new .223 varmint rifle.

[wj kerr]

Hello all.Iam looking to buy a new heavy barelled .223 have looked at the cz .223 in kelvar the savage 12bvss the stery pro varmint and the tikka super varmint. I have a cz 527 varmint in .222 rem and am more than happy with it as its a real tack driver. Was thinking of staying with cz as it is GBP 920 the others mentioned above are 1200 plus the savage being 1250 and the stery being near 1500 . Rifle will be used for fox and crows . any suggestions please. regards wj.

 

[kaferhaus]

The CZ is a good rifle and pretty.. The Savage is a better rifle and and ugly but made here. I don't send my money overseas unless I have little to no option.

 

[Art Eatman]

For regular prairie dog shooting, I can see a reason for a heavy barrel. For other varmints, I don't see the point. Not enough shooting at any one time to worry about barrel heating.

As example, my .223 Ruger 77 Mk II is the light sporter version. It is not at all difficult to regularly get half-MOA three-shot groups. If I go slow and am careful, five-shot groups around half-MOA are not at all uncommon.

And, actually, with necessary pauses for cool-down, it works fairly well on prairie dogs to 300 yards.

 

[bachekermooni]

I love my Ruger M77 Mark II Varmint/Target in .223 - 0.5 MOA with bulk ammo.

If the funds allow, consider a Kimber.

 

[45crittergitter]

+1 for the Tikka

 

[CH47gunner]

I'd do another CZ.
I might consider one of the Savages with a wood composite stock tho, pretty much the same price too. I have other Savages, w/ the Accutrigger, and not much of a fan of that.
Tho the CZ may be a bit more, I think they're worth it. Great stage trigger & sometimes you get lucky with the wood.
That said, my heavy barreled CZ527 Varmint does get plenty hot - it really pays to have several rifles in a target rich environment.

Bruce

CZ527 Varmint .223 w/ Bushnell Elite 4200 6-24x40

 

[jpwilly]

Are you looking at just bolt guns or would an AR-15 fit the bill? There's some nice AR Varmint rigs out there in your price range. If not I'm a big fan of the Savage Arms products.

 

[Moose1995]

Look into the ruger M77 MKII varmint/target. I had a ruger 22-250 varmint rifle and using 50 grain nosler ballistic tips, I was shooting consistent 1" or smaller 5 shot groups at 200 yards all day long. When I got bored, I started shooting grasshoppers off of the top of the target holders.

 

[viking499]

jp, that sure is a sharp looking CZ.

 

[JoeMal]

I recently bought a Savage 25 in .223 and it shoots sub MOA with factory ammo without problems at all. Put a Vortex Viper 6-20x on it. I stayed under $1000 with this including the scope

 

[6mmbrm]

.223 varmint rifle

I have a few .223's but the most accurate whether factory or my reloads is the Savage 12BTCSS. This is a heavy and big gun weighing in at 10 lbs without a scope. Not a gun to be lugged too far in the field but accurate. It is a whole lot of fun at the bench. As accurate as anything ever stock and out of the box. I only wish my other rifles were anywhere near as accurate day in, day out. I have and regularly shoot Winchester, Browning, Thompson Center, Ruger and a CZ but all of my Savages have my highest confidence. 20 years ago, I would never have dreamed I'd be saying this? Go figure?

 

[NWCP]

Go with the CZ. I own four of their rifles now and have yet to be disappointed.