223 bolt action?

[Guy Miner]

What do you folks think about a varmint-weight 223 bolt action mostly for target practice at the range, with some varmint-shooting thrown in when possible? I'd be shooting it out to 600 yards, or a bit more at the range.

I'm kinda liking the idea...

Very inexpensive to load for, and also very low budget factory ammo.

Excellent accuracy potential.

Low recoil. Almost nil, even without a brake or suppressor.

I like my AR-15, but at heart I'm a bolt-gun guy.

Thanks, Guy

 

[fightthenoise]

I’ve been marinating on the same thing. Tikka twists their 223 barrels at 1:8 so you could shoot the heavies.


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[noslerpartition]

Got a savage low profile and will never give it away!
Only tested it out to 300m, but it performed. With all the limitations the cartridge has.
Out to 600y you need a fast twist with heavy bullets, if you don't want it to be blown by the wind.

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[Anonymous]

I like the idea a lot.... I've got a .223 in the Ruger American with the 1:8 twist.

If I were going to do this over again, I'd go with a fast twist 22-250/22NOS/.224VAL with the newer heavy .22 cal options- especially if I were going to shoot 500-600 yards regularly.

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

I had a Winchester M70 Featherweight in the late 80's and early 90's, and it served happily as my "varmint" gun for 2 years. It didn't have a fast twist barrel, and shot beautifully with 50 and 55 gr. bullets.
Now, I never shot at any varmint class animal outside of 350 yds, because that was the limitation of energy derived from a fast moving 55gr SPBT.
Now, with having a bull barrel on a Varmint/Target bolt action, you can't go wrong! You know, the .223 is superbly accurate, and you can punch bullets into the same hole all day long, and not feel tender after a day long Target session. Same with shooting prairie poodles, y as long as you have ammo, you can keep shooting it, and shooting it, and shooting it.
If you're going to go for coyote, I'd stay inside 350yds for quick, clean kills. Unless you can snipe them in the head at further distance, which I'm sure you'll practice enough doing so by the time you're done getting to know your varmint rifle.

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[noslerpartition]

I'd not go for head-shots on longer distances. Chances are too high that the head is moving.
I don't want to cripple any animal, varmint or not.
I think it is better to punch through the boiler-room without expansion that to be two inches low and just destroy the jaw of a fox/coyote...

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[mjcmichigan]

Have a savage 111 in 223 Rem and 22-250, both with a heavy fluted 26” Cryo treated barrels. Couldn’t tell you the twist off top of head. It’s good out a good long ways on critters. Trigger is like 12 oz. haven’t tried any thing heavier than 55gn. Grouped as you’d expect. I got them for 400 each. One had a scope on it.




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[Dwh7271]

It’d be a fun rifle Guy.
If you don’t mind a little work, set it up as an Ackley. You can still shoot factory in it but a fast twist and the AI would let you run 77s and 80s in case you want to stretch it out.
Or not.
Nothing wrong with a regular 223 either.

 

[FOTIS]

Savage fast twist

 

[noslerpartition]

Savage fast twist

Only tested 69ers, but with them it is good to 330y. Had no chance to test beyond that. I guess I might go heavier, but there is no way I can use it for hunting on longer distances anyway.
Love that gun, though it is much too heavy with the 26'' barrel and laminated stock.

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[Guy Miner]

Normally when I think 223, my head goes immediately to AR-15...

But I've been shooting my bolt action 308 a lot more recently, and it dawned on me that I could do the same marksmanship training with a 223 bolt action...

Half the gunpowder.

Almost no kick.

Excellent accuracy.

Usually very good barrel life.

So, ya... I think this is going to happen. I need to off-load something, maybe a couple of somethings. My gun safe is FULL, FULL, FULL! Seems like this winter it might just happen. I've seen a couple of nice looking 223's online, but I want to shop here locally a bit too. Maybe work a swap with one of the guys at the gun club or something.

Guy

 

[Guy Miner]

Hmmm... Suppressor too I think.

 

[HTDUCK]

I've got two of the Tikka T3 Lites in 223 that have 1/8 twist barrels.
Both rifles shoot the same two loads very well.
One load is a 55 NBT on top of Varget. (coyotes hate this load)
The other load is a 65 SGK on top of BLC2. (this one has filled a few Tx deer tags)
Fortunately both rifles shoot both loads to the same point of impact without having to re-zero.
One of the two of them is always in the truck or on the 4 wheeler when we're working/scouting the lease or a ranch in southern Oklahoma we have permission to hunt.
Very lite, handy and wickedly accurate little rifles.

I also bought a 22-250 built on a Rem 700 long action in an HS Precision Sendero style stock.
It sports a 26 inch Shilen 1/8 Sendero contour barrel.
This rifle will shoot 77 Custom Comps or Matchkings through one hole all day long at 100 yards on top of H4831SC.
At two hundred it's under 1/2 inch for 5 shots when I do my part.
It spends most of it's life in the safe due to it's weight.
Quite frankly I don't think I have shot it in about three years.

I think the rifle you are looking for would fall somewhere between mine.
Light enough to hunt with, but heavy enough to be a viable 600 yard target gun.
Maybe something along the lines of a heavy sporter weight barrel about 24 inches ?

 

[Guy Miner]

Ya, I've got a CZ varminter in 204 Ruger. Maybe I'll get that out and play with it for a while. Doggone near the same thing as what I'm describing, but in 204 instead of 223...

I haven't shot it in a couple of years. Accurate & reliable. 12x Leupold on it... Hmmm. Maybe I already have my rifle...

Old photo:

This is funny... I'd literally forgotten about that rifle. It's sitting in the back of the gun safe, a relic from when I was doing more varmint shooting... I think the last time I hunted with it was about 2012... Huh. Sorry, I crack myself up sometimes... :grin:

Guy

 

[HTDUCK]

:lol: RADD and getting older is tough ain't it ? :lol:

 

[coop22250]

I’m new to the forum but a huge 223 fan. I had lots of 20-22 cal guns, but the 223 is just so pleasant to shoot. I bought a rem vssf, new model, I was nervous after hearing new quality issues. Put the original HS Precision stock on it, and it shoots lights out.

I tried to use Nosler 60g partitions for wolf calling here in AK but it really likes 55 gr, so that’s what I went with. Here’s a load test with one powder, trying a couple others as well.

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[Guy Miner]

Coop - welcome to the forum!

The way my mind is working, I may welcome you two or three more times, forgetting that I already said howdy!

Great groups by the way. Wow!

Guy

 

[HTDUCK]

Welcome aboard Coop !

Nice shooting sir.

What powder ?

 

[Guy Miner]

:lol: RADD and getting older is tough ain't it ? :lol:

Cracks me up - honestly - this little 204 is almost exactly what I was thinking about. And if I shoot out the barrel, well who cares? I'll get another barrel.

I don't think I've ever shot it past 450 yards or so. Might be fun to see what it does at 600 yards. Heaviest bullets I've used for it are 40 grainers, so it's not going to hang with a good 223 at that range, but at 300 it's accurate for sure. Huh.

Hi. I'm Guy, and sometimes I'm an idiot... :grin:

I've been shopping online, and talking to my local buddies and had literally forgotten about the seldom used CZ varmint rifle in the back of the safe.

Sigh...

 

[DrMike]

Coop,

Welcome aboard. Looks as if you have a shooter on your hands. Doesn't appear to be terribly fussy about charge weight. Which propellant were you using in this test?