Purchasing my first .223

[kkilo]

Hello, I am looking at purchasing myself my first .223 bolt action rifle, I want it mainly for punching wholes in targets and maybe moving out to longer range shooting.
I am looking to spend around 750 for the rifle not including scope, mounts, or other accessories . I am located in California.
I have looked at the Remington 700, CZ 527, and the Zastava M85. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[Cee Zee]

If you want a long range target rifle I'd look to spend maybe another $100 and get a used Savage 12 LRPV. You might find one for that price. They are "very" accurate out to at least 500 yards. According to the range master at the local gun club they dominate their 600 yard shooting competitions. He said practically every top level shooter at that distance was using those rifles. He groaned when I told him that's what I would be shooting. He knew it would mean even more competition I believe. That's when he told me about everyone there using those rifles.

I paid $900 for mine used but it was just barely used. It probably had less than 10 rounds through it. It just didn't have any gunpowder residue in those nooks you can get it out of. You can only clear a rifle so well. And if it's still clean in those tight spots it means it hasn't been shot enough to make them dirty. Plus the one I bought was only a few months old at the time.

Mine will shoot about a 4"-5" group at 500 yards on average depending on wind conditions. My range is very well protected from wind so it helps. Still it takes a good shooting rifle to get groups like that. I had it out shooting it over the weekend. I was shooting groups under half an inch at 110 yards with it using American Eagle ammo. It does better with better ammo. But it doesn't really show up that much until you get past 300 yards. Out to that distance it will shoot a lot of ammo well. Past that it take s a better bullet to fly straight.

 

[loose noose]

Kkilo, the best way to get the best accuracy out of any .223 is to reload, using different bullets, and powder combinations, as well as different primers and over all length of the cartridge. Which is all just the basics, you'll get into trimming the cartridges using the same brand, such as Winchester, Federal, Remington, etc.

Further, I've had excellent results using a Savage, which generally have an adjustable trigger and an excellent barrel, as well as Howa bolt action .223s. Generally speaking you can pick them up out here for as little as $500.00 for a new one. Anyway enjoy whatever you get.

 

[Jackal]

A CZ 527 Varmint will do everything you want.

 

[cfullgraf]

If you are looking for a new rifle, i would steer clear of Remington. I have purchased a couple in the past few years, a 700 (17 Remington) and an XR-100 (223 Remington). Both shoot well but only after I changed the trigger and massaged the stock fit a little.

I have a Savage Model 12 in 204 Ruger and shot very well out of the box. I am sure the 223 Remington version would shoot well as well. It would be worth a look.

The CZ has a good following but I do not have any experience with them.

 

[Cee Zee]

The truth is there are lots of great rifles around. Some are better than others but it depends on what you want to do exactly. For the OP's stated goals of target shooting at distance it's hard to beat a Savage 12 LRPV. But forget using one as a hunting rifle. It depends on exactly what you want really.

 

[Reloadron]

I like the Savage guns, the CZ guns, and especially the older Remington guns and I only lean Remington because I am well tooled to work on Remington. There is no shortage of excellent, lightly used, 223 rifles out there to be had. Do some homework.

You may also want to think about what bullets you plan to shoot. Get familiar with barrel twist rates and what bullets fare well with what twist rates. I have a Remington 725 which began life as a 222 Remington. I trued the action and built the rifle up in 223 using a brand new Remington 223 VSSE barrel I had. The rifle has a 1:12 twist and using 55 grain or lighter bullets is a tack driving bench rifle. The slow 1:12 twist will not stabilize a bullet heavier than 55 grains. Many 223 guns have gone to a 1:9 looking for a happy medium and overall the 1:9 seems a good compromise. Anyway, along the road of your quest give some thought to barrel twist and bullet weights.

Ron

 

[gazpacho]

T/C Encore Pro Hunter

Not a bolt action, but has plenty of potential for paper punching and long rang target shooting. Also, being in California, you can buy other calibers by mail order (I think, no telling how badly your rights have been eroded) instead of repeated NICS checks at your LGS. By all means, have them order barrels for you, if you want to support them.

At some point, you may want to explore 308 or 7mm, etc. With the T/C, just buy a new barrel.

 

[MAKster]

Twist rate of the barrel is really important. Most of the Remington .223 rifles are 1-12 which limits you to 55 grain bullets. The Savage rifles are 1-9 which will shoot the 62 grain bullets well. My recommendation is the Savage 11 Trophy Hunter which has the accutrigger and Nikon scope.

 

[Cee Zee]

The 12 LRPV can come with the Target Accutrigger which is a big improvement over the regular AT. It can be adjusted down to like 6 oz.s. And you can get a 1:7 twist barrel if you want. They will shoot bullets up to 80 gr.. And at long distances the heavier bullets have proven to be less prone to wind issues.

 

[chris in va]

The slow 1:12 twist will not stabilize a bullet heavier than 55 grains.

Not entirely true. Depending on the bullet design, 63's can be used.

 

[bluzman]

CZ 527 Carbine. Latest version has 1:9 twist.

 

[dakota1911]

The Encore is interesting. I have one in 30-06. Might think of a .223 barrel. Here some gun stores have the muzzle loading barrels on the shelf. You don't even have to order them.

 

[jmr40]

The slow 1:12 twist will not stabilize a bullet heavier than 55 grains.
Not entirely true. Depending on the bullet design, 63's can be used.

At longer ranges you want heavy bullets, even 62-63 gr bullets are on the light side. Were talking 70 gr plus for best results. Options for fast twist bolt rifles are few. In addition to Savage the Ruger American is another option. You could buy 2 with your budget and not find anything more accurate. The Predator comes with a medium contour barrel and would be my choice.

http://ruger.com/products/americanRiflePredator/models.html

 

[Ibmikey]

I have a Ruger Scout in .223 that is an amazing shooter utilizing a Tru Glo 3/9 scope as it is one of the few that you can barely laminate the cross hairs for night time pig hunting. The rifle put eight shots into a quarter sized group at 100 using 55gr Cor Bon ammo. I will be really happy when five round polymer mags are available as the steel ten rounder is too heavy and cumbersome .

 

[Cee Zee]

The rifle put eight shots into a quarter sized group at 100 using 55gr Cor Bon ammo.

No offense but that isn't all that good. There are several rifles around that will put that many rounds into a group covered by a nickel. My Savage 12 does that. But for most purposes quarter size groups are plenty good enough unless you plan on shooting at targets much further away as the OP said he'd like to do.

 

[VoodooMountain]

Another vote for the Savage. I have had several and all but 1 (11 in .308 I believe) were very accurate. I had a Savage 12 for a while and it was just as accurate as anything else in their lineup but it was just too heavy for what I wanted out of it. For what you describe it would work well.

 

[CB900F]

Kkilo;

It would help a great deal if you could give us a bit more information. What's the range you are initially thinking of? What's longer range to you? For some it would be say, 300 yards, others 600 yards, for some a thousand yards. It would help to know your thoughts on range.

Then, is there no chance you'll ever use the gun for predator control, or say prairie dog shooting, or other off the range use? If you do have that sort of thing as a possibility, then a pure target gun may not be what you want. Or, you may want to acquire a second .223 bolt gun.

The upshot is, the more & better information you can give us allows us to tailor the advice to your specific desires.

900F

 

[herkyguy]

I bounced around different guns for a while, looking for the same thing as the OP. The only addition was that I wanted something fairly lightweight (ie. no heavy barrel). Anyhow, I ended up ordering a CZ 527 American from Grabagaun earlier this week. With an extra magazine and shipping, etc... it worked to a bit over $700.

Leupold VX-III 3.5-10X is already on its way from Cabelas. The rifles comes with 1" rings and has a 1 in 9" twist rate on a 21" barrel.

 

[Damon555]

Here's what you are looking for....A Savage 12 BVSS....It lists for $840 or so but Savage has a $100 rebate offer for that model for another month or so. I owned that exact rifle a few years back and it was a gem....Had to sell it out of necessity though. I'm wringing out the 308 model at the moment. It's an excellent rifle right out of the box......

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/78338

 

[Cee Zee]

There are actually a bunch of rifles that will do what you want and do it well but generally Savage sells stuff at better prices than pretty much any other commonly known rifles. At one time it was clear as heck that Savage was the best gun for the money but their prices have gone up some. But they're still about the best around as far as bang for the buck goes.

 

[onelastshot]

I have the CZ 527 and dollar for dollar it's one of the best investments I've made. In Europe, CZ is one of the top name companies, the US is just a secondary market for them. Due to demand, they are building two new facilities, you won't be disappointed.

 

[Cee Zee]

the US is just a secondary market for them

That may be true but there are plenty of them sold here in the US. People really like their stuff for good reason.

 

[bluzman]

I have the CZ 527 and dollar for dollar it's one of the best investments I've made. In Europe, CZ is one of the top name companies, the US is just a secondary market for them. Due to demand, they are building two new facilities, you won't be disappointed.

That may be true but there are plenty of them sold here in the US. People really like their stuff for good reason.

As a CZ 527 Carbine owner, I certainly agree.

 

[Sniper66]

My brother and I both shoot Remington 700 .223s, his a VLS and mine a VSF. They are essentially the same gun, both in your price range, but the VSF is no longer available....I think. He had his trigger adjusted; I replaced mine with a Shilen and we are both happy. We both reload and can shoot .5 inch groups at 100 yards on most days and kill prairie dogs at 300 yards. I've heard very good things about CZ and don't think you can go wrong with either. I know nothing about the other option you mentioned.