.223 Barrel choice.

[martin_b]

I’ve got a Tikka M55 .223 super sporter that still has its original barrel (1:12 twist rate ?)  Anyway as the barrel is at least 40 years old its due for a change.
I want to be able to shot with it to at least 600 yards ( at the moment it wont register on electronics at Bisley) so my question is what barrel length and twist rate should I be looking at?

PS: f any of the Gunmakers on here have an apprenetice that needs a rifle to practice on, i'm happy to oblige! 🙂
 

[stephentri]

1 in 8 twist with a  24 or 26 inch  barrel shooting 77grain tmk will take you out to 600y 

[Catch-22]

I went with 26” long, 1-7” twist barrels for my .223AI switch barrel gun. A 1-7” will let you handle anything up to 88gn without issue. 

[henryo]

1 in 7" twist as it will do everything. I shot every weight out of it and they never blew up. 1 in 8" is a slight comprimise for the heavies.

Around 24 to 26" length. That will get you more or less all the velocity possible out of a 223.

It's also worth getting it throated to the right length for the heavy bullet you want to use. You might end up single feeding them though.

You can still get good accuracy with big jumps if you need to mag feed / lighter weights.

[martin_b]

Thanks Guys. 

Anyone got any Barrel balnks for sale? 🙂

 

[Scrumbag]

1:8 or maybe 1:7 and as others have said, longer length

[Wentworth Sporting]

I have a Rem 700 with a Shillen 1:9 that shot very well at 600 metres.

69gr SMKs over 24gr of Vhit N-140. Nothing hot, but performed very well. It often gets an airing at 500 yards.

Nothing wrong at all with tighter twists and heavier bullets, but just illustrating that .223s can easily handle mid distance.

[geek]

I have a standard Remington 700 (.223) which is a 20" barrel, 1:9, in an MDT chassis with aftermarket trigger and I shoot out to 600 yards (factory benchrest) using 69gr Sierra Match King, 25grs of Vihtavuori N140, the velocity is 2811ft/s (this works in my rifle, don't know about others). If I didn't need the rifle to be factory class, when a new barrel was required, I would be looking at 24"  - 26". For a factory rifle, with a 20" barrel in my opinion it shoots very well.

The images are 600 yards benchrest competition (5 shots) and when I was developing my load for a 100 yard zero (3 shots).

 

 

[Fifty_seven]

my 223, also a 8 twist is a heavy varmint ( 7/8 at the muzzle)

[Roy W]

Speak to Dave Wylde

He rebarrelled an AR for me with a Sassen 1in7

It took 4 rounds to zero, then put three shots in .3MOA at 100yards , prone mag rested (no bags, bipods, tripods, rests, just mag rested)

77grn TMKs.

[farmer_giles]

Bartlein barrel from Dolphin Gun Co (see adverts on this forum) speak to Mik

[martin_b]

Funnily enough Im just about to pick up a 300PRC from Mik that hes built for me.  For the moment Ive decided to stick to Gallery and 900yards+.