.223 Twist

[Scrounger]

I'm trying to talk myself into buying a Rock River .223 for varmint shooting and I have a couple of questions.

1. How much advantage is the 24 inch barrel over the 20 inch?

2. I'm leaning toward the 12 inch twist but 9 inch seems to be real popular these days. Will the 9 inch stabilize thin jacketed 50 grain bullets as well as the 12 does.

3. Will the 9 inch shoot cast OK?

[felix]

Because that gun is an auto gun, I'd go for a 20 inch barrel. Bolt gun, a 22 incher, giving a quarter inch of freedom to recrown after some cleaning wear. 21.75 inches is ideal in the smaller calibers with heavy barrel, free floating because of vibes. If you are going for 300 yards or better, then 9 twist would be fine, otherwise stay with 12, with preference for a custom at 14. ... felix

[Bass Ackward]

I'm trying to talk myself into buying a Rock River .223 for varmint shooting and I have a couple of questions.

1. How much advantage is the 24 inch barrel over the 20 inch?

2. I'm leaning toward the 12 inch twist but 9 inch seems to be real popular these days. Will the 9 inch stabilize thin jacketed 50 grain bullets as well as the 12 does.

3. Will the 9 inch shoot cast OK?


1. Depends on the powder choice. But the 24 offers more flexibility. I had a 22" and built a 24" only because 26 was a little unwieldy.

2. I built a 14 twist after I owned a 12 Howa, so I can't comment other than those. But if you want a shorter barrel, might as well go with the faster twist.

3. Shoot cast great with the right throat. Actually I would prefer it for squib loads like squirrel hunting etc. If you think you want faster cast, or the longer barrel, then go slower accordingly.

[Sprue]

Personally I would not go over a 20 in bbl as 24's are too front heavy for me. A 16" (preferred although I don't have one) will do just fine out to 300 + yrds without the added weight. At 500 yrds and beyond, I would think on a 24 inch- only. For my usage I like the 1/9 with the 69g bullet.

Happy Trails
Sprue.

[mike in co]

consider a rifle without a bbl and then add a 1/14 24".......
i have a 26" hart, 1/14 with a short throat and a min spec chamber a tad over 1"od at the muzzle.
with 52/53's this a 1/4 moa rifle at 3400-3600 fps..........
there are several load combinations that still burn after the bullet has left the muzzle.

i think a 22/24 would be a good choice...

so if you go with a factory 1/12 and 24 you'll be ok... try 55 plastic tipped bullets with this.


having said that if they give you the typical lawyer inspired long throat all bets are off on end accuracy.

i have or had 223 bbls with 1/7 , 1/8, 1/10 1/12 and 1/14 twist.

a match quality 1/8 is an excellent all round choice even at mil 20" length.

get the best trigger you can afford.

mike

[Larry Gibson]

I've been shooting the .223 since '65 in ARs/M16s. While i'd prefer the longer barrel with a bolt gun the 20" barrels do fine with the ARs although a 24" barreled one wouldn't bother me much. If you're looking for a varmint rifle I'd go with the 12" twist or even the 14" twist since the faster 7-10" twists don't handle the fragile light weight varmint bullets well. The lightly constructed 45-55 gr SX/ Blitz or HP type varmint bullets come apart do do the high RPM. If heavier bullets are going to be used or bullets of stouter construction then a 9" twist is ok. I'd still stick with the 12" twist for varmint weight bullets though.

Larry Gibson

[Uncle R.]

I have two 9" twist ARs - one a Coal Valley Eagle Arms A2 HBAR and the other a Bushmaster Varmint Special. That 9" twist is supposed to be perfect for 69 grainers but both have disappointed me with that bullet. They both shoot 55 grainers much better. The HBAR will hold 1-1/4 MOA or better with most 55 grainers and the Bushmaster - :-D - well, the Bushmaster will stay very close to 1/2 MOA all day long with 55 gr V-MAXs - and will sometimes throw five of them through one ragged hole. I tried several 68/69 gr loads in both rifles and nothing came close to the 55 grainers.
I know that's not what the experts say - but that's what my targets say. My gunschmidt buddy wasn't too surprised - said he's seen poor results with 69 Sierras from 9" barrels many times before - and he recommends a 7-1/2 twist for those 69 grainers. Hmmm... :-?
Uncle R.

[Lloyd Smale]

mines a 7" twist and does excellent with bullets down to 55 grain shines with 60 grains and does real well with the 69s. Anything heavier in an AR and you have to single load them anyway. Even some of the 69s will give you fits. If i was to buy another id go 1-8. To me i have bolts for varmit hunting and my ar does double duty as a protection gun and the real light bullets arent good for that anyway. To me 60 grain bullets are what an ar should be fed.

[colbyjack]

RRA in the varmit model comes 1:8 in any length or 1:12 in the 24 inch. the 1:8 loves 65 and 68/69 grain bullets. itll shoot 55's but not better than 1.5" at 100. the 1:12 does make for easier to find ammo on the shelf. the heavy bullets seem to cost more off the shelf. you can also have them cut the 1:12 24" down to any length and re crown. call RRA and ask for Steve hes a great guy and knows his stuff. RRA are really tight and nice AR's. -chris

[corvette8n]

once you get the lower, you can buy several uppers, I have a VZ-22 cal upper and it is great for plinking indoors, can hardly beat rimfire prices. Then you can get a .308 upper and then one of those .458 socom, and then............[smilie=1:

[Scrounger]

once you get the lower, you can buy several uppers, I have a VZ-22 cal upper and it is great for plinking indoors, can hardly beat rimfire prices. Then you can get a .308 upper and then one of those .458 socom, and then............[smilie=1:

Way ahead of you...

[0802]

"once you get the lower (AR-15??), you can buy several uppers, I have a VZ-22 cal upper and it is great for plinking indoors, can hardly beat rimfire prices. Then you can get a .308 upper and then one of those .458 socom, and then............"

OK -- I'm certainly a noob on this, but I didn't think a 308 upper (AR-10) would go on a 223 lower (AR-15). Will it? I knew there was come interchangability with respective AR-10 (308 to 243) and AR-15 (223 to 204 Ruger) families, but I thought it was limited by cartridge size. Sort of a long action and short action type family, but different.

I hope that I'm wrong so I can buy a 308 upper without needing a new lower.

[Blammer]

you are not wrong.

308 needs the AR 10