Light barrel vs heavy barrel???

thatmikeguy

thatmikeguy

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i want to buy a 223 but don't know if i should get a heavy barrel or not. i do a lot of target shooting. i know my friends 22-250 light barrel gets hot real fast but i have no experience with the 223. please share your experience.
 
thatmikeguy said:
i want to buy a 223 but don't know if i should get a heavy barrel or not. i do a lot of target shooting. i know my friends 22-250 light barrel gets hot real fast but i have no experience with the 223. please share your experience.
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Is it mainly going to be a target rifle? A .223 will heat up a barrel pretty quick if it's thin. My advice is to get the heavy barrel if it is going to be mainly a target/gopher rifle. If its going to be mainly a coyote rifle I would go with a sporter weight.
 
HB for target, sporter for walking. You also need to consider the twist, for target applications most shooters load the heavy bullets which requires a fast twist, ie 9" or quicker. Also the HB heats up slower but also cools slower. 223 is a great versatile cartridge.
 
way back when , g&a magazine did a review on the colt ar15 vs the colt ar15hb- both 1/7 nato twist- the conclusion was the extra half-pound wasn't worth the trouble
 
My CZ 527 Varmint is the best of both worlds. It has a heavy barrel, but weighs just over 8 lbs with scope and sling, making it light enough to walk around with.

DSC00172.JPG


You might have a hard time finding another one with wood like this, though.
 
my gun will mainly be a target rifle thought i would like to shoo gophers and yotes. i don't want a gun thats super heavy. the savage model 25 is nice but the t3 light feels better to me. i prefer a 24" barrel but most are 22" and few guns have medium weight barrels. a slower twist would be nice. any suggestions??

that cz is beautiful
 
A Savage Precision Carbine is 7 lbs and a fat 20" barrel that works;) My PC10 in .308 wont shift POI with a very fast ten shots. How far out are you going to shoot? I just traded a 26" Barrel 12Fvss for a 20" Barrel. I like the shorter ones if your going to carry it around.
 
How about a Remmy M700 SPS Tactical in .223 with the factory 20" barrel that is already a 9" (1 turn in 9") ?? It can / will handle the 68's, 69's, and 75 grain bullets for longer distances. I have shot these bullets at the National Sniper matches from my Winnie M70 Coyote .223 sporting a medium profiled 9" twist barrel.

Shorter 20" barrel for your walking adventures, fat & stiff barrel for the gopher shoots! :D Yeeeha... what not to like? Just gotta get used to that goofy feeling Hogue overmolded rubber coated stock. Actually, my buddy loves his .223 SPS Tactical AND the Hogue stock. He just adores that rubber feel! :eek:

Hope this helps!

:cheers:

Barney
 
I would also suggest the Savage or Remington with the 20" barrels. It's the best of both worlds and a short rifle is very easy to maneuver. I'd like to build a 20 VarTarg with a 20" barrel.
 
let me know if i am wrong but most of the short barrels have 1 in 9 twist so they are better for heaver bullet weight and this is a problem for some as we dont reload ,and heavy bullets are not comon in factory loads eg varmit loads
 
tjhaile said:
My CZ 527 Varmint is the best of both worlds. It has a heavy barrel, but weighs just over 8 lbs with scope and sling, making it light enough to walk around with.

DSC00172.JPG


You might have a hard time finding another one with wood like this, though.
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I have nothing to add to this conversation that has not already been said other than that this is one fine looking rifle.
 
thatmikeguy said:
ji'm not planning on shooting super far. maybe up to 200 maybe 300 yards. i just don't want to have over heating issues.
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I wouldn't worry too much about overheating.
Whether or you are shooting a semi with the 5 shot magazine restriction, or you are shooting a manually-operated rifle, I think you would have to be trying pretty hard to overheat a .223 barrel under normal circumstances.
 
Hungry said:
How about a Remmy M700 SPS Tactical in .223 with the factory 20" barrel that is already a 9" (1 turn in 9") ?? It can / will handle the 68's, 69's, and 75 grain bullets for longer distances. I have shot these bullets at the National Sniper matches from my Winnie M70 Coyote .223 sporting a medium profiled 9" twist barrel.

Shorter 20" barrel for your walking adventures, fat & stiff barrel for the gopher shoots! :D Yeeeha... what not to like? Just gotta get used to that goofy feeling Hogue overmolded rubber coated stock. Actually, my buddy loves his .223 SPS Tactical AND the Hogue stock. He just adores that rubber feel! :eek:

Hope this helps!

:cheers:

Barney
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Another vote for a heavy barrelled (fluted in this case) 20" 1 in 9 twist Remington .223. This one (the XCR Compact Tactical) has a TriNyte coated stainless barrel and action, a Bell and Carlson stock and a very nice trigger (40-X externally adjustable from 1.5 to 3.5 pounds). I'm sure you could put together an equivalent rifle for less money, for example start with an SPS Tactical and upgrade the stock etc, but as a turnkey setup I'm very happy with it.

-Scope is a Leupold MK4 3.5-10 illuminated reticle in a Near mount / NF 20 moa base.

imgp1258k.jpg
 
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shooter177 said:
let me know if i am wrong but most of the short barrels have 1 in 9 twist so they are better for heaver bullet weight and this is a problem for some as we dont reload ,and heavy bullets are not comon in factory loads eg varmit loads
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Fast twist will shoot 50 or 55gr just as good as a slow twist.

As for your rifle...I had the same problem, I got a Savage 10fp in .223, it was great for target shooting, but for hunting forget it, you cant carry it.So I sold it and got a T3 lite stainless in .223.I love it and is a lot easier to carry.
 
Attention said:
Fast twist will shoot 50 or 55gr just as good as a slow twist.
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Absolutely, correct, yes!

I had a custom .222 with a 1:7 twist built on a M-700 action, and this thing would shoot 52 gr MKs with unbelievable accuracy, as it would the long heavy weight match bullets. The factory barrel refused to shoot any target bullet heavier than 55 grs, although it was big game accurate with 63 gr Sierras and 70 gr Speer round nose bullets. My .308 has 1:8 twist and is simply the most accurate rifle I have ever owned, regardless of what bullet I send down the pipe. The only problem I ever ran into with the fast twist .222 was that frangible bullets sometimes wouldn't make it to the target, so I used the MKs whenever I needed a light weight bullet.
 
scottm said:
Another vote for a heavy barrelled (fluted in this case) 20" 1 in 9 twist Remington .223. This one (the XCR Compact Tactical) has a TriNyte coated stainless barrel and action, a Bell and Carlson stock and a very nice trigger (40-X externally adjustable from 1.5 to 3.5 pounds). I'm sure you could put together an equivalent rifle for less money, for example start with an SPS Tactical and upgrade the stock etc, but as a turnkey setup I'm very happy with it.

-Scope is a Leupold MK4 3.5-10 illuminated reticle in a Near mount / NF 20 moa base.

imgp1258e.jpg
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wow I'm in love!!!
 
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