Is This Remington 223 Still Viable - Accuracy Issues

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bamboo633

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I just measured the max COL in my Remington 700 BDL chambered in .223. The number I am coming up with is 2.37" which seems very long. My Hornady 10th edition reloading book states a max COL of 2.26" which I am assuming is the max that will reliably fit in a magazine. The magazine for this rifle had the 223 spacer removed from it when I bought it, I suspect this was so it could hold longer rounds in the internal magazine.

My questions are:

Are chambers in an "off the shelf" rifle this long or has this gun been modified to shoot longer/heavier bullets?

Is it OK to shoot regular 55gr FMJ-BT rounds that have been crimped at the cannelure ring (COL of 2.20")? Will they still be accurate?

Is a 1:12" twist rate (measured) high enough to stabilize a 75gr A-Max bullet? If not, what might be a good bullet for situation?

My main priority is accuracy, this gun is a target shooter only. Can this gun be made into an accurate rifle or should I just sell it and move on?

Thanks...
 
This is what I was worried about. I need a lot longer bullet to load anywhere near the lands but the twist rate will not stabilize a bullet long enough to get there.
 
The throat in my savage bolt action .223 is a longer throat than my AR15 rifles, .0566 vs .0500. The reason I think for the longer throat is for legal reasons if a military M885 cartridge is fired at 57,800 psi vs 55,000 psi.

It is the older .223 rifles with a .0250 throat length that cause pressure spikes if military 5.56 M885 ammunition is fired in them.

Simply put, the commercial .223 chamber must be long enough to fit the cartridge and have extra room for the company lawyer to fit in.

There is nothing wrong with having a longer throat, and you will be able to load warmer compared to most reloading manuals before reaching max pressure.

NOTE, the original M16 rifles had 1in12 and 1in14 twist and fired the M193 55gr FMJ-BT bullets. I think the only thing you will notice are lower velocities with the longer throat than what is in the .223 reloading manuals.

HOLLIGER ON .223/5.56 CHAMBERS
http://www.radomski.us/njhp/cart_tech.htm

Below look at freebore diameter "G" and free bore length "N".

wjAOlWq.jpg


Don't forget Weatherby rifles and their long free bores to get higher velocities at lower pressures.

223 Rem + 223 AI Cartridge Guide
http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/223rem/
 
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Berger 64g bullets with varget worked well in my 700. 40g hornady with a stiff charge imr4198 shot great to 300y after that not so great.
 
I am using 55gr bullets with IMR 3031 right now but I am certainly open to suggestions. I am only concerned with accuracy out to 200 yards as that is the max distance we have on our local range. I will try some of the 60gr range bullets and see what I can work up.
 
At 200 yards, 55 gr FMJ should work ok. Not the best bullet for accuracy, but it is inexpensive and readily available. If you want better accuracy, try 52gr Hornady BTHP. Going up to 62gr FMJ will put you on the edge of twist rate stabilization at 1:12. It may or may not work in your rifle. Again, the FMJ are not made with target accuracy precision in mind.
 
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