I think I want a .223 bolt gun. Which one?

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Peakbagger46

Peakbagger46

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Seems like a .223 bolt gun would be ideal low cost and low recoil practice for hunting rifles. I currently have a HEAVY Savage 16 .223, but it is too much for the wife and kids to shoot.

Recommendations for a 6-7# bolt gun? Synthetic stock preferred, decent trigger required. A 1-7” twist too so I can load up 75-90g bullets. I’d like to keep it at $500 or less.
 
Peakbagger46 said:
Seems like a .223 bolt gun would be ideal low cost and low recoil practice for hunting rifles. I currently have a HEAVY Savage 16 .223, but it is too much for the wife and kids to shoot.

Recommendations for a 6-7# bolt gun? Synthetic stock preferred, decent trigger required. A 1-7” twist too so I can load up 75-90g bullets. I’d like to keep it at $500 or less.
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You'd probably want something with the mag length and throat to feed ~2.5" OALs if you want to be able to shoot the heavies. I've been keeping an eye out for something similar, but there just doesn't seem to be much out there factory wise with fast twists and long mags. I pretty much decided that I would need to pick an action and a barrel and drop them into an AICS compatible stock or chassis to get what I am looking for, I'll be interested to see what others have found/done.
 
The Ruger American Ranch seems close. The AR mag idea on a bolt gun is kind of stupid, but everything else seems like it may work.

I wonder how the 1-8 twist would work with heavier that 70g bullets, my 1-9” Savage loves 69g but nothing heavier.



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MVP turkey.jpg
I couldn't be happier with my Mossberg MVP, which is deadly accurate with heavier bullets like 77 and 75 grain. It loves Hornady BTHP 75 grain rounds, and it takes AR mags, but hangs up with metal mags. I use Pmag 10 or 20 rounders, which feed fine. I have 2 Ruger Americans, but neither is 223. But if I didn't have this MVP, I would own a 3rd RAR in 223.
 
Peakbagger46 said:
The Ruger American Ranch seems close. The AR mag idea on a bolt gun is kind of stupid, but everything else seems like it may work.

I wonder how the 1-8 twist would work with heavier that 70g bullets, my 1-9” Savage loves 69g but nothing heavier.

View attachment 860916
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An 8 twist works great with 75gr hpbt and 73gr ELD. I'm not sure whether something like 80gr ELDs would stabilize, but I've read that 90gr require faster twists, 7 or even 6.5, to fully stabiliz .

I wouldn't mind the Ruger, but the AR mags kill it for me as they are too limiting on COAL. I do wonder if a .223 RAR dropped in one of the AICS compatible RAR stocks could be easily made to feed from a .223 AICS mag?
 
CZ 527. I just picked up a varmint model and love the way it balances. The barrel isn't super heavy and the otherwise light and small aspects of the rifle keep it relatively light. But they also make a slimmer barrel profile in the "american" model which might be what you are looking for.

I just sold a ruger american predator in the same cartridge and much prefer the CZ. Did not like the AR style magazine Americans... if I bought another one it would be the rotary style magazine model. Try one before you buy one.
 
Gtscotty said:
An 8 twist works great with 75gr hpbt and 73gr ELD. I'm not sure whether something like 80gr ELDs would stabilize, but I've read that 90gr require faster twists, 7 or even 6.5, to fully stabiliz .

I wouldn't mind the Ruger, but the AR mags kill it for me as they are too limiting on COAL. I do wonder if a .223 RAR dropped in one of the AICS compatible RAR stocks could be easily made to feed from a .223 AICS mag?
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you would only need the Aics mag well, not a whole stock. and it should run fine.
 
Take this with a grain of salt, as I am a pretty big CZ fanboi, but the 527 is the bee's knees.

heirloom quality at normal gun prices that just flat shoot.
 
edapp said:
CZ 527. I just picked up a varmint model and love the way it balances. The barrel isn't super heavy and the otherwise light and small aspects of the rifle keep it relatively light. But they also make a slimmer barrel profile in the "american" model which might be what you are looking for.

I just sold a ruger american predator in the same cartridge and much prefer the CZ. Did not like the AR style magazine Americans... if I bought another one it would be the rotary style magazine model. Try one before you buy one.
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Does the CZ still use a 9 twist barrel? If so that's too slow to do well with the kind of bullets the OP (and I) would be interested in using. What is the max OAL that the CZ mag allows?

As long as they've fixed the bolt lift issues on the CZs (you used to have to run high rings on them due to the bolt handle geometry), it would be a nice platform, but if you have to rebarrel to get the twist needed to stabilize the bullets you want to run, things get much more expensive quickly.
 
LoonWulf said:
you would only need the Aics mag well, not a whole stock. and it should run fine.
Click to expand...

That is an interesting option, might not be too bad to pick up the fast twist RAR Ranch and swap in the AICS mag well.
 
Gtscotty said:
Does the CZ still use a 9 twist barrel? If so that's too slow to do well with the kind of bullets the OP (and I) would be interested in using. What is the max OAL that the CZ mag allows?

As long as they've fixed the bolt lift issues on the CZs (you used to have to run high rings on them due to the bolt handle geometry), it would be a nice platform, but if you have to rebarrel to get the twist needed to stabilize the bullets you want to run, things get much more expensive quickly.
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Mine is several years old and is a 1:9....don't know if that has changed.

As to the length I can tell you the rounds I make for the CZ will not fit in an AR GI mag.
 
Gtscotty said:
Does the CZ still use a 9 twist barrel? If so that's too slow to do well with the kind of bullets the OP (and I) would be interested in using. What is the max OAL that the CZ mag allows?
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I haven't tried feeding anything with an OAL longer than milspec ammo in my .223 CZ527, but I can say that their mag follower is _approximately_ 2.275" long, so the upper limit is a bit shorter than that. I have four .223 mags and one time I confirmed with a caliper that there's a few thousandths difference between my followers.

Factory site currently lists 1:9" as standard.
 
danez71 said:
They make it with Ruger 5 round mags too.

Im pretty sure I've I read more than once that it will tolerate longer COAL.
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I have this and yes the flush-fit rotary magazine will tolerate COAL out to 2.275". It shoots lights out, but I no longer see this one listed on Ruger's website. Only one shown is the AR-mag version.
 
I've been thinking about this for a while now and the two that keep popping up in discussions are the Ruger (either Ranch or Predator) and the CZ. I like the CZ a little better but the slower twist and the bolt handle deal has be thinking I'd be disappointed. But, If I cannot shoot heavier bullets in the Ruger due to mag length restrictions than it's almost a mute point.


-Jeff
 
Gtscotty said:
That is an interesting option, might not be too bad to pick up the fast twist RAR Ranch and swap in the AICS mag well.
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if you do I have a 10rnd Ruger Aics mag you can have....I think the parts are about 15 bucks straight from ruger
 
At that price point I'd buy the Ruger and be happy with 75 gr bullets. If you can find more in your budget Tikka is another good choice. Not 100% sure they are much, if any more accurate. Nor how well they handle the heavier bullets, but they are good with at least 75 gr. Considering all of the Tikka's are built on a long action you may have more room in the mag. Or at least able to modify it for more room
 
jmr40 said:
At that price point I'd buy the Ruger and be happy with 75 gr bullets. If you can find more in your budget Tikka is another good choice. Not 100% sure they are much, if any more accurate. Nor how well they handle the heavier bullets, but they are good with at least 75 gr. Considering all of the Tikka's are built on a long action you may have more room in the mag. Or at least able to modify it for more room
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Nice, for some reason I thought the Tikka was a slow twist. Looks like the T3X is a 1-8”. 22.5” barrel and about 6.5#. I may have to get some money together and go for this one.
 
Peakbagger46 said:
Nice, for some reason I thought the Tikka was a slow twist. Looks like the T3X is a 1-8”. 22.5” barrel and about 6.5#. I may have to get some money together and go for this one.
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Yeah, that's probably my top option as well, there are AICS mag stocks and chassis readily available for Tikkas. I've read about people having success with 80gr ELDs in 8 twists, I think if I could get a good load with that bullet, I'd be pretty satisfied.
 
Does it have to be a bolt rifle? There are single shot H&R/NEF and Rossi's out there for under $300 and weigh about 6-7 lbs, but IDK how they shoot 75+ grain projectiles.

Any Ruger, Savage, or Mossberg poly stock budget bolt rifle will work for you.
 
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