Good .223 Rifle

A

AndrewOregon

Inactive
Well straight to the point. i have the money laying around and i want a nice .223
Any suggestions on what type of rifle.
I need just for target and some small game. we have pest problems and the .22 dosent always kill a coyote and my animals and kids are at risk.
So if any of you can know of any good .223 shoot at me. lol


Also not a fan of the Ruger mini 14 i had one and it was nothing but problems
 
Nuthin like an AR for a nice keep it handy rifle. Plenty accurate for what you describe. You dont even have to break the kids piggy banks to get a decent one.

There have been a lot of discussions of the subject and the search will lead you to them. CDNN has a few at very good prices, and the S&W M&P 15 Sport is a bargain.

I'm not a fan of Minis or bolt guns so someone else can chime in.
 
We need more information, whats your price range? And distance you want to shoot to?

Ive got a Tikka T3 in 223, it can shoot under 0.5moa with good factory ammo at 100yards, and its really light, so its quite good, but I havn't done a lot of target shooting so I don't know how the barrel heating up would effect groups.

An AR15 would be a good choice to, I really want one but there really expensive here in New Zealand.

If you want to start shooting out past 300yards regulary you will probably want something with a heavy barrel, I'd check out Savages rifles, they've got a good rep on here and theyre a pretty good price to.
The other major competitor would be Remington rifles but they seem to be a bit iffy with the new rifles.

Id most likely go for a Savage if i were you.
But now I think about it CZ makes a nice varmint rifle the CZ 527 Kevlar, I've heard a lot of good things about them to.

You also need to consider what weight bullets you want to shoot because the dictates what barrel twist you need.
Most people would say if you want to shoot between 40 and 55gr bullets you want a 1 in 122 twist barrel, and if you want to shoot up into the 60 70gr bullets you need a 1 in 8 twist.
But my Tikka has a 1 in 8 twist and it shoots 40gr Vmaxs under 0.5 inches at 100yards.

So as you can see your relitively simple question is not actually that simple.

Oh and by the way, your going to get 1500 people tell you to get a 204 Ruger or a 22-250 or something else.
Just a heads up:D
 
I have a CZ 527 Varmint in .223, which is a Bolt Action. Bought it almost 10 years ago. It is very accurate, smooth, and holds 5 rounds. Regularly shoots less than .5 inch groups with reloads, and I've shot premium factory ammo in less than 1 Inch groups. Very reasonably priced guns. Ammo is super easy to come by as you know, and i've killed many coyotes with bullets ranging from 40 to 70 grs. out to 400 yards, even FMJ's (i know it was before i knew any better)
 
We need to know your budget?? A 1 in 9 twist will work with 40 grain to 69 grain without a problem.

Jim
 
Some dozen years ago I bought a like-new Ruger 77 Mk II light sporter in .223. Even before the Timney trigger, it was half-MOA. The Timney merely made life easier.

Done in a fair number of prairie dogs with it.

The 1:10 twist works just fine with 50- to 55-grain bullets, and the shorter, round-nosed 70-grain bullets.

Most of my coyote killing was with a Mini, and the 55-grain bullets were plenty good for Ol' Wily.
 
If you're on a budget and you like bolt action rifles, then a Stevens 200 might fit your needs. I've been really happy with mine in .243.
 
I did what Scout did too. I bought a Stevens 200. You have plenty of money after that for a good scope and a new trigger setup...plus ammo.
 
Another vote for the AR, but that's just one guy's opinion. If you want to go the bolt-action route, Winchester 70 Heavy Varmint. The upside is that it can be silly accurate, the downside is that it's a bit on the heavy side.
 
.223 in a .223 size rifle

If it doesn't have to be a semi/AR rifle, how about considering the "mini-mauser" as imported by Interarms, Charles Daley, and most recently Remington the form of the 799 or whatever they called it.

All steel and walnut. An action proportionate to the cartridge size. The twenty inch bbl is handy in an out of vehicles, but gives decent velocity. Trigger is fully adjustable. I bet the rifle and scope doesn't weigh 6 lbs.

Mine is still trying to recover from my clumsy attempt at free floating the barrel, but has always delivered about 1MOA with factory ammo, provided I keep shot strings short.
 
I really like my Ruger, good trigger, shoots great and doesn't weight a ton.

All weather Hawkeye
 
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A nice accurate .223 bolt gun is in order attached to a $150+ scope. Don't put a cheap schope on a centerfire gun and expect it to perform over the long run. Your choices vary as to the make and model. If you just want a basic gun the Marlin or Savage would be fine. My personal preference is for a Remington, Ruger or CZ. CZ's are best for out of the box accuracy. My ruger was a bit more tempermental but has settled down now that I've broken in the barrel and found the right load to shoot. A semi will eat up your very expensive ammo in a hurry, take longer to sight in and feel confident you can hit with it and tempt you to buy a bunch of expensive magazines. If you don't plan on taking the gun on long walks, then one of the medium to heavy barreled guns would be great to shoot at coyotes coming within 200 yards of your house. Just be ready to make some noise and maybe listen to the neighbors complain. A .223 is loud! Also a .223 goes a bunch farther than even a 22 mag so be safe. rc
 
For a bolt rifle, Savage or Tikka would be my pick. In an AR I would suggest S&W or Bushmaster, plenty decent without breaking the bank. Between the 2 platforms, I'd pick an AR for plinking and simple varmint eradication.
 
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