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So I have the space on my ticket for a .223 and I am torn about what to go for. This will be for target shooting, so I am considering either a Remington 700 or Tikka Tac T3X.

Just wondering what people had, or what they would recommend?

Cheers
Steve

A lot depends on what distance you'll be shooting at. I have a Howa 1500 in .223 - I changed the stock to a GRS ut that was all. Several others in my club run them as supplied. For the money it's quite good at least out to 300m. (I have not tried any further).

tbh, it's hard to go wrong with Tikka too from what I've seen. No personal experience with Remington.

Howa heavy barel in grs laminate stock seems happy out to 600

I have a Tikka M595 with a 30" barrel in .223, and I've had great fun with it at 1000yds using heavy bullets.
It's very capable at 600yds.

Pete

Check twist rate before getting any 223 particularly if looking at used.
I had a Mossberg mvp varmint with 24inch barrel that shot ridiculously well at 900 for what it cost.
1 in 9 twist and would stabilise 77gn bullets.

I did have a look at the Howa, they are very well priced. I think to begin with 300yds will be as far as I will go. Would Love to try 1000!

Steve Cole wrote:I did have a look at the Howa, they are very well priced. I think to begin with 300yds will be as far as I will go. Would Love to try 1000!

I have 3 Howas. 1 in .223 varmint with the 1-9 twist, works well out to 600 with 62gn fmjs although its main use is bunnies and fox at considerably closer range with 40-50gn bullets, I have just refitted the Hogue stock as I prefer it for field use, and moved the Bell and Carlson stock to my range .308 (surprisingly little perceivable weight difference)
check twist rates as the last time I looked the Howa catalogue didn't list more than 1-12 for .223? (seems a strange move to me in todays climate so may be a typo)
eventually I will get around to trying some heavier bullets but at the moment the several 100 50gn softpoints and 662gn fmj's I have will keep me going.
Howa's do everything you need for them to do , except satisfy the baying "buy Tikka!" mob yes they may be a little rough around the edges action wise until they are run in, but they are devices for repeatably putting small lumps of lead into a given vicinity, and they do that very well
the HACT trigger units are very good, and for a tenner and 1/2 an hour (if you have sausage fingers like me) you can change the springs and get a reliable, safe light trigger, or if you know what you are doing adjust the HACT to do the same.
my hunting Howa is now well over 10 years old has had 1000's of rounds through it (on one occasion well over 200 in a single day, back when it was my only rifle) its a light barrelled sporting profile in stainless steel, it is still sub MOA at 100m and has never let me down
buy whatever it is that takes your fancy, but don't discount Howa they really are a good value for money rifle.

mag41uk wrote:Check twist rate before getting any 223 particularly if looking at used.
I had a Mossberg mvp varmint with 24inch barrel that shot ridiculously well at 900 for what it cost.
1 in 9 twist and would stabilise 77gn bullets.

You will have to forgive me, I don't fully understand the twist rate. I know that 1 in 9 refers to the bullet rotation. After 9" the bullet will have traveled 1 revolution. However I don't fully understand what I should be looking for, as there seems to be so many other factors.

I probably should have mentioned that I am new to full bore and this will be my 1st rifle.

Basically the longer the bullet the faster the barrel's twist rate needed to stabilise it, bullet weight is used as a proxy for bullet length in regards twist rate.

Heavy bullets do better generally for longer ranges so therefore usually longer so the need for a faster twist rate barrel.

So you need to marry twist rate to the bullet you wish to use. There are twist rate calculators on the netty which tell you what twist rate per calibre is need for different weight/length bullets.

I have a Savage BVSS in .223....1 in 9 twist...26" barrel...Acutrigger...superb rifle...benchrest laminate stock...shoots anything from 55gn to 75gn.
Recommended..

Mike95