Which .223 Rifle?

[sharkbait]

Wear out a barrel or just want another caliber, just buy a prechambered barrel. A snap to change out. I saw and add today somewhere I think offering them for $339 plus tax.

Check out http://www.sharpshootersupply.com/ with go/no go gauges, a barrel wrench and clamp you can change your own barrels.

eta: heavy stainless barrels are $305 at SSS.

 

[Josh-L]

Savages are for those that just can't handle the awesomeness of a 700 lol.

I say stick with a 700 and have Mechanical Accuracy ream the chamber out to 556 spec.

 

[J.T.]

First off, I love the Savage's. I bought a Ruger M77 .223 used for 150 bucks and LOVE it. It has become my favorite calling rifle and shoots MOA with cheap .223 ammo, beater for sure but do not count them out.

 

[67RS/SSx2]

What impact does barrel twist have? I see some rifles are 9" twist and some are 12".

Does the shorter twist mean better accuracy as the bullet has turned more revolutions before exiting the barrel?

 

[Donald]

Wow, seems like Savage is a good bet.

Donald, where did you see one for $339? I can buy a new model 11 w/clip locally for $511.

CAR-AR-M16, thanks for pointing out that 5.56 does not equal .223. I did not realize that.

Thanks to all who replied. Seems I'm now looking for a good deal on a Savage.

I am pretty sure it was on this forum. Guy had a shop and had 4. $339 plus tax. Don't remember the calibers tho. I paid $250 for the .243 that I had. Bought it when wally world was closing out their rifles. Also got a Vangard 270 Win. for $250. Just missed a 7mm mag by about 15 minutes in Edmond. Got the 270 in Duncan and the 243 at the Tuttle "y" store. This was about 3 years ago. That 243 was responsible for getting me interested in extreme accuracy. Now I shoot competition Benchrest with 2 full race custom 6ppc's. 2 rifles. 7 barrels, 4 36-40 power scopes, thousands of primers and custom bullets. Good thing my wife and I have seperate incomes. No wonder I stay broke most of the time.

 

[CAR-AR-M16]

What impact does barrel twist have? I see some rifles are 9" twist and some are 12".

Does the shorter twist mean better accuracy as the bullet has turned more revolutions before exiting the barrel?

You need a faster twist for a heavier/longer bullet to stabilize it. 9" is good for the 60gr and above, 12" is good for less than 60gr. The military used a 12" twist in the M16 and M16A1 shooting M193 55gr ammo. The current M16A2 and M4 have a 7" twist for the M855 62gr ammo. 7" is a liitle much for the M855, but they went with it to stabilize the long M856 Tracer round that is used.

 

[BadKarma]

I can get away with 69 SMK's in my 1/9 SPS Tactical and they work pretty well with an upper end handload out to 200 yards thus far. My standard SPS 1/12 60 grain is accurate but that's it, period and paragraph.

 

[67RS/SSx2]

You need a faster twist for a heavier/longer bullet to stabilize it. 9" is good for the 60gr and above, 12" is good for less than 60gr. The military used a 12" twist in the M16 and M16A1 shooting M193 55gr ammo. The current M16A2 and M4 have a 7" twist for the M855 62gr ammo. 7" is a liitle much for the M855, but they went with it to stabilize the long M856 Tracer round that is used.

Thanks. Can you over-twist? In other words, is a 9" twist bad for a light bullet?

 

[BadKarma]

In my opinion a 1/9 twist is probably the most universal with off the shelf ammo and middle weight bullets used in reloading. There are some light jacketed varmint type bullets that might come apart if you push them too fast in a fast twist barrel. Unless you reload them that way that should not be a problem. Anything in the 45 to 60 grain weight will do for varmint hunting up to say a coyote. Some use the 223 for deer but thats a sure arguement starter and I am not going there. The longer heavier bullets are generally used with a faster twist for longer range shooting applications. It really all depends on what you want to do with it and how far you want to do it from. Hunting, 300 yards is probably max if you place your shot correctly. Accuracy, probably 600 yards or so but not much thump when it gets there. There are folks that can do 1000 yards with a 223 but not many. A lot of variables come into play out past 300 yards or so.
JMHO

 

[CAR-AR-M16]

Thanks. Can you over-twist? In other words, is a 9" twist bad for a light bullet?

In my opinion a 1/9 twist is probably the most universal with off the shelf ammo and middle weight bullets used in reloading. There are some light jacketed varmint type bullets that might come apart if you push them too fast in a fast twist barrel. Unless you reload them that way that should not be a problem. Anything in the 45 to 60 grain weight will do for varmint hunting up to say a coyote. Some use the 223 for deer but thats a sure arguement starter and I am not going there. The longer heavier bullets are generally used with a faster twist for longer range shooting applications. It really all depends on what you want to do with it and how far you want to do it from. Hunting, 300 yards is probably max if you place your shot correctly. Accuracy, probably 600 yards or so but not much thump when it gets there. There are folks that can do 1000 yards with a 223 but not many. A lot of variables come into play out past 300 yards or so.
JMHO

You can over-spin a bullet, but it is usually the light/fast 45gr Varmit bullets in a 7" twist that blow apart.

Like BadKarma said, 9" is probably the most universal twist.