Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles The REAL .223 AI thread!

Whew, after reading through 34 pages of some crazy-ass [bleep] in the 'other' .223 thread (god, my head hurts), I wanted to get some useful info. I never thought I'd be considering a .223 rifle, but I also thought that of the .308 and my T3 SL really changed my mind (the 5R didn't hurt, either).

So for those of you WHO ACTUALLY HAVE ONE AND USE IT , I'd like some input. I'm not looking at going full blown custom and after schlepping both the T3 and 5R around I want a light, rough and ready to go banging around rifle.

I had actually been thinking about a .243/AI (Stick gave me some good info)with the 105 Amaxes or, in .224 cal, a .22-250/AI but I keep coming back to the cost of shooting the .223 vis-a-vis the others. Components are awfully cheap and I'd be using it for varmints and steel.

Anyway, rifle-wise I've been looking really hard at the Tikka T3. It has the 1-8" and is svelte enough for my taste along with typical Tikka accuracy. Why they don't twist their .22-250's at 8", I don't know (or at least offer the option). My local Sportsmans Warehouse has a Superlite in .22-250 and if it had a 1-8", it probably be home with me by now.

Sooner rather than later, I would send the rifle down the road to be AI'd. Is this a simple reamer job with barrel on or do they remove the barrel? I'm asking b/c I would be primarily shooting the 75 gr A-Max and figured if they remove the barrel they could set it back a tad and throat for the 75 Max at my mag length (correct?). BTW, anyone know the COAL for the .223 T3's? The conversion would be primarily for the reason of less/no trimming while gains in velocity would not be looked upon with disfavor!

Any other suggestions? I'm not really a gas gun guy so am looking at bolts that are eminently carryable. It prolly won't be hunted with as much as my other rifles so I'm thinking the Montana might be a bit pricey for a 'fun' gun, but the Kimbers are sweet. I'm kinda looking at going 'cheap' right now and upgrading later, if warranted. Is there any reason NOT to seriously go the Tikka route? Perhaps a Remmy (although they're twisted 9, I believe, and then I need a new trigger and stock).

Any info and experience (good/bad/mistakes/wish-I'd-done-this) would prove invaluable and save me time and money.

Try not to hijack this thread with dick/vag/do-nothing/insult-trading/etc. B.S.--you can add it to the other thread or hang out with the pretenders in the Religious/Political/B.S. forum (aka Campfire). Although, hot chick pics are never not appreciated!

Pictures of all .223/AI and game taken with such would be welcome.

TIA

BTW,

Make sure to give me the particulars of your rifle and post pics so as to give me maximum food for mental mastication.

One other thing...I kindly ask SEAFIRE, BLACKHEART, JEFFO, OKOK, WAGESLAVE, DEFLAVE, and others not to respond to each other or Boxer when he replies (as I assume/hope he will). Keep that chit to yourself. Post only YOUR EXPERIENCE with the .223/AI--thanks.

You left out the Ruger MKII/Hawkeye! They're 9 twist, CRF, 22" barrel, hinged floor plate and have goodstocks and triggers available for them. I was going to buy an SS when I was looking at .223's but I gave in and went with a Montana. I havent AI'd it (yet) but this 9 twist with 75 amaxs "kissing" and leaving the muzzle around 2900-2950 fps group just dandy. Of course 8 twist would be the cats azz, but that'd mean shooting a T3 or worse, a Savage.



Another cool thing about a 9 twist .223 is it'd make a perfect rechambered barrel in .22-250 AI on down the road

Archie,

Didn't leave out any specific rifles on purpose--just figured people would give me their input. One thing I really liked on my T3 .308 (and was a big factor in choosing it) was the stock and trigger were far better than the Rem so I figured that into the price.

I am certainly not adverse to a Montana. Yours does quite well, obviously. Do your rounds feed through the mag at kissing length with the 75 Maxes? And for reference sake, what is that COAL?

Thanks

And yet another thing...

Give me your load data, esp. with the 75 Amax (COAL, jump, powder, etc). Seems H335 and TAC are popular. After whittling down my rifle battery, I just have mainly Varget on hand which works great in everything I have (but not the .223, I believe).

COAL was stumpy out of the box. 2.25 or some such non-sense. Last week I took the mag box to work and proceeded with the chop-cut-rebuild to 2.5". A few pm's with Stick and its now back in action



It would kiss stuff like 55 vmaxs and FMJ's but an AMax needs around 2.45", Im not sure exactly what the lengths are as I don't measure COALs anymore. I just Kiss or if a kiss cant happen I load out to mag constraints.

I havent tried 335 or TAC although they obviously are great choices as proven by many on here. 25-26 grains of Varget under a kissed Amax net you 2900+ fps launch speed and do well. That is of course in non-AI form...I know nothing about the AI, but I'm sure you and me both will learn a lot once the AI guys chime in

I just bought a pound of RL15 to try with them as its supposed to be another dandy powder.

Archie,

Excellent info, thanks.

Got to remove my foot from my mouth--I see your groups were shot with Varget and just checked Hodgdon's site and Varget gives the best velocity with lowest pressure with the 75 JLK's. My 7th ed Hornady manual doesn't list a load for the 75 Max in the .223 (prolly, figured to be too long). I thought assumed, (erroneously), that Varget might be too slow even in AI but seems like it would work great which would please me not having to keep another powder in stock--just buy some more bulk Varget!

In regards to OAL, my fear is that the Tikka wouldn't 'work' with the 75 Maxs unless you could alter the mag and/or bolt stop and I don't know how feasible that is. I have read on other threads where the blind box rifles can usually be modified (Rems, Kimber, etc.) That was also the impetus behind my reaming question. If they can set back my barrel and throat to my specs maybe that will solve any problems--unless that just puts the 75's too deep in the case. Hopefully, someone in the know will chime in on that.

Here are a few links that I found helpful.

223 AI (1)
223 AI (2)
223 AI (3)

And a pic of my 223 AI, currently with eddief getting a few improvements done. Haven't gotten to shoot it much

Mojo,

I believe Rancho Loco modified his Tikka mag box, and posted a thread on the mods.

Regards,
Marty

Mojo...

Ive got two .223AIs but mine are considered more 'pedestrian' as they are the loose twist 1 in 9 on a Rem M7 Predator and a 1 in 12 On a Remington 700 stainless.
I havent gone the 1 in 8 twist so I could shoot a 75 grainer for a couple reasons...My loose twists were more cost effective to create ( used factory take-off Bbls...) they shoot better than I'm capable of shooting them, they shoot fast and flat out to 300 yds, inside of which 99% of my game is killed...and lastly, shooting 50 Gr Barnes TTSXs and 53 Gr TSXs..they have quickly killed everything Ive pointed them at...
Also the faster, lighter bullets have not neccesitated any mag mods...
Besides...I have a .243 that shoots 80 grainers..... ( If I feel the need for something that 'big'...and I havent in three years...)

The M7 Predator...



The 700 Stainless

Here's mine. I've had a few over the years.



Rem 700 Stainless SA (moly Coated black), BDL
Pacnor 1:8 at 21" in a Lilja #2 contour
Bansner sheep hunter stock, 13.5" LOP with a decelerator pad (stock work done by me)
Tuned factory trigger
Leupold 3.5-10x40 with M1 knobs in Talleys

I shoot mostly 75 AMAXs in it, and can get around 3050fps under 26.2gr of RL15

Best I can do right now. Patiently waiting, the ship date is actually the order date.

Looks like it should be a good one. Only mistake I see is the LOP is a little short... I like about 14-1/4".

I don't have a 223AI but I still like Mojo's Avatar.
"AAAAchmed the Dead Terrorist" Funny stuff!

I don't wanna turn this thread sour like the other one..


But I think you suck....


just sayin'......

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that all americans are bound together by a shared genetic mutation - that produces unusually short arms.

Yeah, looks to be a very nice rifle when done. Hope it turns out great.

Don't make me post more pics of Toby!!!! He is getting a little high headed. Keeps hitting the "My Stuff" header with his paw, then goes straight to his pic. When I move him off the chair to get on the computer, he is giving me this low growl....Just sayin'

I'm about to bring another dog in...but it'll be a couple years before he can kick anybody's azz....