Thread: Best bang for buck 222/223 action

Originally Posted by Ground Control

The down range performance of the .223 has been advanced over the last decade or so with the move to faster twist barrels and longer/heavier projectiles , but to take advantage of that you need to be able to load them long if you want .
Actions/Magazines that allow a longer cartridge OAL are almost a necessity in my opinion
.

And being able to find those long projectiles in the country!!!

Originally Posted by Friwi

And being able to find those long projectiles in the country!!!

Thought Targex did some heavier pills that @Tahr used?

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

its funny when you read about the early .222s that hit our shores...there was one of them on this forum a while back....medium action length so strong as heck...apparently some of the reloads were hotrodded to heck....... one thing for sure,it would solve the mag length and feeding long projectiles issue.

Well, Remington, Howa and others use their 'short action' that'll take a 2.8" or longer loaded round (308 family).

To feed at 222/223 size case, a block is put into the magazine box and shorter follower used. However this takes COAL down to about 2.3".

With some modification (removing the block in the mag box and replacing with a smaller one) you can get 2.5" COAL rounds into the magazine.

Worth reading this thread: Start At The Fucking Start............... | As Real As It Gets

Just check your barrel has a generous throat before trying to send some downrange

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

its funny when you read about the early .222s that hit our shores...there was one of them on this forum a while back....medium action length so strong as heck...apparently some of the reloads were hotrodded to heck....... one thing for sure,it would solve the mag length and feeding long projectiles issue.

Well, Remington, Howa and others use their 'short action' that'll take a 2.8" or longer loaded round (308 family).



To feed at 222/223 size case, a block is put into the magazine box and shorter follower used. However this takes COAL down to about 2.3".

With some modification (removing the block in the mag box and replacing with a smaller one) you can get 2.5" COAL rounds into the magazine.

Worth reading this thread: Start At The Fucking Start............... | As Real As It Gets

Just check your barrel has a generous throat before trying to send some downrange

Originally Posted by caberslash

Thought Targex did some heavier pills that @Tahr used?

Yes, Targex do an 80grn that I use. Unfortunately he is out of jacket material for them so wont be making any more 80's for quite a while.

Originally Posted by Ground Control

The down range performance of the .223 has been advanced over the last decade or so with the move to faster twist barrels and longer/heavier projectiles , but to take advantage of that you need to be able to load them long if you want .
Actions/Magazines that allow a longer cartridge OAL are almost a necessity in my opinion.
The Howa’s are the best “ bang for your buck “ at the moment, but I prefer the 1500 SA over the mini .

Not exclusively. The 77 grn Sierra tipped match king is designed for a short AR 2.3" mag (Tikka length) and they are exceptional performers on deer.

Originally Posted by Bagheera

The Sako 85 has several worthwhile improvements over the Vixen.

Like being very heavy...

what about some of the euro types that Graeme Champion sells sometimes? seem to recall maybe a sauer or carl gustav single stack magazine models that looked quite nice?
do these fall into the hard to get bits for category/

The Howa is hands-down the best value for money, a good design and well made. The Ruger American is also a good action but needs some work to get running nicely. Zastava's are OK but a bit sloppy in the action. CZ's are not a particularly good design but quite well made. None of them are as good as my old pre-Cindy Ranger AR was! (sub 1/2 MOA consistently). My current Tikka CTR is good, but not quite as good (1/2 t0 3/4 MOA).