Am enjoying and learning from the comments here by guys with some expertise. I do a lot of target practice as well as praire dog shooting with my Rem 700 in .223 with factory sporter barrel. Nice thing about .223 is that it runs very cool. Can run 15-20 rounds in 15 to 20 minutes before any change in POI. In my rifle the POI climbs about 1.5 to 2 inches at 100 yds but then stays stable at that point. I shoot my .243 sporter barrel with 58 gr VMax at 3850 fps which makes it ballistically similar to a 22-250 for varmint hunting, however it heats up and starts spraying very quickly so I only shoot it while I give my .223 a cool down when shooting sand dogs.
The point of this is that apparently the load being used and the type barrel, ie sport vs heavy varmint or target barrel with have a significant effect on the barrel heating issue and can vary widely.
The point of this is that apparently the load being used and the type barrel, ie sport vs heavy varmint or target barrel with have a significant effect on the barrel heating issue and can vary widely.