Opinions on an Accurate caliber with good barrel life

I take back what I said w.r.t. getting a 1:7" twist .223 - I think "2bad4u2" is giving you better advice than I did. He is correct when he says that a 9"-twist with a .223 Wylde chamber will be a more versatile rifle for 0-600yard shooting. Unless you specifically want to build a .223 to shoot at 1000yards/900m (which will involve tradeoffs), go with his advice.
 
smile661 said:
If i were to go with a .223 i would like it to be 20-24" barrel. How do the Rem. 700 LTR and Savage 10 Precision Carbine compare??
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Both of the above mentioned rifles are 20" barrels. Both are 9 twists....and both are available in .223 so its pretty much an apples to apples comparison if they are the same price. You may lose up to 100 fps in velocity with the shorter 20" barrels, which means reduced downrange ballistics. For long range ammo you want as much pressure as possible to push those heavier pills out there.....But thats up to you. The Savage does have the accutrigger. Maybe one advantage over the Remington. Later on down the road if you want to change the barrel yourself, you can with the Savage. Handle both and see which feels better in your hands. Personally I like the feel of the LTR stock over the still plastic-feel of the Savage.

I would also suggest for a cheaper route, use your current .204 SPS V and swap barrels. This is going to be way cheaper in the long run than buying a 5R milspec. Your boltface is already set up for shooting the .223. Just spin on a new tube, have the action trued by a good gunsmith and have them put the barrel on and headspace it for you and now you're good to go.

Just a word of caution, my 7 twist spins the jackets off some of the lighter hollow point varmint bullets. I can shoot 40 grain ballistic tips and Vmaxes, but spsx, SMKs under 60 grains don't make it to the target. But my LRPV is not a varminter in purpose. Its my 1000 yard Target gun and Factory class benchrester using 69 gr Sierra Matchkings or 75 grain A-Max or 80-90 grain Bergers.
 
My Tikka Varmint in .223 has shot every bullet beautifully from 45 all the way up to 75 grain Hornady HPBT. I highly recommend it if .223 is the way you want to go because it has a 1 in 8 twist and 24" barrel. Everything you could ever want, except that you can't hunt big game if it tickled your fancy.
Would it really cost less in the end to rebarrel your 204? It sounds like a good idea, but wouldn't you be taking a chance of something going wrong in the process.
 
smile661 said:
If i were to go with a .223 i would like it to be 20-24" barrel. How do the Rem. 700 LTR and Savage 10 Precision Carbine compare??
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Why not just rebarrel your .204 to .223? That way you end up with a match grade barrel with the twist you want and the barrel length and contour you want.
 
Out to 600 yards - as a single shot - 6mm Br cut for no neck turn Lapua brass with a 10 twist will handle long bullets up to 95 grains or so. Light recoil, superb accuracy, excellent on varmints too. Short cases as this and the .30 BR are quite hard to achieve reliable feeding from a magazine.
 
smile661 said:
I have been doing alot of reading on the internet and have discovered many accurate calibers, but almost all of them are not available in a rifle from factory so a new barrel must be installed. I have been looking at the 6-7mm category and there is a large selection, but many of these rounds only last 1500-2000 shots before the barrel loses accuracy. I would like a accurate caliber that will not eat barrels. If i would need to build a rifle to accomodate the caliber then it would not be a problem. I will also be reloading so factory ammo loads are not a big deal. Some of the rounds i was looking at were .243, .260 and .284. I would be using the rifle for target shooting and maybe some varmint hunting (100-5/600 yards) Any opinions/advice appreciated.
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a good accurate caliber 6-5- 47 lapua good out to a 1000 yards
 
For plinking fun with as good as 1/2moa accuracy---build yourself a nice singleshot on a fallingblock action. Get a good mould, a caliber like a 32miller or RKS, 32-30rem, 32-40win or 38-55ballard. 10-15 grains of powder per charge. If you breech seat it, the brass lasts for hundreds of shots (maybe thousands)as you only ever size it once, the barrel lasts up into the 10's of thousands of shots. 200 to 250 gr bullets at 13-1500fps are like shooting a .22. Casting bullets becomes a hobby unto itself, used them in my 7x57 at military matches, 7-08 & 7remmag & target shoots and for hunting.
It is an eyeopener to watch a guy shoot a 10 shot .969" group @ 200 yds, and watch from behind him with a spotting scope, seeing the bullets from about halfway out, all the way to the target,and call the shot.
 
If I were starting out again on the .223 Rem path, I might consider the Rem 700 5R Milspec in .223 Rem. I believe it has a 1:9 twist (good for 69 grain SMKs and possibly other 75 grain bullets) - it has both a stainless action and decent HS Precision stock you can use as a platform. Shoot it "as-is" for a while (but get the trigger tuned), learn the game and gather your bits together...it would be a fun gun to shoot. Then when you are ready to take the next step, get a match grade barrel installed with 1:8 or 1:7 twist.


My $0.02
 
209jones said:
For plinking fun with as good as 1/2moa accuracy---build yourself a nice singleshot on a fallingblock action. Get a good mould, a caliber like a 32miller or RKS, 32-30rem, 32-40win or 38-55ballard. 10-15 grains of powder per charge. If you breech seat it, the brass lasts for hundreds of shots (maybe thousands)as you only ever size it once, the barrel lasts up into the 10's of thousands of shots. 200 to 250 gr bullets at 13-1500fps are like shooting a .22. Casting bullets becomes a hobby unto itself, used them in my 7x57 at military matches, 7-08 & 7remmag & target shoots and for hunting.
It is an eyeopener to watch a guy shoot a 10 shot .969" group @ 200 yds, and watch from behind him with a spotting scope, seeing the bullets from about halfway out, all the way to the target,and call the shot.
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I nearly fell off my chair when I read this.

May as well buy a rifle chambered in 44 mag.

...precision rifle forum indeed! :)
 
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