Bolt action in 223 Remington - which one?

[retread]

I have a Ruger Hawkeye. I really like it, very accurate and like you I prefer a Walnut stock and blue steel. I costs a bit more than the Predator or ranch but to me it is worth it.

[Norske]

I volunteer as a range safety officer at an indoor 100 yard rifle range, and see many of the rifles mentioned. Yes, all the bolt 223's can shoot well, but balance your budget against the desirability of a rigid fore-ended stock. If you can grab the fore end and barrel and squeeze them together with your hand grip, any rest must be near the receiver. If the rifle costs enough to have a rigid stock, you will have fewer problems. I'll suggest Tikka or CZ, but those mini Mausers are a siren's song.

[quilbilly]

I bought a T/C Venture in 223 a couple years back and it is a great shooter. Of course, it was MOA right out of the box with 55 gr PSP's and after a few months of testing loads it is almost MOA (1-1/4") with 58 gr. CB's out of an NOE mold at 1950 fps. The POA is almost the same for both at 100 yds after backing off on the load for the PSP's to 2500 fps. so I can switch as the mood strikes me.

[cameron.fromthep]

Get CZ with a wood stock, single set trigger, an extra mag and you will be happy.

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[Three44s]

I re-read the original post and see that you may want some range time with a bi-pod.

You will need a stiff stock for that.

The CZ , probably wood with a free float job or a Remington 700 in the same (woo).

I am ok with iPods but not wild about them. I cut my teeth with the bulls X bag rests.

Best regards

Three44s

[Lonegun1894]

I have several, but the only one off your list is a Savage Axis. The whole idea was to have a cheap and light weight varmint rifle, and this was the cheapest I could find and thought I would give it a try. I mounted a Bushnell 3-9x40, did a home trigger job for the horrendous trigger mine came with, and added a cheap sling. So nothing complicated or fancy here. It now consistently shoots 3/4"@100yds with about anything I stuff in it. The stock is a bit flimsy, as has been said, but I don't use a bipod on this so not a huge issue. Really, my only complaint is the way rounds are loaded into a magazine, but that is a very minor concern and really irrelevant for the way I use this rifle. I do however prefer the blind magazines like on my Remington 700 and my Stevens 200, both also in .223.

[dverna]

I have several, but the only one off your list is a Savage Axis. The whole idea was to have a cheap and light weight varmint rifle, and this was the cheapest I could find and thought I would give it a try. I mounted a Bushnell 3-9x40, did a home trigger job for the horrendous trigger mine came with, and added a cheap sling. So nothing complicated or fancy here. It now consistently shoots 3/4"@100yds with about anything I stuff in it. The stock is a bit flimsy, as has been said, but I don't use a bipod on this so not a huge issue. Really, my only complaint is the way rounds are loaded into a magazine, but that is a very minor concern and really irrelevant for the way I use this rifle. I do however prefer the blind magazines like on my Remington 700 and my Stevens 200, both also in .223.

I bet if you routed out the forend and epoxied in a coupe of aluminum tubes it would add very little weight while significantly increasing stiffness. Probably a 30-60 minute job and invisible.

[Lonegun1894]

I bet if you routed out the forend and epoxied in a coupe of aluminum tubes it would add very little weight while significantly increasing stiffness. Probably a 30-60 minute job and invisible.

I have no doubt that you're absolutely correct, and I just may do that still. Part of this initial experiment was to see what kind of accuracy I could get with it with little to no modifications at all. The groups with the original 8-9# trigger was 1-1.25"@100, and dropped to 3/4"@100 after the trigger job. Part of me wonders if I should go ahead and stiffen the stock, and part of me thinks the performance is more than satisfactory as it is so I shouldn't mess with it. I usually can't leave well enough alone though, so will probably fix it some day.