Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 223 Rem, New school or old school twist rate?

Magnum Bob- Back around 2005 I bought a CZ-527 American, 12 twist in 223. I shot that gun a lot, and my daughter did too, learning how to shoot well. It always shot pretty good, 1/2 to 3/4 MOA with most loads. After around 5K rounds, a lot of them shot hot and fast, the barrel was getting really tired. I called up James Calhoon since sometimes he has some takeoff CZ barrels.

He had a 9 twist 223 he had just pulled off a brand new rifle, never been shot except factory test targets. He told me headspace generally on the CZ's was pretty close, and odds were good I could just screw the barrel on, check headspace, and would probably be good to go, maybe a minor adjustment. He was right, I screwed that barrel on and headspace was perfect, a hair bit on the tight side, just the way I like it. I threaded the barrel 1/2x28 for a suppressor and went to shooting it. Right out of the box it was shooting groups that I would have been plenty happy with out of a custom. Probably the most accurate, and easiest to load for factory barrel I have ever owned. Sometimes I wish I knew the guy who ditched that barrel without ever shooting it. I would send him some pictures to show him what he let go without ever trying it. The groups were shot with loads from the old barrel, no development at all.

Top targets, the one group on the right was with 50 Blitzkings, the other groups on the left were with 50 VMAX.