Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 223 bolt guns

I have a Ruger with a 1in8 twist, uses AR magazines. It’s an fun to shoot. It likes my load with 62 grain Bear Claws, pigs don’t!

My second A-bolt purchased thirty years ago was a .223 hunter model. Love that little rifle. Accurate as hell too. Most of it's life has been spent shooting varmint type critters. Trying to talk myself into joining the "Clan of the Stunt Shooters" and use it on deer in January. I have 55gr. Hornady SPs ready to go.

.223 bolt guns do seem hard to find. Mine is the only .223 Browning I've ever come across.

There are at least 5 Howa Mini Action rifles in various sporting stocks on Gunbroker right now. Another 3 if you include those in a chassis.

I believe they are 8” twist and I’d think the Howa mini is a tough platform to beat for a 223.

.223 CZ 527 that I got in 2000 for high school graduation
.223 Browning Micro Medallion
.223 Remington Classic
.223 Howa

These make up the .223s I have in my collection. The browning seems to take up space in the front seat more than the others these days. Know idea why, they are all good quality rifles

Grice in PA has a Ruger American and a Howa Mini in 223 if anyone is interested.

I thought about 223 A-bolt (I have a few in other calibers, 338 Fed), but decided on the X-Bolt Hunter because a wanted the fast twist barrel. Finally, found a new Hunter model about month ago. I could find "heavy barrel" X-Bolts" but I wanted the standard 22" barrel and it was impossible to find.

I have 3 of 'em, 2 Remingtons and a Kimber Montana, but since I've gone mostly AR, they see no love.

I have a .223 bolt, but what I'd use it on, I tend to just grab a .22 mag.
As a matter of fact I just sold an extra Montana .223 that I never shot.

Here are my Weatherby Vanguards. The bottom one is a .223. On my weekly trips to our range, I love to shoot golf balls at 100 yards with it and hear the plink as it hits the steel gongs out to 430 yards.

There's 2 listed in lake-link.com right now. A NIB camo Rem M7 and a Howa.

Man, I need to watch your classifieds closer!

A friend of mine in Oregon has a NIB Tikka T3x Varmint listed for $900 plus shipping.

I can put you in touch with him.




P

If I was looking, I’d be all over that, unless I needed a light one. Both of .223s are SS too, but these are difficult times…..

I have one of the Howa Kuiu rifles in .223 mounted in a Bansner stock from the Alpine rifles. Absolutely love it.

The market is flooded with 223/5.56 Ar's, many of them good to very good, accurate, military grade rifles. Back in the 30/06 and 270 years
semi-autos were rare compared to the AR numbers today. The 223 bolt gun is, as they say, a niche item.

I'm not trying to start an argument here, because we all see things the way we want to see them, but I don't see it as a niche item. I shoot my 223 bolt rifles a lot more than I do my AR's, and even though I have a few AR's that are very accurate, I consider my bolt rifles to be more so. I have 3 bolt 223's, a M7 stainless, M7 Predator, and a 700 XCR Compact Tactical. The Predator is the most accurate, followed closely by the XCR, The little stainless 223 is my truck gun, and it shoots as good as my most accurate AR.

I expect someone will say that maybe I don't have an "accurate" AR, but that's not the case. It may very well be that I am partial to bolt action rifles for hunting, as that's what I grew up hunting with. I just prefer them over an AR for most of my uses, and go to great lengths finding accurate loads for them. I'm sure I'm not the only one who does that either.

On a side note, a year or so ago I snagged one of those 700 ADL 223's that Walmart had marked down on clearance at $89. I had the 24 inch barrel cut back to 20 inches, restocked to a BDL style, and experiment with some reloads until I found one it liked. Gave it to my son, and he's now using it for a coyote rifle because he likes it better than the AR he was using.

AR rifles definitely have there uses, but I prefer a bolt action .223 as well. I have a Stevens 200, M700, and M70 in .223 Rem. The M70 is by far my favorite of the .223 rifles, but the 1:12 twist limits bullet selection a little. It's still a great rifle for 3-400 yard shots with 55 grain and less bullets.

I have a few AR-15 rifles and pistols as well, but I practice and hunt far more with the bolt action rifles than I do anything else. If I get another .223 Rem it'll probably be a full custom and a fast twist so I can use it more for hunting deer where legal. Not that I can't use what I have, I just want things different than factory offerings.

I didn't need two .223's, so I sold the heavy barreled very accurate AR and kept the Browning single shot. Life is simpler now, and still satisfying.

I enjoy using the 223 bolts for different recreational tasks. The ARs more for just in case... or use if necessary.

There is a difference.

That's a Goat Fhuqk Rifle. Hint.

Purty easy to align COAL,RPM and ThroatGeometry,along with S/S Bore Sanctity...thusly. Hint.



You reap COAL Latitude that exceeds RPM and Throat Geometry,which is a GOOD thang. It's also double stacked,so 10rds is tucked fairly trite. It ain't AICS,butcha' can meld. The Kenworth Shifter don't hurt. Mountain Tactical extended 1913 40 MoMo's don't suck and 10x MQ's are on fhuqking Sale. Scoop the BC's and Swiffer Low's,so all is in the same box. Hint.




Just sayin'.....................