223 or rimfire?

[FiveInADime]

If you already have a .17, then get a .223. They are so much fun to shoot, and all day long if you have the ammo. You have many choices for a rifle in .223, too. I bought the Rem ADL scope package last year in .223 (just a tad over 400 bucks), and just love the thing.

As I do reload, I found a good load using a 60 grain bullet, so I can even use it for deer hunting here in Wyoming. The .223 is such a fine, versatile, fun round to shoot, and I don't think you'd go wrong with the Ruger Am. in .223 if that's what your thinking about. I have a Ruger Am. in .22lr that wears a 4x rimfire Nikon scope, and it's a real peach of a rifle. The Ruger American line has earned a very fine reputation thus far; you can certainly buy one with complete confidence (IMO).

.223 undoubtedly.

I racked up several thousand .223 cases just by picking up brass when we shot in the desert and by letting my AR-wielding friends know that I want their brass cases. Cheap, cheap.

I have a Savage 11 Trophy Predator Hunter and it does nothing but shoot little groups. It's got a 6-24x Viper PST and no milk-jug inside 600 yards is safe!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[hdwhit]

Deerhunt wrote:
I have been thinking about getting a new rifle because it has been awhile since I have gotten a rifle.

At the risk of sounding like Dave Ramsey or Suze Ormon, that sounds like a want - and a want spawned by boredom - rather than a need.

How do your retirement savings look?

How much of an emergency fund do you have set aside?

What is the 20% of your health care costs not covered by Medicare going to cost when you retire?

And if you are already retired, do you need to spend that money on a gun rather than helping out your children/grandchildren financially?

 

[hdwhit]

Deerhunt wrote:
223 or rimfire?

If you reload, I would say .223. The reason is that after the next election or two when the panic about gun-grabbing politicians heats up again, the rimfire may once again become nearly impossible to get.

During the last panic, my father ran completely out of 22 LR (he only kept a couple boxes around the house normally) and he asked me to pick up some in Dallas for him thinking it would be easier to get here. I took him several boxes of 223 Remington that I had loaded and told him until normal times returned, he should just use his Mini-14 instead of his Marlin 60 because I could replace the .223, I couldn't get 22 LR.

If you don't reload, I would suggest you start - and spend the money on the reloading equipment rather than a new gun.

 

[Deerhunt]

#22
hdwhit
Member

Join Date: June 22, 2017
Posts: 89
Quote:
Deerhunt wrote:
I have been thinking about getting a new rifle because it has been awhile since I have gotten a rifle.
At the risk of sounding like Dave Ramsey or Suze Ormon, that sounds like a want - and a want spawned by boredom - rather than a need.

How do your retirement savings look?

How much of an emergency fund do you have set aside?

What is the 20% of your health care costs not covered by Medicare going to cost when you retire?

And if you are already retired, do you need to spend that money on a gun rather than helping out your children/grandchildren financially?






I don't really have to worry about that quite yet seems how I am only 13

 

[xcc_rider]

Sounds like you have "a little" time to worry about that.
And there's nothing wrong with wanting something and not needing it otherwise I'd only own two firearms...

 

[Glock_17]

Sounds like you have "a little" time to worry about that.
And there's nothing wrong with wanting something and not needing it otherwise I'd only own two firearms...

Maybe the OP is like me, first you want that gun or caliber and then you try to convince yourself it fill a niche you havent covered yet

 

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

17 hmr. Since you already have a non-scoped something or another available. By now you know the 17s capability at short range. 17s accuracy betters with a decent scope mounted.

Although I have a 223 bolt the cartridge has never really impress me with accuracy. On the other hand the 17 has. I don't own a 17. Because I do own a 22 Mag and over the years have learned the Mags ability & limitations.

 

[hdwhit]

Deerhunt wrote:
I don't really have to worry about that quite yet seems how I am only 13...

Well, if you have money to buy a gun, you have money to start saving for the important things in your life like a car, college, marriage and retirement. Even with today's low interest rates, the effect of compound interest on money you save today but don't need to withdraw until you are in your 60's will be phenomenal.

 

[B.L.E.]

Then you add this:
"I've been able to get 2" groups at 200 in calm wind. With much wind at all you'll be all over the place so it can be a bit more challenging."
Challenging as in IMPOSSIBLE. A whiff of wind will move a 22 several inches at 200 yards.

The .17 HMR also gets blown around by crosswinds, as much as 15 inches at 200 yards with a 10 mph crosswind.

 

[jhansman]

While I love rimfire for pure fun, I am partial to .223 as a centerfire cartridge. Not too much recoil or racket, accurate out to 200 yds., and (my favorite part) you can work up your own loads to near perfection; don't expect great result with factory ammo. Right now, component supplies (except bench primers) are ample. If you don't reload and have no intention of doing so, then stick with rimfire and buy the best you can afford (opinions abound on that topic, and I won't add to the noise with mine); then, find out what your rifle likes and stock up. No telling what forces will cause the ammo market to go crazy again. Lastly, as noted above, .17 HMR is subject to crosswinds. Takes all the fun out of it trying to outguess the gusts.

As for your relatively young age, I met a lad of 15 at the range the other day at the range who owns two target rifles and shoots competitively at 1000 yds. Needless to say (then why say it? ), he is one serious young man, but it is very encouraging to see someone at that age so accomplished. No doubt his peers are busy staring into their phones while he is tuning his guns. My money is on him.

 

[B.L.E.]

Shooting a .22 long rifle at 200-300 yards presents many of the same wind reading challenges of shooting a large rifle at 600-1000 yards, without actually needing a 600-1000 yard shooting range to shoot at.

 

[COSteve]

I've got 5 different 22lr rifles, 5 different .223/5.56 rifles, and 2 different 357 mag rifles to name a few, and I handload for everything I shoot but 22lr (16 calibers). I've done the numbers and I wouldn't consider a 17 hmr or 22 mag for cost reasons alone. I can handload both precision 5.56 62 grn loads and 158grn 357 mag loads to shoot in my rifles for cheaper than I can buy the cheapest bulk 17 hmr or 22 mag . . . . . yes, cheaper.

Further, when I'm done handloading, I have a rifle rd that's useful for something past 100yds besides kicking up a tiny bit of dust. I shoot my 62 grn 5.56 loads in my irons only 583 Series Mini-14 at bowling pins at 200 yds, my 158grn 357 mag loads in a 24" levergun with a tang and globe sight setup at 300 yds, my 68 grn 5.56 loads at 400+ yds at medium sized apples with a scoped long range AR, and my son shoots those same loads at the apples at 500 yds with the scoped Savage model 10.

As to the 22lr, I shoot my rifles almost exclusively at 200 yds or longer . . . with one exception. I've tried and tried to find a 22lr load that's even decent but the fact is that the light, 40 grn bullet is so susceptible to wind drift at distance that it's a pain to shoot over 100 yds. Using Handloads.com's calculator I've found that at 300 yds the 22lr drops 140" (almost 12 feet) which is OK, however, in a 10 mph crosswind it drifts 3 feet. That's the worst part of shooting the 22 lr at any distance. The wind effects on the bullet are tremendous and puffs of breeze blow the bullet off target by feet.

Even if you don't handload, do yourself a favor and get a .223/5.56 and enjoy shooting longer ranges.

 

[reinert]

Deerhunt,

"Even if you don't handload, do yourself a favor and get a .223/5.56 and enjoy shooting longer ranges."

+1 as to what COSteve said there.

Again, I would suggest/recommend the Ruger American in .223 Rem. You'd have a lot of fun with that one (IMO), certain sure.

 

[B.L.E.]

As to the 22lr, I shoot my rifles almost exclusively at 200 yds or longer . . . with one exception. I've tried and tried to find a 22lr load that's even decent but the fact is that the light, 40 grn bullet is so susceptible to wind drift at distance that it's a pain to shoot over 100 yds. Using Handloads.com's calculator I've found that at 300 yds the 22lr drops 140" (almost 12 feet) which is OK, however, in a 10 mph crosswind it drifts 3 feet. That's the worst part of shooting the 22 lr at any distance. The wind effects on the bullet are tremendous and puffs of breeze blow the bullet off target by feet.

At 1000 yards, a Hornady 750 grain A-Max .50 caliber BMG bullet will drift about 35 inches and ball ammo with a BC of .62 will drift around 66 inches in a 10 mph crosswind.
Like I said, 2-300 yard shooting with a .22 LR is like the poor man's 1000 yard shooting.

Also, with .22LR, the standard velocity rounds drift less than the high velocity rounds, which is why almost all .22 LR match ammo is subsonic. Yes, I know this is counter intuitive, but wind drift is proportional to how much the bullet slows down, and supersonic bullets slow down a lot faster than subsonic bullets.

Muzzle velocity 1250 fps, 10 mph wind drift at 200 yards is 21 inches, at 300 yards it is 44 inches.
Muzzle velocity 1100 fps, 10 mph wind drift at 200 yards is 18 inches, at 300 yards it is 39 inches.

These numbers were generated on Shooter's Calculator.com using a BC of .12 and rounded off to the nearest whole number.

 

[flashhole]

Surprised nobody has mentioned the many different choices between 17 HMR and 223 Rem.

22 mag and 204 Ruger have been mentioned but nothing about 20 Vartag, 20 Practical, 218 Bee, 219 Donaldson Wasp, 220 Swift, 221 Fireball (my favorite), 222 Rem etc. Lots of choices available to grow into a fine rifle with a modest cartridge.

I chose 221 Fireball because I can make brass from 223 cases (very plentiful) and it is very robust. Brass will last darn near forever and one has lots of component choices. I buy bulk components and can reload the Fireball for less money than 22 lr ammunition costs.

My Fireball is extremely accurate and I have taken groundhogs out to 300 yards and not been in want of more cartridge. I also have a 223 bolt gun (Kimber 84M, wonderful fun gun and extremely accurate) and a Mini 14 (had it about 6 months, not the winner in the accuracy department but very fun to shoot).

Broaden your search and look at other choices.