Good evening all, I was wondering what would be your choice of caliber for a bolt action to use for practicing/plinking, let say up to 300m, something that has little recoil but still enough zip to hit the gong at 300 and see it move, and cheap to feed with factory and or reloads? I was thinking 223 maybe?
Plinking bolt action
- Thread starter DGY
- Start date
I have a Savage 110 Scout in .223 for this exact purpose, works great! 223 seems to be the go to for this or 7.62x39 which for now is much cheaper to shoot. I made a post below about .223 bolt actions you may find of interest. I already have the caliber in mind just looking around for another bolt action. Wish I would have bought 2 or 3 cases of .223 AE when they were in the $500 range a few years back though instead of 1 which luckily I still have a lot left.
As others posted below, for plinking I generally use my rimfires. Favorite one for now a CZ452 varmint.
As others posted below, for plinking I generally use my rimfires. Favorite one for now a CZ452 varmint.
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sillymike
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I was going to suggest a adult-size 22lr
- Perfect for practicing positions, cheap to feed.
- Reduce the size/distance for the gongs, you'll have the same challenge
223 would probably be the cheapest, but it's still close to $1/rd
- Perfect for practicing positions, cheap to feed.
- Reduce the size/distance for the gongs, you'll have the same challenge
223 would probably be the cheapest, but it's still close to $1/rd
- Location
- Western Manitoba
I am kinda like Post #3 - seems to be a plethora of .22 Long Rifle ammo on hand - there is a CZ 452 Silhouette in the mail to me for the exact purpose that you describe. I was not thinking 300 yards - more like half of that. The smaller diameter gong that I have is 8 1/4" (21 cm) diameter and about 3/8" (9.5 mm) thick. I found a Leupold M8-12X with AO that ought to work well for that purpose.
Some years ago, our kids got me a set of metal silhouette swinging targets - a Chicken for 40 meters out, a Javelina for 60 meters out, a Turkey for 77 meters out and the Ram for 100 meters out. I find they are amazingly hard to hit from standing offhand, and perhaps oddly, I find the Chicken the hardest one to hit.
Some years ago, our kids got me a set of metal silhouette swinging targets - a Chicken for 40 meters out, a Javelina for 60 meters out, a Turkey for 77 meters out and the Ram for 100 meters out. I find they are amazingly hard to hit from standing offhand, and perhaps oddly, I find the Chicken the hardest one to hit.
223 Remington is probably your best bet: Easy to find components, and probably the cheapest centerfire cartridge to reload for.
For factory ammunition, the only thing cheaper would be 22LR (you can shoot 22LR at 300m, but you won't move a gong and it's really not for everyone) and surplus 7.62x39 (which limits your rifle options and and is less ideal for reloading).
I bought a Weatherby Vanguard 2 in .223 about 5 years ago. It is THE most accurate rifle I own. It has 1:9" twist so it shoots up to about 70grain bullets excellently. It was a great "plinker" that turned into a serious casual target rifle.
My rifles shoot 55's with no worries right out to 500 meters.
One is in 1:7, another 1:8 and a 1:9.
Cat
Fast twist rifles shoot light AND heavy bullets usually fine.
Slow twist rifles can only shoot light bullets well. The only time that fast twist rifles dont usually shoot light bullets well is if the twist is very fast and the construction of the bullet is too light. There are 35gr varmint bullets I saw come apart in air because the rotational forces were too fast and the centrifical force caused the bullet to come apart mid-air. But usually, your only worry is a bullet too long for the twist rate. Then it wont spin fast enough for its length, start to wobble mid-air, and hit the target sideways (keyhole) and be inaccurate.
Slow twist rifles can only shoot light bullets well. The only time that fast twist rifles dont usually shoot light bullets well is if the twist is very fast and the construction of the bullet is too light. There are 35gr varmint bullets I saw come apart in air because the rotational forces were too fast and the centrifical force caused the bullet to come apart mid-air. But usually, your only worry is a bullet too long for the twist rate. Then it wont spin fast enough for its length, start to wobble mid-air, and hit the target sideways (keyhole) and be inaccurate.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
"Overspin" - perhaps was real in old days - is an article by John Barsness describing getting a custom 7x57 made - the maker asked what bullets he would be using - Barsness mentioned that he was partial to 140 grain Nosler Partition in 7x57 - and that gun would shoot them very well - but about "chit" when Barsness tried 160 grain, which he also uses in 7x57. Turned out the gun maker had made twist rate "just barely enough" for the length of the 140 Partitions - and would not stablize the longer 160 grain spitzer bullets - I do not recall if he was trying the longer 160 SPBT like Sierra or the shorter 160 grain Partitions. Was apparently a thing when bullets not nearly as well balanced as they are usually done now - did not want to spin them any faster than they needed to be, else accuracy would go all wonky. Since most shooters do not swap out barrels, about only muzzle velocity to play with to alter RPM of bullet in flight.
As I previously posted, for a time in 1950's (?) Husqvarna chose to rifle 7x57 sporter barrels to 1-12" twist - perhaps they were thinking hunters would be using 140 or 150 grain Round Nose bullets? I was able to get some 140 grain Woodleigh PPSN bullets - I think they are "shortest" hunting bullets for 7 mm that I could get at the time - to be seen if I can get those to work in a 1-12" twist Model 4100 that I have here. Germans and Spanish had rifled to 1-200 mm (8.66") since about forever, but military commonly used 175 grain or 173 grain Round Nose in those days. I do not know what twist rate Rigby used when they sold the 140 grain "High Velocity" .275 Rigby (aka 7x57 Mauser).
As I previously posted, for a time in 1950's (?) Husqvarna chose to rifle 7x57 sporter barrels to 1-12" twist - perhaps they were thinking hunters would be using 140 or 150 grain Round Nose bullets? I was able to get some 140 grain Woodleigh PPSN bullets - I think they are "shortest" hunting bullets for 7 mm that I could get at the time - to be seen if I can get those to work in a 1-12" twist Model 4100 that I have here. Germans and Spanish had rifled to 1-200 mm (8.66") since about forever, but military commonly used 175 grain or 173 grain Round Nose in those days. I do not know what twist rate Rigby used when they sold the 140 grain "High Velocity" .275 Rigby (aka 7x57 Mauser).
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That is because the SX is made with a lighter jacket than some other bullets. They do much better with a slower twist for sure
Cat
- Location
- Vancouver Island, BC
Cz527
