Need Advice: Keep or Sell the 223 Remington?

[green mountain boy]

I own a 700 BDL bull BBL in 223, it will shoot dime groups all day long with several makers bullets...some less than that. i played around a lot with cast in it and it will keep 3/4 groups at 100 almost every time. i have a supply of jacketed and cast loaded and ready to go when i choose to use it. it takes up little space in the gun locker and i know i can count on it ! that alone is worth keeping it to me. that money was spent in 1975 and was a great investment mine is not going anywhere soon.

[charlie b]

All the comments are interesting.

Keeping my .308, shotgun and various pistols is more than enough for any catastrophe. Any more is just steel and lead sitting around gathering dust.

Heck, all this talk makes me think I should sell my two 9mm pistols and pick up another .45acp or .357 (reduce to just two pistol cartridges). Decisions, decisions.

[bimus]

The last few years I have traded or sold rifles of calibers I only had one of to get another gun of a caliber of some thing I all ready had as house hold of 4 we have 3 30-30 4 rifles in 223 4 rifles in 308 one of them a bolt gun the same has been done with pistols every one has a 9mm that uses the same magazine . A 223 bolt gun that uses magazines you already have is a good thing or if it just holds 5 rounds under the bolt with other 223 rifles around it would be great to have .

[Tar Heel]

Sell the thang. Get a nice lever gun!

[Daekar]

All the comments are interesting.

Keeping my .308, shotgun and various pistols is more than enough for any catastrophe. Any more is just steel and lead sitting around gathering dust.

Heck, all this talk makes me think I should sell my two 9mm pistols and pick up another .45acp or .357 (reduce to just two pistol cartridges). Decisions, decisions.

I sold my 9mms and 380s, and just have 22LR and 357s handguns now. Since a revolver will work no matter how hot or mild the load, I get to dial in for accuracy and appropriate kick for the gun. I have a T/C Encore pistol with a really fast barrel that will spit out 30-30 energy levels (muzzle brake suggested) and a S&W m60 that I am dialing in a 9mm-ish load for. Given that I shoot revolvers better than autoloaders, I don't feel like I have given up anything at all compared to a pocket 380. Heck, I bet my S&W m63 (8 shots of 22LR) would handle the majority of real life CCW situations just fine.

[Butzbach]

I am of like mind. I am down to .308, 12 ga, 22lr, and 38/357. I have my first rifle in .22 mag but my sentimentality starts and ends with it. I miss my Model 29, my Series 70 1911, my Blackhawk .45 convertible, and most of all my Hi-power. I take heart in the old adage "Beware of the man with only one gun. He probably knows how to use it."

Good luck with your decision.

[white cloud]

Be careful selling something you may never be able to replace in the future.

^^^^This! If you don't need cash, I would not be selling any firearms and especially now.

[William Yanda]

For myself, I would like the option of shooting a 50 grain boolet rather than a one that uses 3 times that much lead.

[TimD]

I think the .38 will do everything needed at short ranges. The .223 bullets would be more frangible than the .38 if that is a consideration.

Since you are struggling with the decision I would wait until it is no longer a struggle, if possible. Keep the last of your HPBT loads, re-purpose the scope, if you wish, and pack up the .223 related gear. If the .38 meets your needs over time and you do not miss the Howa the struggle should disappear. If not keep it and cast for it or re-chamber it.

Tim

[charlie b]

^^^^This! If you don't need cash, I would not be selling any firearms and especially now.

Now is the time to sell any firearms you don't want. Then when things settle down you can buy what you want at a reasonable price. Buy low, sell high.

[FergusonTO35]

Now is the time to sell any firearms you don't want. Then when things settle down you can buy what you want at a reasonable price. Buy low, sell high.

This 100%. Don't know about you but where I live .223/5.56 bolt guns are in demand and hard to find, especially the lightweight ones like the Howa. They are actually alot harder to find than AR's. Can't tell you how many people I've told about my Ruger American Ranch that get all excited and ask where they can get one too. I bet you could get your money back out of it no problem and then buy what you really want.

[Outpost75]

I see no need for a semi-auto groundhog gun. Prices on them are good. Sell for top dollar and get a couple M1 Garands...

[Three44s]

This 100%. Don't know about you but where I live .223/5.56 bolt guns are in demand and hard to find, especially the lightweight ones like the Howa. They are actually alot harder to find than AR's. Can't tell you how many people I've told about my Ruger American Ranch that get all excited and ask where they can get one too. I bet you could get your money back out of it no problem and then buy what you really want.

I have a CZ 527 and a Ruger American Compact both in .223 and I think the world of them! That Compact has killed a pile of ‘totes lately because I drag it around the ranch more than all my other rifles put together.

I do not know for the life of me WHY Ruger dropped that Compact in that cartridge. I passed on the model in .22-250 because of the short barrel for the larger case. I wish I had scooped it up and tried it because the added horse power on big coyotes can be an asset.

Three44s

[Lloyd Smale]

a 223 with pop gun cast loads can be a good replacement for a 22lr when ammo is in short supply or expensive. couple grains of bullseye and a primer and a free bullet. Whats not to like. where cast gets hard to work with in a 223 is when you try to push it hard enough to run an ar15. They work fine at low pressures in a bolt gun.

[farmerjim]

I have only sold one gun in my life, and it was a it was a mistake worse than my 1st wife.

[Lloyd Smale]

if i had never sold a gun id be swimming in them. Guns are tools. I dont get attached. Selling one i dont use much to get one ill use more is common sense. I go crazy for single actions one year and the next im into bolt rifles then to lever guns and it goes on and on. I about allways have something new to work up loads for and to have fun with. Im not a millionaire so i need to sell to get new. I dont have my first car either or my 21stf. Only went through one wife and i will say i miss a few of those guns a heck of alot more then her!! But everything in the safe but grandpas guns is for sale at the right price.

[Duckiller]

I agree with farmerjim. Guns are to be bought not sold. I am 78 years old and I just moved 1000 miles. It is going to take me forever to get my reloading bench set up and my ammo organized.
still don't believe in selling guns. Some get given to adult children. Rest will be theirs when I die. How they split them up will be their doing. Hope I have raised them reasonably well and they don't fight..

[Lloyd Smale]

i have around a hundred and have probably bought on an average of 6 a year for 45 years so do the math. If i bought one gun every year or two id probably never sell one either. but my guns are shot not stuck in the back of a safe and left to sit lonely for years. If its not something im going to shoot then i sure see no need in having it just to say i have it. I dont buy collector guns either. Every gun i buy gets the snot shot out of it. Like i said i love cars and trucks too and sure dont keep everyone i buy till i die. Same thing with boats, atvs snowmobiles ect. I keep them till theres something else id rather have. My kids and grandkids allready have many guns ive given them. The wife is set up well if i die for money. If there not happy spliting up my small 100 gun collection then i wont care ILL BE DEAD. Do i regret selling some of them? sure i do. but i think back on the fun ive had with the guns ive bought with that money or traded for that i wouldnt have experienced and the regret fades. If it doesnt i just go look for another one just like it to get it back. Ive got a couple guns that were traded and or sold 3 times and ended up back here. Theyd go again if the RIGHT price was offered. Isnt like im selling my grandkids or my dogs. like i said there tools. Dont tell me your doing it for your grandkids. i no doubt have 75k worth of guns if you add the ammo loading equipment and components no doubt twice that. If i truely wasnt selfish id sell 3/4s of it and give them the money. The wife would dearly love to go to rome to see the vatican. my hobbys like guns cars, trucks jeeps snowmobiles atvs hunting ect are selfish hobbys. i dont pretend to be doing it for someone elses good. most likely those 100 guns will go to family members and be sold in 6 months to buy something there into. Again, do i care? ill be dead!! I hope what they buy brings them the fun those guns brought me and whatever they buy with the money isnt sitting is some dark closet or under a bed.

[charlie b]

It is all a different perspective.

I like not having as much stuff. Wife is the same. It has 'helped' that we have moved many times over the past 40 years, mostly by the military, so there has been an 'outside' limit placed on how much we carry around. And living in an RV for a couple years really cut our stuff a lot. I kept guns for specific reasons. If I wanted a new one I would have to sell an old one.

When I could afford it I did expand a little. Then when I found myself not shooting a gun on a regular basis it was sold off. Now back down to less than 10 and will probably sell off a couple I don't shoot much.



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[high standard 40]

Everyone has a different situation. The only person the OP has to justify his decision to is himself. Keep it or sell it, it's up to you. I'm getting a little older and I don't have anyone to pass my collection to when I'm no longer in the picture. I'm thinking of selling some of mine.