Bolt Action .223 Recommendations

Per your specs, I think Savage is the current front-runner in the affordability department.

Personally not a fan of the Savage platform/barrel nut system, but many swear minute-of-_______ accuracy out of their particular stick.

Sounds like you have a great excuse to attend all the local gun shows and peruse the racks of used rifles. Perhaps you can find an older Remington or Winchester that fits your particular budget and specs. You might even have value in a trade with your 788, if you’re willing to part with it. YMMV.

Good luck and report back to us, please.

Enjoying my Savage 110 Storm XP in .223. Typical Savage accuracy and precision ( sub-MOA accuracy, precision (groups ) right at 1 MOA. Somebody who really knows how to shoot could probably get smaller groups. Likes 55 and 62 grain Hornady V-Max and Nosler Varmageddon respectively for hunting rounds. 1:9 twist

Not too long ago I'd have said the Ruger Predator that takes AR magazines. But those have gotten so expensive that I have a hard time recommending them. I paid $350 for mine. Last one I saw in a store was $530. Mine is reliable, accurate and I like the ability to use 5 or 10 round AR magazines. I just can't ever see using anything larger in this rifle.

But I can still get a Tikka for $600 in blue finish. To me the Ruger was the better value at $350 vs $600. But $530 vs $600 makes it hard to choose the Ruger.

At those prices $700 for a re-barrel doesn't look so bad.

Tikka t3

Tikka Varmint

Browning Xbolt varmint

You simply cannot beat a Savage for out the box...no mods needed...affordable subMOA accuracy. I have yet to find one that won't shoot factory loads of some sort sub moa out the box also.

They aint fancy...no bells and whistles (they do sell them with them)...they just work..at least for me so far.

I sure someone has bought a lemon...but for once..at least with Savage...I've had good luck.

Im very happy with my Savage axis in .223. It has the 1.9 twist. I have upgraded the optic since the pic was taken. I can nail the small gongs on our 300 yard range with ease. I shoot 55 grain bullets.

I'd go for Savage priced reasonably and very accurate you might want to look at the Howa line I picked up a 6.5 Grendel for under $ 500 and it's the same action synthetic stock
not sure what barrel length though.

Howa mini action 223 1/8 twist 20 inch barrel.

I have had good accuracy with a Savage as well. Mine is the Trophy Predator with a 1-9 twist and really likes the 63-65 grain bullets.

Tikka or Howa.

I have a Rem 700 ADL in .223 and it's a fine shooter. I don't know what's going on with Remington lately, but all my Rem 700s shoot great. They're also very easy to epoxy bed the receiver and a couple inches up the barrel. I haven't bought any new centerfire rifles in the past 5 years, so am not up on the latest quality situations. If money is a serious concern, look hard at Savage rifles and some of the better imports.

The only bolt in 223 I have is a CZ 527 but that model is being replaced by the 600 that if I read it correctly has interchangeable barrels.

Howa 1500 .223 Varmint, fluted barrel, hogue stock - I spent a lot of time looking for one, and settled on this based on reviews, price, etc.

Mine is extremely accurate on paper at 200 and minute of gong out to 600.

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Based on my limited experience, I'm happy with both my Savage 10 (it has a heavy barrel, you'd want the 11) and Weatherby Vanguard (which is basically the same as a Howa 1500) and think you'd be happy with either.

Tikka t3 for sure, you will enjoy it a lot

ruger American rifles are often pretty darn accurate as well

I think prices are coming down on alot of things. I bet if you can hold off for another month or two, I bet those Ruger Predator's come back down more towards where they used to be.

They have some features you might not need, but could be done nice quality of life upgrades.

They take nice, cheap, plentiful AR mags. You might not be keen on AR's, but cheap plentiful mags are nice.

Threaded muzzle, I wouldn't put a big brake on one, but a linear compensator that throws the bark away from you much better than a bare muzzle.

1:7 twist, it'll handle any bullet you want to play with. The 1:9's might not do well with the >75gr bullets.

That 1 in 14 remington could prove interesting with cast bullets. I'm using a 1 in 14 on a 308w & +/- 180gr cast are running 2400fps+. The +/- 160gr cast are 2600fps+.

It's pretty hard not to find a cheap shooter from any of the mfg's out there that won't do +/-MOA.

Several years back I wanted to do testing with 223rem reloads. My thinking was how cheap could I go and how hard would I have to work at it to "fine tune" everything to get moa accuracy. I used free range pickup brass & sorted them into 2 piles, commercial and nato. I used free berm lead for cores and free 22lr cases for jackets and swaged my own bullets. So I prepped the cases and used some old ww sr primers I've had laying around and decided on bl-c2 for a powder. 25.0gr to 26.0gr of bl-c2 has always delivered moa accuracy with 55gr to 62gr bullets.

Really wasn't sure about a cheap rifle for the testing & I saw a local gunshop had the savage axis !! on sale for $299 + tax. Ended up buying the hb axis II for $318 out the door and got $50 back with the mail in rebate and sold the scope/rings that came with it for another $50. So I got a $218 rifle that has an adjustable trigger. Well I didn't do anything to it except punch the bore out, no stock mods/no playing with the trigger/nada.

Using my home swaged bullets I found an oal for the loads and made 5-shot ladder tests. Took the nib axis out to the range and put a 24x target scope on it and sighted it in while playing with the torques on the hold down bolts. Don't know how many shots I took sighting in but it wasn't that many. Put this target up and did a final sighting in and started testing. This is the test target used that day.


The 25.5gr load is a keeper and I still use that load/home swaged bullet to this day.


I really don't think that it matters when picking a sub $300 rifle which brand you choose. That $300 savage was able to shoot moa with mixed brass and home made bullets on it's 1st range trip. There was no mods/tweaking loads/bbl break-in's/etc. Simply make piles of these and hit the loud button.

I have been very happy with all of the different Savage rifles I own. Beside being accurate out of the box, Savage has always had a better selection of left hand bolt action rifles.

I always really liked the iron sights on my Savage Hog Hunter. I actually prefer irons for short range (<100 yards). Mine are dialed in just fine. Very few guns out there with factory irons as an option.


I have one of the older ones with a blind mag; looks like the newer ones are detachable mag. I don't blame Savage, they'll probably sell more of those. For a budget pest gun as is being described, I like the Hog Hunter in .223 for the role - detachable mag or not.

My turnbolt 223 is a Mossberg MVP Thunder Ranch model. I suppressed it and I get 1 MOA groups with Hornady 75 gr BTHP, slightly better than with Black Hills 77 gr MK262. It uses AR mags- in fact, it feeds best with Pmag 10 and 20 rounders. I have taken deer, hogs, and turkeys with it with no problems. BTW, it is legal to take turkeys with a rifle on private land in Fl.

The Mossberg MVPs are great, I personally like the laminate stock Predator model. Around $600, the barrels are threaded with 1:9 twist and they use AR magazines.

35 Whelen said:

To that end, I'd like to find another similar bolt action rifle with a 1-7" to 1-9" twist so I can shoot heavier bullets (<75 grs.). Composite stock is fine, box magazine, sporter weight barrel, nothing fancy.

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I had been keeping my eye on these types of threads for about a year pre covid as I was interested in one.

It seems that, Ruger, Savage, Mossberg, Tikka, and Howa get mentioned the most. Pick the one you like the feel of best that has the features you want.



I narrowed it down to wanting a 16"-18" barrel and AR mags even though they stick out kinda far for a bolt gun in field use - it's not like you often take 8-9 follow up shots in field use. Target shooting is a little different. But cheap good plentiful mags is always good.

That brought me to Mossberg MVP and Ruger American Ranch.

I chose the American Ranch over the MVP mainly because of the sample of 1 each, the Rugers bolt & mag function felt better and I like Ruger in general; nothing against Mossberg

I know there is a lot of hate for Remington, but I really like the 700. Shop for a good clean used one. Some of them have 1-9 twist barrels.

Savage and Tikka are well thought of.