine but is the twist on the barrel to fast to stabilize a heavier bullet. any one out there that could help ? I have shot heavy rounds out of a h&k and my m1a as for the m1a for matches I load 168 grain bthp sierra match kings with 42.5 gr. of imr 4064 or 43 gr. of 4895 and they shoot great in a 1-10 or a 1-11 twist barrel even thow a 1-10 barrel works better when I shoot 173gr or 180 gr. bullets. any help would be great. how about 155gr. palma tips?

[Dirtfarmer]

Hey Jon,
I happen to catch your posts, so ...the answer is yes for the 168's but the 180's are likely too heavy particularly out "at range", the FAL's twist rate is a little under 1 in 12 (1 in 11.9" now that I look it up, seemed a little less than that when I measured mine.)
Here's a link to a Shilen page addressing bullet weights vs. applicable twists.
http://www.shilen.com/calibers.htm
Goodwill,
-Dirtfarmer