Anyone done this with a .223 turnbolt - replaced heavier with lighter?

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Anyone done this with a .223 turnbolt - replaced heavier with lighter? Or gone the other way, from a lighter config to heavier config? Do you even HAVE a .223 turnbolt? Multiple ones?

If you do, please describe it/them along with bare weight if you know it (or loaded weight). And which of these uses do you consider the top two or three (please name no more than three) uses for your .223? And put your two or three uses in order from #1 use on down. And what's your twist rate?

A. Small varmints (pdogs, crows, turtles, ground squirrels, etc)
B. Medium varmints (yotes, beaver, skunk, coon, possum, groundhogs etc)
C. Fall Turkeys
D. Large game (deer)
E. Range / Fun / Newbie inductor
F. Actual competition of any kind (which?)
G. Subsistence survival in the event of some sort of SHTF-WROL or whatnot
H. Heavy / Long-range / "tactical" / "sniper" / security/ police / interdiction for SHTF-WROL (did I cover everything?)
I. Fighting rifle (don't need no steenkeen semi-auto)
J. Other?

I just recently did horse-trading to switch out a medium-heavy one (Wby Vanguard Sub-MOA Varminter, 22" HB), with a medium-light to light one (pencil bbl 19" Ruger 77 Mk II), and so far, I think I did the right thing. That Sub-MOA was just too much weight to "be fun" lugging it to field for turtles, other varmints and whathaveyou. It's a good 1.5 lbs lighter; maybe more; haven't weighed it yet, so dunno exactly. Twists were 1 in 12 on each.

But I also slightly tweaked intended uses from A/B/E, to B/G/A. Less of a p-dogger; more of a yoter and subsistance survival & general all-purpose field rifle. I added a buttstock zippered pouch and put two MCA chamber adapters in it with some rimfire ammo - one's in .22lr and one's in .22 mag.

Plan is to get a CZ 527 in either .17 hornet or .204 ruger as the main fun gun and for pdogs and such (probably .17 hornady-hornet).

I've divested of all EBRs in 556x45, but still feel that a .223 rem turnbolt serves a good niche that covers multiple bases (however far-fetched subsistence survival may be, which it is, but ya know).
 
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Also, as a sidebar, does anyone here have a 12 twist .223 that you use regularly with heavier-than-55s? If yes, which one(s) work in your rifle: 64 Win PP, 62 Fed Fusion, what?
 
I've got a Ruger Hawkeye in 223 and it's neither light nor heavy. I had put a Hogue stock on it, but that made it heavier so I finally put the original stock back on it. If I didn't have that rifle, which has worked quite well for me, I think I'd go with a Tikka T3 Lite stainless in 223, with a 20 inch barrel. That Tikka I have that's in 260 has made a believer out of me. That thing will shoot. And it's light and easy to handle, and it jumps into my hand when it's time to go on the back of the property to hunt - whether it's pigs, coyotes, or deer. I keep telling myself that I should take the Sako 270 or the Ruger 77V in 220, but at the last minute I just grab the Tikka. That Tikka is just like what the US Postal Service used to be - in that it will deliver each and every time.
 
Back in the late 1990s I bought a Ruger 77 Mk II "Light Sporter" in .223. 1:10 twist. From the git-go it was half-MOA for five shots. Replacing the tort-liability trigger with a Timney made life easier, naturally. Otherwise, it's showroom-stock. I mostly use 50- and 55-grain Sierra bullets.

It will hold half-MOA with round-nose 70-grain bullets.

Haven't used it all that much but for a couple of prairie dog hunts. Easy shooting to 300 yards.
 
Ok... Which of these uses do you consider the top two or three (please name no more than three) uses for your .223? And put your two or three uses in order from #1 use on down.

A. Small varmints (pdogs, crows, turtles, ground squirrels, etc)
B. Medium varmints (yotes, beaver, skunk, coon, possum, groundhogs etc)
C. Fall Turkeys
D. Large game (deer)
E. Range / Fun / Newbie inductor
F. Actual competition of any kind (which?)
G. Subsistence survival in the event of some sort of SHTF-WROL or whatnot
H. Heavy / Long-range / "tactical" / "sniper" / security/ police / interdiction for SHTF-WROL (did I cover everything?)
I. Fighting rifle (don't need no steenkeen semi-auto)
J. Other?

Back in the late 1990s I bought a Ruger 77 Mk II "Light Sporter" in .223. 1:10 twist. From the git-go it was half-MOA for five shots. Replacing the tort-liability trigger with a Timney made life easier, naturally. Otherwise, it's showroom-stock. I mostly use 50- and 55-grain Sierra bullets.

It will hold half-MOA with round-nose 70-grain bullets.

Haven't used it all that much but for a couple of prairie dog hunts. Easy shooting to 300 yards.
Click to expand...

Interesting; thanks. Kinda wish this one was 9 or 10 twist, but it will serve its purpose just fine with 12.
 
I use mine for small and medium game, as well as target shooting.

I have a 1:8 twist and it shoots 55gr bullets sweet, I've shot some 40gr Vmaxs too, and they were pretty accurate. And it should stabilize up to 80gr bullets.

I hope to start reloading 75gr Amaxs and shoot it out too 500 or 600 yards.

Mines a Tikka T3 Lite, so has a very light barrel which is only 23" long, but it will still shoot Hornady training ammo, steel or brass case into .75" every time, with the odd cloverleaf and quite common to shoot under.5" groups.

If you are really worried about weight, scope selection will have a huge impact on your rifle, as well as a bipod or other accessories.

If you want a light accurate hunting/varmint rig, get a Tikka T3 light and a Burris C4 scope with aluminium rings.
 
I have an older Interarms Mini-Mauser (Zastava) in 223, medium weight 20" barrel, lightweight stock, makes a great walking varminter. Best group was about 5/16" from a bench with 55 gr handloads, but I haven't benched it lately to see if I am still up to it.
 
Me too!

I've had a Mini-Mauser as well, for about 10 yrs. Nearly lost it the other week to stupidity but got it back. It has worn a 6x36mm Leupold for most of that time.

I had some issues with flyers and bedding, but have fiddled with the barrel channel and action screw tightness and the rifle has settled down. I may have had some bad factory ammo during those days as well.

Fairly certain the twist is 1-12. The rifle seemed a bit picky ammo wise, but shoots my reloads with 52 gr SMK's very well. It also will shoot factory 62 gr Rem MHP well also. By well I mean it holds right around MOA for short strings.

When bamaboy was 10-11, he killed his first few whitetails with it, all lung shots, with me at his elbow coaching. For that we used 55 gr Federal bonded "tactical" ammo. Three shots, 3 dead deer, but we moved up from the .223 quickly.

Now I harrass the local coyote/crow/and 'dillo populations with it. The trajectories are close enough that it is useful for practice and I occasionally shoot out to 300 or so as an understudy to a heavier rifle.

But...it is s good deal lighter than a full size bolt rifle, so the comparison stops with trigger control and range.
 
Wraglefragle, interesting that your 8 twist shines with 55s. Good advice on light scope & rings.

Scorch & bamaranger, the mini-Mauser sounds good. Leupold fixed 6x36 sounds like an excellent choice. KISS principle.

bamaranger, sounds good - hey why do you kill dillas? I'd shoot them if I thought they ate turkey and quail eggs, but to my knowledge, they eat grubs only, no? I let them live... but if it's windy, I will sneak up on them and give one a light kick. :)
 
Dremel, to your question, my 223 is the 'yard varmint' rifle. We are in the country, with pasture/yard to 150 or more yards in 3 directions. I get the occasional feral hog, skunks, possums, coons, armadillos, and plenty of deer. The deer are always safe in the 'zone', per orders from the wife. Anything else that would dig in her flower beds or in the garden is under a capital offense order. As for the pigs, that 40 gr Nosler BT will kill them if I place the bullet correctly, though it often takes more than one bullet.

Get the Tikka T3 if you intend to buy a bolt 223.
 
FWIW, I set up an upper for my AR for varmints; 1:14 twist, 20" light barrel. One MOA with 55-grain bullets and a K-4.

For me, a .223 is mostly for coyotes and smaller. A & B.
 
same

'Bout the same for me as 603....

I was surprised at how the Mini-Mausers have escalated in price, guess I shouldn't be. Another light .223 bot option may be a Rem 7. and yet another the defunct Ruger Frontier. None cheap, but delightful little sporters.

I read an interesting article where I fella took a Mini Mauser action, and used same for the basis of a light walking varmint rifle. Again, pricey.

I handled a Mossberg MVP Patrol the other day, that is another tidy little rifle, if you don't mind the clunky box mag out the bottom. Not the same class nor purpose as the Mini-Mausers, but interesting rifles too.
 
I'm pretty sure my little model 7 has a 1-12. My experience's suggest that it prefers lighter bullets much better than heavier._64 gr is so so average at 100 yards. Nothing to get excited over. _Tried some 69 gr Hornady once that work very well in my Colt and those were a flat out waste of bullets & powder in the 7 when compared to the 52 and 55gr._ 52-gr gave the best accuracy of all bullets I've tried to date. But frankly I don't expect to see exceptional one hole grouping accuracy from my 7 as it wasn't intended by its manufacture to have a tactical rifles accuracy. But its accuracy is good enough for my purposes. So in a way I consider it to be my little universal tactical carbine. Reason being. It came with open barrel sights mounted on a skinny little barrel and of course I mounted a scope to squeeze a bit more accuracy out of it. Nothing fancy just a old Bushnell Trophy 3-9
The little 7 rifle is primary used for bench rest shooting._Its cheap center fire fun punching holes in or close too a postage stamp size target at 100 yards is so welcomed having little noticeable recoil verses its big brother >my 270__It's secondary use is for coyote hunting with my best and only yote caller pal. (18 yr old grandson) Which ever (above) experience the 223 rifle and I show up for. It's one of those Good Days I wish I had more of.
 
Give me about a week and I'll get back with you. Until yesterday all of my 223's had been Ruger Mini's or AR's. I've been looking for these to hit the shelves and bought a Ruger American Compact in 223 yesterday. The 1:8 twist should handle heavy bullets quite well and make a good all around lightweight gun for everything up to whitetails at close to moderate range.

http://ruger.com/products/americanRifleCompact/models.html

Haven't had a chance to shoot it yet, but I'm hopeful it will be just what you are describing. I'd like to put a lightweight 1-4X or 2-7X scope on it, but for now a 3-9X40 Redfield Revolution is what I had unused. It is a hair under 7 lbs scoped. A 1-4X should get me down to around 6 3/4 lbs ready to go. The 18" barrel should be a good compromise between the 16" and 20" AR barrels.
 
I have a Tikka 595 with 1:12 twist, weighing 9.2 lbs with 3-9X Bushnell 3200. It weighs about a quarter pound more with a 4.5-14X Mueller, but shoots fantastic with that scope. It usually gets .25" groups at 100 yards.

That rifle is used mostly at the range, especially as a fill-in rifle when shooting other rifles and needing to let them cool down. I use it as a walk-about rifle sometimes, but am considering at a bit lighter rifle to use for that purpose. I'm looking at rifles weighing a pound or so less and have considered the T-3 Lite, but already have one in .243 Win, so am looking at other rifles, perhaps even a custom one. An 80's vintage Rem 700 ADL in .223 would be my preference, but good ones are scarce, so may end up with a new one.

So, the .223 Rem, by round count, is used as E, A, B, in that order. By time...as a walkabout rifle on our family's 140 acre property. (Turkey hunting in Maine is a shotgun-only sport, otherwise it would be great for that. Turkeys are overpopulating the central and southern regions of the state and should be considered varmints IMHO.)

(Whatever you choose, it's probably not a lifetime commitment, unless you're my age or older.)
 
I have a couple of bolt .223 rifles. I added a lighter one after shooting the heavier one/target for a number of years.

The first is a boat anchor. A Remington 700 with a long bull barrel, 6-24 Vortex, bi-pod and work done to it. It can consistently get into the .3s and .2s if I am on my best behavior. 1 in 12.

I recently added a Tikka T3 Lite with a Nikon P223 and 1 in 10. Sub-MOA with factory ammo, but not quite the shooter that the Remington is. (Which is expected being that it is stock and I have not yet begun to work up a load for it.) However, I am happy to carry these T3 rifles, which I can not/and don't say about the Remington.

"E" would be the only uses so far for either .223 bolts; fun, range, target, loading for accuracy. I live in Alaska, and when I go out into the woods/bush I carry something with a bit more "Ummpphh"! Usually these days a Tikka T3 in 30-06. I carry two different mags loaded with 200 grain Noslers and the second with 125 grain Noslers. Know the POI difference and am set for large and mediumish/small. Don't think that I would feel confident with a .223 for the larger critters here! Still do carry the .223 Tikka occasionally still mainly for fun, along with bear spray and handgun.
 
Yes, I had a fantastic Savage 223 with a LE 20 inch bull barrel. Not conducive to walking around in the woods with it to a lighter 223.

From heavy to this:



Jim
 
Anything that comes out the barrel of a 223 would work on coyotes.

Here in WY, one must use =/> 60 gr bullets for deer antelope.

I have 4 223s Two ARs, one is 1:12, one is 1:7.
I have an older Rem 700 BDL Var. 1:12 (heavy barrel)
A Mann in 1:7. (a really HEAVY barrel)

I got ended up with about 6K Speer Gold Dot 64 gr loaded rounds.

My 1:12 wont shot them worth crap. My Rem 700 1:12 shots them great.

MY 1:7 AR loves them
The Mann????, well it shoots any 223s supper accurate.

My 1:12 AR is a Colt SP1 which has a rather light barrel, but it still shoots great with 50-55 gr bullets, but nothing heavier.

As said my Rem BDL Var 1;12 shoots the 64s and anything lighter but wont shoot 77s.

Both my 1:7 will shoot anything to 90 grs.

As to heavy barrels, I don't think you'll find one heavier then whats on my Mann.

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