Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Taming the vicious 223AI

So, I built myself a 223AI last year... it was the first chamber I cut myself. The notion was that I could really use a light, low-recoil trainer that was cheap to run high volume through. To that end I used a Mountain profile 1:8" barrel, made by Pac-Nor, and a M700 action via a SPSS donor I bought for the purpose.

While very accurate, I was disappointed by the rifle for a very simple reason: it still had enough muzzle jump from prone that I couldn't reliably see my shots impact. The little 75 Amax doesn't really hit steel very hard out there a ways, either, so I also couldn't reliably HEAR my hits when I tried it on my steel plates. Speaking strictly for myself, if you can't call your shots, shooting LR gets tedious pretty fast.

I mothballed it and moved on to other projects.

A month or so ago I decided to make a brake for one of the two builds I have going currently, a .338 EDGE. I more or less copied the Holland first-gen brake design. The brake I made for the EDGE looks like this:








One difference between this and the Holland (I think) is that on mine the slots are offset so that the bottom of the brake is solid, so it doesn't blow crap everywhere. I don't know how well it'll work on the big .33 and won't have that rifle together for a couple more months.

But, that sparked the notion that, silly as it seems at first blush, maybe the thing to do was to brake the 223AI! Not for the recoil per se but to keep the muzzle flip down. So I made a similar but smaller brake, pulled the AI back apart, threaded the barrel, etc. Since this is all a big experiment, I left space between the slots to add another one if needed; I kinda regret that now. Oh well, hindsight is always 20/20.





I shot it today, a bunch as it turned out. What a hoot! I could easily see my shots impacting, and that allowed things to move pretty fast. By the end I was picking on small rocks in a cutbank at 520 yards with ease (75 grain Amax), holding well under MOA, and while things were falling apart a bit at 875 yards, probably due to ES, I was keeping them in about a 1-foot diameter, which was still fun... and is farther than I really need this rifle to reach anyway.

The rifle/scope package itself is pretty low-budget-funny and will make a few heads explode. I just put it back in the plastic SPS stock (I hear a pop!), which floats the MR profile barrel nicely... scope is an old Leup 2.5-8 (pop!) with the coin-slot click adjustments, I think I bought it new about 15 years ago. It's always tracked great, ironically, which is why I've kept it around. It has a straight duplex (pop!). The turret is a Stoney Point retrofit unit (there's that popping sound again!) that I like a lot; very positive clicks, easy to read, works great. Trigger is a 1st-gen X-Mark (pop!). Mounts are Talleys.

I cut the barrel pretty short when I threaded it. Since this is purely a toy a few fps velocity doesn't matter one bit, so I cut it to a bit under 20". With the brake on there it's a bit over 21". Feels nice, good balance.

It seems to be a little louder, as expected, but that doesn't matter either as I'm a muffs & puffs guy anyway.

I'm pretty psyched. This barrel is in big trouble <g>.

EVERYTHING you did is wrong, wrong, wrong....but it worked

Wtf

Do you mind to post your load?

I personally hate the recoil of a .223 as well....

The 223 is bad enough but to bore it out to a 223 AI is just unbearable.
For long range I prefer the bark of a hard hitting .22 LR, and really enjoy the 22.lr subsonic.....

Nice! If the muzzle still jumps, make that break about a foot long!

Now that I think about it a 338 edge and a 223AI does have a lot in common.

A beast that can never be tamed

Well, you lost me at the puffing part.

I think he's talking about foamie (sp) ear plugs.

I don't think so.

Yes, foam earplugs.......


Casey

OK, obviously that is what HE meant. It is not what I meant, but if I have to draw a picture for you...

I'm a muff man myself, but don't go for the puffing.

OK! I get it!

Please, don't draw a picture. Don't want to start the year with THAT in my head.......

Casey

JeffO is the human version of 2016.

Tanner

New year, same Jeff.

Jeffrey,

I sent you a machinist's tie for Christmas this year. Extra Long.

Hope to Christ you use it so the world can be spared from your stupidity.





Travis

JellO is the human version of Perfect Strangers reruns.

Let's see some pics of the rifle JeffO

How fugking horrendous would a shooter's form have to be to pull him off target with a .223?

It's an uncanny level of fugking stupid.





Dave

Nice
Wish I could do that quality work.

We've seen where he mounts his scopes. Nuff said.

Muzzle flip is an issue if trying to see through the scope, though on long shots you might be down enough by impact time, but you want ot see trace too, either adding weight or a brake is the way to go.

I would not have done a light 223 personally, but tahts me.

Haven't run the numbers but many folks tend to be somewhat surprised what you can duplicate with a smaller round, drop/drift related, and since drop really isn't an issue these days.

Who can argue that more practice is better than less, and certainly an edge burns money and barrels fast...

Both of those are good points rost.


Casey

Just thought you boys would want to know,
since this post Jeff has had emergency shoulder surgery.
He WAY overshot his AI and blew out his rotator.
Dr. said he had never seen a worse recoil injury.
(The same Dr. did get lost on the way to ER as poor Jeff lay there in pain, but luckily poor Jeff had a blunt in his pocket and was able to self medicate his way to nirvana.)
6-8 weeks, minimum, out for our hero.......
Thank God for Obamacare.....
and Jeff's new Gofundmyfùckingass site.

P.S. The Dr. stole the roach, on how way out.......


Bastard.

Jeff_O: Some time back I had a custom Rifle built on a blueprinted Remington 700 action.
It has a heavy 25" Shilen stainless steel barrel on it.
It has a Jewell trigger and was put in to a Remington 700 PSS stock - it weighs 13 pounds 15 ounces with Leupold 6.5x20 scope.
It shoots EXTREMELY well.
Foolish me though - in brainstorming the Rifle I thought I would eliminate ALL recoil by making it so heavy and by adding a muzzle brake!
In fact it does not recoil much at all but the muzzle brake sucks up so much dust, dirt and debris that while shooting it prone I can not see where my bullets hit!
Defeating the purpose of it being so heavy and the cost of the muzzle brake (Holland)!
So I am limited to shooting it from sitting position with bi-pod or off of one of my Varminting benches.
If I were to do it again I would NOT install the muzzle brake.
Best of luck to you with the muzzle jump situation.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Damn Varmintguy, it's really too bad you couldn't take it off.

Jeff.....Jeff......Jeff......really??????

Would you look at that... welcome back Brad.

Put 90 rounds through it today (75 Amax/335) while shooting a couple other rifles at my 900-yard spot. 900 is pushing it in terms of seeing my shots impact on say a cutbank, but I was catching about half of them.... The little bullet just doesn't move much dirt, and then there's just a lot of duff on the ground here too. 8x isn't a help there either. But screw that anyway, the real fun was on my 500 and 600-yard plates.

This is a pic of the rifle from last week. I haven't bead blasted the barrel yet... heck I haven't even stamped 223AI on it.



Very much enjoying the little sucker now! I had a M700P in .223, one of those big Sendero-sized jobbies with the 1:9 twist. I could see my hits with that one, but it wouldn't run the 75..... put a bunch of 69 SMK's through it but it's just not the same.

Cracks me up that my first braked rifle is a 223AI and I hope it cracked others up as well! But damn man.... I'm digging this thing now. That silly little Leup tracked like a champ today but then it always has.

Ran into a possum hiking back down but was carrying too much crap to bother with whacking him. I bet it would've done fine, though admittedly 223AI is a little light for the larger rodents like that.

LMAO.

You are a clueless fugking idiot.




Dave

Wow.

barrel is too skinny........

everyone knows an AI has to be at least 17# to spot hits

top one here in my .223AI pile might top that, but my scale only goes up to 10#...