Best out of box .223?

best bang for the buck bolt would be a CZ527 IMO. The carbine is a lot of fun and very accurate if you can get your hands on one. If you're looking more for a varmint/target rifle the CZ527 varmint/mtr/thumbhole are nice as well. All CZs are CIP spec and can shoot 556 and 223 interchangeably.

If you're looking for a semi-auto the benelli MR1 is fun rifle but is NOT super accurate (maybe 2 moa with bulk ammo). They don't get a lot of love for some reason (I'm guessing high initial purchase price) but you can find them cheap on the EE. Someone has a NIB one for 1500$. Also CIP spec and can shoot 223/556 interchangeably. They take AR mags if you have some lying around.
 
old303 said:
If it's 55-grain fodder originally meant for an AR, then there's a chance a T3X with an 8" twist barrel has too much twist to send that stuff accurately. Might need to look for something with a longer twist, or use the T3X with heavier bullets?
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My 1:8” T3 shoots very well with cheap Win 45gr HP bulk pack
 
kayaker1 said:
My 1:8” T3 shoots very well with cheap Win 45gr HP bulk pack
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I've seen a 1:7" barrel express its displeasure with the light stuff, so once burnt twice shy there would have me wanting to go to at least two steps away to 1:9". And since I already have the 1:7" rifle that does well with the heavy stuff, adding a long-twist varmint rifle might make sense.

But it does appear that the T3X in 1:8" is the best all-around choice if you're only lugging one around!
 
I purchased a Savage 110 scout in .223 and am happy with it although It did have a few hiccups before I got it broken in. It is a new model with adjustable stock and their accustock bedding system which is pretty impessive and the stock is very rigid. Its a lot of features in a rifle. I don’t really use it for precision shooting just open sights. it is well put together and was a good choice for me. I did a fair amount of research before my purchase. I keep thinking of putting a scope on to see what it can really do but like it as is.
 
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Be careful with the Remington 783. Good price, decent rifle. The one I bought at Canadian Tire turned out to have a 1 in 14 twist. Apparently several of them left the factory like this. Ok if you only shoot light stuff, but anything over 55 gr is out
 
Buck1950 said:
Just seeing a lot of 'hard primer' issues, folks sayin' it's 'Bulk' or 'Bolt' causing this. I've got a 5-year-old Ruger American Standard that shoots 'Bulk' and 'Cheap' like Fed AE, PMC, PPU, MFS & Barnaul & Herters bulk - All with NO probs at all. Hundreds with NO "Light strike" issues.
YMMV - obviously. Maybe your bolts need internal cleaning ?
And the "Twist Chart" above is irrelevant for my rifle - MOA for all weights out to 180 yds.
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I will echo what Gatehouse has said and add the following - prior to a few years ago, a lot of what we referred to as “bulk 223” were wooden crates of norinco 556/223. If the op is sitting on a few cases of this (which many of us still are thanks to Canada Ammo sales and the old adage buy it cheap, stack it deep) then they should think twice about a bolt gun. I bought several cases over the years from guys who figured it was cheap plinking ammo for their bolt gun only to discover every 6th or 7th round wouldn’t fire due to light primer strikes.
 
hawk-i said:
What happened to the Howa/Vanguard crowd? They seem to have gone silent this year .
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Picked up a Howa 1500 mini in .223 Rem, 20" #6 heavy barrel. Changed out the factory stock for a thumbhole varmint, glass bedded and dumped the plastic trigger guard for bottom metal. Developed a couple of loads that I am happy with. This is my first Howa/Vanguard rifle.
:d
 
hawk-i said:
What happened to the Howa/Vanguard crowd? They seem to have gone silent this year .
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I'm a fan, I've owned a few but culling the herd over and over has left me with just one, a "series one" Vanguard from the early 2000s, .257 Wby. Absolute tack driver, sitting in a B&C stock and wearing Athlon glass on an MDT rail/rings combo it's a solid long range hammer. Once the barrel is due for replacement, I'm thinking of going to an 8- or 7-twist to send the new 130gr+ bullets out to the horizon.
 
I'd go for either a Tikka or, if a bit more weight isn't an issue, a Vanguard/Howa. Had several of each in various chamberings and was very impressed with the value per dollar. Hard primer issues were so rare as to be inconsequential, although of course depending upon your use for the rifle any amount of FTF might be unacceptable.

But, on a purely bang-for-the-buck basis, I think it would be tough to beat a Ruger American, especially if you get the AR-mag version. I got one as part of a trade, figured it was an ugly POS that I could try out and then quickly re-sell. The "ugly" part was correct, but it turned out to be very accurate, equal to the Tikka with many loads...and never, ever failed to fire with even the cheapest surplus stuff. Decent trigger, very shootable, light weight, excellent handling with the 16-something-inch barrel. It's even got a threaded barrel, for those who need to turn a light $600 rifle into a heavy $1500 rifle by adding expensive crap that doesn't make it shoot any better.

It also functions perfectly with any AR-pattern mag that I have tried.
 
Another plug for the RAR in 5.56. Just a quick load work up showed a sub-MOA capability. Also, it operates real slick with AR15 mags. Fast bolt throw (60deg) and short, light weight makes this is fun gun with long range accuracy out to 500-600y. Note that this load uses common 55gr Hornady soft point bulk bullets, not match bullets.

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squirrelshooter said:
Be careful with the Remington 783. Good price, decent rifle. The one I bought at Canadian Tire turned out to have a 1 in 14 twist. Apparently several of them left the factory like this. Ok if you only shoot light stuff, but anything over 55 gr is out
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Perhaps the pencil barrels maybe 1:14 twist. The 16” heavy barrel is listed as 1:9 twist. But they could have as well been mistakenly rifled in slower rate so good point, i have to check the real twist rate of my 783 16” heavy barrel.
 
You get a light enough main spring so you have easy bolt lift and your rifle will choke on 205m primers, arguably the lightest out there.
 
After taking a $30,000 bath due to the OIC I was a bit sour to say the least. I didn't want to spend much more on firearms but had a metric Sh*t ton of 556 and components to shoot up. I was debating between the Ruger American Ranch and the Tikka T3X CTR. I went with the RAR to save a few bucks. I cant speak on how it compares to a tikka t3x however, I can say that I am 100% satisfied with the performance of this rifle. The bolt was a bit rough at the beginning but after some mothers mag shine and a few hundred rounds its like butter. The trigger was pretty good but I did go ahead and add a mcarbo trigger spring. This took the pull down to a very clean 1.8lb break. The synthetic stock is what it is! It does not have any play and its pretty comfortable.

Now for the good part! how does it shoot? This rifle is an absolute tack driver. When shooting my bulk 55 grain loads I produced in mass for my AR's I am typically just under 1 MOA. After playing with a few different projectile and powder combinations I have settled on 68 grain hornady BTHP, winchester 748, winchester primers and federal brass. This combo is giving me .33MOA out to 400 yards. Would the Tikka give me better performance ....? who knows. What I do know is that I have no regrets buying the RAR and I feel it would be pretty hard to match or beat its performance.

I do have an order on a Tikka Tac A1 in 6.5 creedmoor. While its a different beast, it will be interesting to see how it performs against the $800 ruger.
 
Looks like Remington under the brand mame RemArms is restaryimg the 783 models. I have two 783 HB in 223 with 16.5” barrels and love them. I checked both for twist rate and both fortunately are 1:9 twist. There were reports of incorrect twist rates. Thinking of adding one in 308 as well butnit has to have the short heavy barrel.
 
IvoB said:
I got my 5 shot group using Benchmark and 40 grain v-max's I could not get either one of my Tikka's to shoot as well so I sold them both - kept the Axis. I am going to look for the target and post it here since I can now post pictures.
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I am also a huge Weatherby Vanguard fan, so that or a Howa (their mini-action is very cool) would be a great 223 slinger. Gobles usually has a good selection.

BUT....My first Axis was (and still is) one of the plain jane, new stock designs without the Accutrigger in 223. As IvoB says, an MCarbo kit is easy to install to lower the trigger pull weight. You can also hunt down replacement trigger springs and hardware from Home Depot or an auto shop DIY, it's not too difficult, but maybe a bit less safe. I believe the 223 Axis rifles have a 1:9 twist, so no problem at least to 69 grain bullets.

I was very prepared to hate the little Axis, I'm a wood and steel kind of guy, and the Axis reviews can be brutal sometimes. But this thing is incredible. My handloads will almost all group under 0.75" at 100 yards (3 shot groups with 55 gr VMax on IMR4064 powder), with the odd hero group of 3/16". Three weeks ago I printed a 0.5" group at 200 yards, probably the best I've ever gotten out of any rifle. Sounds like BS, but absolutely true.

The only issue I've had with the Axis was the odd misfeed with the 2nd last round. That is annoying, and if you read any Axis reviews problems with the magazines come up often. But not a big deal, at least for a range toy. Best of all I had bought it used from a LGS for peanuts. Easily the most satisfying firearms purchase I've ever made. No, you won't impress any gun snobs with an Axis. I wouldn't suggest it as the 'Best out of the box 223'....but if you want to impress yourself with some great accuracy from an inexpensive platform and have some fun showing those groups off, it's not a bad choice. Now about those MDT chassis.....
 
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