Best .223 bolt gun? Does anyone do CRF?

[philthygeezer]

Looking at getting a very high quality .223 bolt action rifle for both range and field duty. I'd love to get a CRF design: do any exist?

So:

1. What are the highest quality .223 bolt guns out there?
2. Who makes a mini-mauser or other CRF design, and are they high quality?

 

[chuck nelson]

Kimber makes a CRF 223.

 

[keith mokry]

ruger and cz
Ruger target is a heavy gun
CZ527 kevlar is lighter for carrying
both have a good trigger system

 

[saskcop]

Ruger bolts are CRF, but I am not sure that offers any advantage in .223. Whatever turns your crank. Hard to find a more accurate .223 than a good used model 700 or even a Savage for that matter.

 

[Cranky Pants]

Real happy with my Savage model 10 so far. Crf would be nice though.

 

[bogie]

I have a CZ527 but it is a DM. One of the reasons I bought it besides the fact that its a CZ. Its one of my fave rifles and I had no trouble getting it in a leftie. Took 2 days to get in. The lads in the shop had never seen a CZ527 and there was drool all over the counter.

 

[kevin.303]

not CRF but the Sako l-461's and Tikka M55's are very very nice and smooth as well, incredibly accurate and triggers so nice its just plain silly.

 

[tjhaile]

I quite like my CZ 527 Varmint. I really lucked out on the wood.

 

[Ardent]

Another vote for CZ, the action is actually a double square bridge true mini-Mauser. Most actions .223 is chambered in are .308 sized, bastardized into a .223, the CZ527 is a true scaled .223 length action.

 

[bogie]

One of the main reasons I bought the CZ527 is also because of its "MiniMauser" designation. If memory serves me correctly both my CZ452 and 527 weigh in at
5.2lbs. I was not so lucky in the wood dept but the stock is still quite nice. Nice lumber.

 

[Z06corvette]

I had an early Ruger Mk.II Target (blued action, bright stainless barrel) in .223 and it was a push-feed. If I was to buy another .223 bolt gun it would have an action properly sized to that cartridge.

 

[KO]

My 527 kevlar is a tack driver. I don't know if the 1 in 9 twist rate is available in all their 223's but man this thing shoots anything you feed it.

 

[Boomer]

The little CZ Mauser is pretty hard to beat. Find an old one or an earlier Brno Fox, and get a fast twist custom barrel spun on it. A pal of mine is all worked up about the .222 Magnum, velocity of the .223 with the long neck of the .222 make it better than average choice.

 

[OutL4w]

I'll go +1 on a Savage model 10.

I really enjoy mine, but I'm neglecting it since I got an SL8...

 

[Ardent]

The Savage model 10 isn't CRF, which is the feature the OP wants. It's also not a .223 action, but a .308 action with .223 wrangled into it, and worse yet the Savages are just plain ugly...

 

[caramel]

With my 700 and my Sav 10 both are tack driver 223 rifle, the big suprise for me came in the form of a Suprlight 223 NEF rifle won in a local store, tag price 299.99 did put a cheap Tasco 6X24X40, cheaps rings, base was included with the nef... NOW this rig is the biggest surprise of my whole shooting life, it shoot .5 groups all day with WWB 45 grs on par with my best reloads for my rem and sav, this nef rifle is a mystery 400.00 rig shoot on par with 2000.00 rig... JP.

 

[stubblejumper]

I use a CZ 257 Kevlar myself, and I am very pleased with it.

 

[sharp shooter]

A little off topic but,

When the heck is Winchester gonna come out with a 223 or 204. I wish they had some better varmit choices. A 22-250 in a featherweight would be nice but I really want a 204 223 or 22-250 supergrade!

 

[KDX]

Cooper makes some really nice rifles and will hopefully be coming out with a repeater in .223 in the next year or two. If you can settle for a single shot I think you would be happy with your decision.