Boomwack: I just bought my 13th and 14th Varmint guns in caliber 223 Remington in the last two weeks.
I have now shot them both but due to COLD (12 degrees!) I did not get a chance to fully "wring them out".
One of these Rifles I bought from an old an "eccentric" friend of mine.
I buy more guns from him than I care to admit.
He is wealthy and has a short attention span and looses interest in guns rather quickly.
This past spring he bought a Remington 700 SPS-V in stainless steel.
He bought a new and expensive laminated Varmint style stock for it and sighted it in with "his" favorite 223 load.
He lamented as he sold it to me that this was the best shooting 223 he had ever owned - I said "yeah uh-huh right".
Well I took it to the rnage and with his loading I fired a 5 shot 100 yard group measuring .307"!
And I did this with a 16 power scope.
So indeed this Rifle/loading WILL shoot.
Anyway his and now my "favorite" load is:
Winchester brass
Federal 205M (match) primers
Hornady 40 grain V-Max bullets
Winchester 748 powder
I actually have several "favorite" 223 loads (depending on the intended uses). But this load impressed me no end earlier this week in difficult conditions (cold temperatures and a tail wind).
I have, to date, never fired a handloaded bullet heavier than 55 grains in any of my 223's.
Long live the 223.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
