Barrel twist for a .223?

[muleman]

Hi Guys,
I'm just about to buy/build a .223 for sage rat shooting and would like some of your opinions. What I'm after is a gun that will be shot from a table or bench with a longer/heavier barrel to maximize velocity and minimize recoil. The goal is to maintain site picture during and after the shot :twisted: . The guns I'm looking at have twists that range from 1 in 9 to 1 in 12. I have a Bushmaster Varminter that has a 1 in 9 twist that loves the 50 to 55 grain bullets but won't shoot the 40's at all. I'm thinking I'll need a 1 in 12 for the light bullets. I'll be selling the AR and going back to a bolt gun. I'm either going to drop a grand on high end Savage, Remington or Kimber - option 2 is to buy a donor and rebarrel and stock it. I'm sticking with the .223 because I'm all set up with brass, dies and bullets besides the gun needs to shoot all day with minimal cooling breaks. Anything bigger/faster heats up to fast. What is your idea for what I need?
Thanks for your input!
Scott

 

[1Shot]

Those little fast 40s gr bullets really run out of steam pretty quickly compared to 50 to 55 gr bullets and the wind really moves them around. I myself would pick the 9 twist and shoot bullets like the 50 to 55 gr Sierra Blitz King or Hornady V-Max and if the wind gets to be a problem and you want to really stretch it's legs you can always go to the heaver 60 to 75 gr bullets. If you want big time splat factor you will need to step up to the 22-250.

 

[JD338]

I too would go with a 1:9 twist and run the 50 gr BT.

JD338

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

id go 9" twist and see if the 75 amax will stabilize, or 70g vld. These will get you the most out of your 223.

If not, id use any of the 55-60g plastic tipped bullets.

 

[BK]

I actually would be tempted to spin it even faster, something like a 1-8". On one of the other boards I frequent the hot setup seems to be a fast twist to allow the use of 75gr. A-Max bullets for increased wind resistance. I'd like to give it a shot. Sorry, bad pun.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

If I was screwing a barrel on, most definately 8" twist to shoot the 75 and 80 amaxs.

The factory rifles hes looking at had a 9"-12" I say get the 9"..., some 9" will shoot the 75 amax and some wont.

 

[Powerstroke]

My Rem 700 VTR has a 1-9 twist that likes the 60gr B-tips. Can't say however I'd recommend that gun to anyone.
However :grin: We have a new indoor gun range next to my place that I stopped at a few weeks ago. They have on the shelf some Remingtons I've never seen before and actually a few that Remington doesn't catalog.
Don't know the complete story, however appears a company ordered "x" number of these from Remington - only come in .223 / .308 HS Prec blackish with darker Rem green spiderweb - stainless action with 5R stainless 20 or 24 inch special contour barrels.
Price tag was just slightly over $1100.00 which was cheaper than the Remington coated LTR.

 

[BeeTee]

My 2 cents... I bought a new Rem 700 BDL VS 223 in the early 1990s. Still have it. This one has a 1-12" twist and loves the Nosler 50gr BT over 27.7gr of W748, Win brass and Rem small rifle match primers. Bullets are seated to within .002" of touching the lands, using a Redding micrometer bullet seater. Most reliably accurate rifle I've owned - averages less than 1/2" at 100 yards with 50gr BTs - some groups have been in the .2s. I've shot the Nosler 40gr BT, 55gr BTs and even Speer's 70gr semi-spitzer (~2" groups at 200 yards). Also Speer, Sierra and Hornady 50gr bullets all shot well enough. The 50gr BT is the most consistently accurate bullet I've tried in this rifle.

It's equipped with a Leupold 4-12 VXII, and I glass pillar-bedded the action and tuned the trigger before the first shot was fired. The ejector button spring was cut down to reduce its force to about 33% of original (easier on the brass). I use a single-shot magazine follower, and 99% of all the shots fired with this rifle were off a Harris bi-pod. It's seen a lot of varminting... It's a laser to 250 when sighted 1-3/4" high at 100, then 3-4" holdover is required at 300.

 

[Woodycreek]

My Bushmaster Varminter 1-9" likes the 50gr Vmaxs and BTs also. Does very well with 60gr BTs but nothing bigger.

 

[wildgene]

...don't really know how much more velocity you'll gain w/ a longer barrel in a .223, there's only so much powder you can pack in it, not sure what advantage heavy match bullets will give you shooting pdawgs...

...my 20"/ 1:12 shoots 40-60gr. fine w/ decent velocities. Configuration is going to be as important to accuracy as the barrel twist for a good bench varmint rifle. Spend as much time considering your stock & trigger as you do the barrel twist...

 

[onesonek]

What is the maximum range you want to play at?
That would, to a point, determine what bullet type/style and weight I would use most. Then choose the twist. And if you want to see bullet impact, put a good baffle style brake on it. The .223 don't have alot of recoil, but with a scope on higher power settings, it can still take the target out of the sight picture,,,,(more so at closer ranges). Personally, I wouldn't go much heavier than a 62 gr. in the .223. If I need more than that, then I switch guns, to one that has more all the way around.
I see also see Gene's point on barrel length, and weight. But I do myself like a heavier barrel for this style of shooting. A heavy Palma of 24", would be my choice .

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Muleman, for P-dog's I wouldn't go above a 60gr bullet. 64-69gr bullets never gave the same Flip/splat factor as the lighter 40-55gr bullets. Personally, I want my varmit bullets to blow themselves up on the varmit, and not have any energy left over for a ricochet. I'll skip the 105gr .224gr bullet for varmits. With that in mind, I would't go above a 1/9 twist. 1/9 will stabalize a 69gr NCC just fine. For a p-dog bolt gun, 1/12 will probably be easier to find, and will work just fine in the 40-60gr weight range.

 

[wildgene]

...I've got nuthin against heavy barrels on a bench or varmint rifle...

...or even on a walking varmint/ plains rifle...

...I know some guys in CO that are putting brakes on their .22 & 6mm varmint rifles...

...they say it's so they can see the bullet impact, mostly tho, they're from CO & sceered of recoil...

 

[BK]

mostly tho, they're from CO & sceered of recoil...

Laughin'... I'll pass that along to my (Colorado) cousin.

 

[CMBTshooter]

Hey now, I've never shot anything with a brake.

 

[257 Ackley]

I will qualify my answer by saying that I have never owned a .223 caliber rifle, but shoot with guys that have well over 30,000 rounds through their varmint rigs in .223. Both have 9 twist barrels on their rifles and shoot 50-55 grain bullets. This seems to give the best "red mist" factor along with the velocity they want for the longer shots. Both shoot heavy barreled bolt actions and seem to get pretty good looks at most of the impacts :shock:.

If you are going to put a brake on the barrel, make sure you get one that doesn't have openings on the bottom so you don't create a dust storm every time you squeeze the trigger :mrgreen:.

 

[onesonek]

That is in part, why I suggested a baffle style brake. My favorite for such shooting is the JP,,,yes it's ugly! But it is the most effective brake I know of, in reducing or eliminating muzzle rise. I get zero rise on my 6mm AI with it. My other favorite is a close second to the JP, and likely enough for the .223. That would be the OPS.

http://www.jprifles.com/1.4.2_re.php
http://opsinc.us/brake.php.html

I haven't tried JP's new Tactical as of yet, but my first impression is, that it would be more effective than the OPS, and likely close to the JP original, performance wise.
http://www.jprifles.com/1.4.3_tre.php

I'm giving serious consideration of switching the OPS I have on my XP and put it on my .223. Then have JP put their Tactical on the XP.

 

[BeeTee]

Hi Guys,
I'm just about to buy/build a .223 for sage rat shooting and would like some of your opinions. What I'm after is a gun that will be shot from a table or bench with a longer/heavier barrel to maximize velocity and minimize recoil. The goal is to maintain site picture during and after the shot :twisted: ......

More info... In the months and weeks prior to buying my current M700 VS 223, I too wanted a rifle that would allow seeing bullet strikes through the scope. As it tuned out, the 223 in the somewhat heavy VS recoils just enough for the shooter to lose the sight picture most of the time. Only about a quarter of the impacts are viewable through the scope. Here's a chart I found in a magazine that compares recoil among the common (at the time) varmint cartridges.

Depending on how important it might be to see bullet strikes through the scope, a 17 or 20 cal would do it...

Though, if a rifle can shoot a few 5-shot groups like this one, it won't matter as much...

 

[BK]

That would do!