.223 rebarrel project advice wanted

Magmalis

Magmalis

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North of Edmonton
I am putting a new barrel on my .223 and could use some input from some people who have some experience with these builds.

I have a Remington 700 action that will get blue printed, a bell and Carlson stock with AI bottom metal and a timmney trigger to build off of. I bought a Bartlein barrel, heavy Palma contour with a 1:7 twist that starts at 32".
I want to shoot 80 grain Bergers with 90 grain Bergers on the menu also. I have a lot of 70 plus weight bullets and even more in the 55 weight class that I might use or just shoot out of another rifle if the twist rate is too fast.

This rifle will be used for shooting dirt rats at 200 yards plus in some windy southern Alberta shooting mostly, but I would also like to use this thing for some longish range metal or paper targets. (I already have a custom built .338 Lapua Ackley for true long range, pics on the site here.)

So after this long winded explanation, I would like to know what the optimal barrel length should be. My components are already chosen and payed for but nothing is put together yet but I don't think I need the full 32" minus the chambering.

Any other advice concerning the bullets or powder is welcome too, the longest I have shot this rifle before the new barrel was just over 700 yards so I want to best that at minimum.
 
I had a Tikka with a 26" Shillen barrel that shot 80gr VLDs in V-Bulls at 900m. I can't remember the velocity off hand but they were still supersonic at that distance.
 
If you go over to the reloading section, manitou210 has a load in the sticky thread for .223/5.56 loads. He has had pretty good success shooting his .223 out to 900m in competition. I am also putting a new 1:7 twist on my .223 to use in TR competition out to 1000 yards. I will be cutting the barrel to 30 inch to match the sight radius on my .308 target rifle.
 
Is there a point where the barrel might lose accuracy because of the length and weight that the action needs to support? Is there a point where I just don't need the extra length because the powder is already burned and I'm just getting diminishing returns from the extra length?

I would like to keep it as long as is practical.
 
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