.223 Words of Advice?

[MaxStravinsky]

So I'm getting my first bolt action 223, buying from a fellow NESer - really looking forward to it. But I've been strictly a handgun person. Anything I should know about 223.. any brands preferred or those I should stay away from? I ordered a few boxes from TS, mostly federal flaavors, just 1 box of each to sample.
Thanks.

 

[ChevyGuy91]

Buy the cheap stuff, stack it high. Bolt guns aren't as picky as gas guns, it will be good to have extra on hand.

 

[LakeTrout]

If you’re not looking for competition accuracy, cheap stuff will do all you need it to.

 

[pupchow]

"Only accurate rifles are interesting"

If punching paper for precision, shooting inconsistent bulk ammo isn't nearly as satisfying as shooting with quality ammo.

Off the shelf Hornady V-MAX has performed very well in my rifle. $1.50/round.

 

[ChevyGuy91]

"Only accurate rifles are interesting"

If punching paper for precision, shooting inconsistent bulk ammo isn't nearly as satisfying as shooting with quality ammo.

Off the shelf Hornady V-MAX has performed very well in my rifle. $1.50/round.

Sure. Shoot 200 rounds of that having fun and not chasing X-rings on a Saturday.

 

[LakeTrout]

"Only accurate rifles are interesting"

If punching paper for precision, shooting inconsistent bulk ammo isn't nearly as satisfying as shooting with quality ammo.

Off the shelf Hornady V-MAX has performed very well in my rifle. $1.50/round.

If I had your money, I would burn mine.

 

[pupchow]

If I had your money, I would burn mine.

It's a bolt-action, not an AR.

 

[LakeTrout]

It's a bolt-action, not an AR.

Still way out of my price league for punching paper.

 

[jkelly1229]

It's a bolt-action, not an AR.

I feed my 1.50 a round through an m-249

Flex on the poors

 

[ChevyGuy91]

It's a bolt-action, not an AR.

I am assuming it is not a super expensive bolt action, as it is OP's first rifle. Running cheap ammo through it for a bit and learning what he is doing it with it is far more advisable then chucking $1.50 a trigger pull for the sake of saying so on NES.

 

[granitestater]

So I'm getting my first bolt action 223, buying from a fellow NESer - really looking forward to it. But I've been strictly a handgun person. Anything I should know about 223.. any brands preferred or those I should stay away from? I ordered a few boxes from TS, mostly federal flaavors, just 1 box of each to sample.
Thanks.

Find out the twist rate. bolt actions often have a slower twist rate than ARs. slow twist = lighter bullets

"Only accurate rifles are interesting"

If punching paper for precision, shooting inconsistent bulk ammo isn't nearly as satisfying as shooting with quality ammo.

Off the shelf Hornady V-MAX has performed very well in my rifle. $1.50/round.

Horandy is very good ammunition but at $1.50 a shot learn to reload. Its very easy to load for a bolt action

 

[PappyM3]

Totally depends on what you want to do with the rifle and what its twist rate is.

Target shooting, hunting, both? Ranges/distances to shoot if target shooting/competing? Intended game if hunting?

There is a WIDE range of options for .223 in bullet selection, so we can’t really help unless we know more.

Edit: in addition to barrel twist, is the barrel marked .223? Or is it 223 Wylde or 5.56?

 

[whatluck]

I like the hornady frontier loading in .223

 

[Amputee Marksman]

So I'm getting my first bolt action 223, buying from a fellow NESer - really looking forward to it. But I've been strictly a handgun person. Anything I should know about 223.. any brands preferred or those I should stay away from? I ordered a few boxes from TS, mostly federal flaavors, just 1 box of each to sample.
Thanks.

If you don't mind I'd be curious what you are getting. I've been interested in getting a .223 bolt rifle but can't decide on which one.

 

[Mark from ?]

Shoot cheapest shit possible.....when you care about hunting or what the target looks like use good stuff. I had a ruger ranch in .223 and even with crap ammo it was MOA. So really......how good does it need to be?

If it needs to be really good or far.........you should be reloading for it....and .223 isn't the caliber I'd choose for that anyway.

 

[Mark from ?]

If you don't mind I'd be curious what you are getting. I've been interested in getting a .223 bolt rifle but can't decide on which one.

I only consider one that takes AR mags.

 

[G4Y4HK]

Never owned a gun that takes .223 only. Can you still feed it 5.56 accidentally or is there a tiny chamber difference to prevent it? Would it kaboom?

 

[G4Y4HK]

I only consider one that takes AR mags.

My friends in Connecticut love the Ruger American Gen 2 bolt gun. Excellent suppressor host for a state that doesn't allow ARs, recently banned 'others' but still allows silencers.

 

[Road_Clam]

Find out the twist rate of the barrel. Twist will dictate what specific bullet weight ammo you should (and should not) use . I have an older Oddball Savage 110 LA in .223 and its got a slowish 1-12" twist . Best accuracy with <64 gr bullets. I can get decent results with 69 gr but my best is with the 52gr SMK or Nosler CC bullets.

 

[PappyM3]

Never owned a gun that takes .223 only. Can you still feed it 5.56 accidentally or is there a tiny chamber difference to prevent it? Would it kaboom?

5.56 cartridges in a .223 is still well within the proof load pressures. Now, how many 5.56 you should shoot, not sure. I’ve never seen long term testing of 5.56 in .223. But if it’s accidentally put in a few times, zero worries.

 

[MaxStravinsky]

Twist rate 1:7. CZ 600 Trail, cz website says 5.56 is ok.
55 gr?

 

[ChevyGuy91]

Twist rate 1:7. CZ 600 Trail, cz website says 5.56 is ok.
55 gr?

Thats a neat rifle!

I would buy a case of the cheapest 223 you can find and have a ball. Then buy a few boxes of whatever fancy expensive shit you think will be worth it, print it on paper so you can tell NES you did so, and then go back to shooting the cheap shit and enjoying you rifle.

 

[BTSDOG]

Twist rate 1:7. CZ 600 Trail, cz website says 5.56 is ok.
55 gr?

With a 1 in 7 you can go as heavy as 85.5-90 grain.....

 

[appraiser]

length of the barrel and twist rate have some bearing on bullet weight. 55 grain versus 62 grain for example.

 

[PappyM3]

Twist rate 1:7. CZ 600 Trail, cz website says 5.56 is ok.
55 gr?

Nice. Do you have any intended uses for it?

1:7 twist 5.56 can shoot any ammo that is loaded to an AR mag length in either .223 pressure OR 5.56 pressure. You can plink with cheap 55gr.

Then there are plenty of options for defensive use, varmint hunting, deer hunting, or target shooting. Though as a heads for target shooting, I’ve heard the trail isn’t the best for precision. It’ll still do for most everything though. Just don’t expect super small groups that you’d get with a heavy competition bolt gun.

 

[paulleve]

With a 1/7 twist rate, the rifle will mostly likely favor heavier bullets as shown in this chart. (There are more detailed versions of this type of chart online, but this one gives you the idea.)



If you're just looking to have fun with a bolt gun, then whatever you feed it should be good. If you're looking for accuracy, you'll want to try some different weights. I've got three .223 bolt guns, a Ruger Predator, Tikka T3x and Savage Axis. I shoot handloads out of all three, and have found them all to be capable of great accuracy.

The Tikka is the most accurate, but I decided to trick out the Savage that had been collecting dust for the past three years. I picked up an MDT Field stock during their Black Friday sale and put an Athlon scope on it.



During a recent visit to the range I sighted the Savage in and tried three of the handloads I had with me. Left side is 68 grain Hornady BTHP, middle is 77 Sierra Match Kings, and right is 55 FMJ. Based on specs from Savage this rifle has a 1/9" twist, so I was pretty shocked to get a group just over 1/2" at 100 yards with 77 grain projectiles. This is counter to the chart above, which goes to show it's best to try some different weights. The 68 grain group came in at about .465 while the 55 grain group is about 1.75".

 

[MC56]

Get some AAC 77gr OTM for like 50 cents/rd from PSA.

 

[PatMcD]

Get some AAC 77gr OTM for like 50 cents/rd from PSA.

Boom.
Best post in the thread.

 

[G4Y4HK]

Get some AAC 77gr OTM for like 50 cents/rd from PSA.

Great rounds for non-MA people. If in MA, make a buddy in NH and ship it there and share.

 

[MaxStravinsky]

Get some AAC 77gr OTM for like 50 cents/rd from PSA.

Please translate for the uninitiated...
AAC?
OTM?