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.223 Rem - new rifle

B

BambiBasher

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I'm replacing the old faithful Steyr Scout that I've used as a foxing rifle and centrefire target practice gun for some years - it's still good but is ready for semi-retirement in the hands of a chicken-guard. I want another of the same calibre, and would appreciate advice.

The two I'm thinking of are the Blaser R93 or possibly an AR-15 straight-pull, maybe a Southern Gun Company one. The ARs have a 1:8 twist that will handle heavier loads; the Blaser a 1:12. I would also like to have a crack at Practical Rifle.

Are the ARs suitable for field use? Would mild embarrassment at ownership - living the dream of every social inadequate who has ever thrapped over a copy of Guns and Ammo - spoil my enjoyment of the rifle?
 
BambiBasher said:
Are the ARs suitable for field use?

that depends on barrel length/weight and twist. a M4 style straight pull with the normal 14 1/2 inch tube would limit you in range for accurate distance shots on the vermin, AR's that have been fitted with decent make tubes of a heavy profile are just as accurate as many of the factory bolt action varmit rifles you can get.
what you want of course is an AR with a selection of uppers, the normal M4 for practical, a H-bar for varminting/hunting and a .22lr for plinking and practice. this is what I'm hoping to build-up too here in the UK.
theres noting wrong with a steyer scout, I'v been thinking of one in .308 for a long time.
 
DrStealth said:
BambiBasher said:
Are the ARs suitable for field use?

what you want of course is an AR with a selection of uppers, the normal M4 for practical, a H-bar for varminting/hunting and a .22lr for plinking and practice. this is what I'm hoping to build-up too here in the UK.
theres noting wrong with a steyer scout, I'v been thinking of one in .308 for a long time.

Was planning to start off with a 20" h-bar, and poss add a fluted bull barrel later. If I'm not mistaken, you need a variation for each spare barrel.
 
BambiBasher said:
DrStealth said:
BambiBasher said:
Are the ARs suitable for field use?

what you want of course is an AR with a selection of uppers, the normal M4 for practical, a H-bar for varminting/hunting and a .22lr for plinking and practice. this is what I'm hoping to build-up too here in the UK.
theres noting wrong with a steyer scout, I'v been thinking of one in .308 for a long time.

Was planning to start off with a 20" h-bar, and poss add a fluted bull barrel later. If I'm not mistaken, you need a variation for each spare barrel.

thats correct. its just like my sako quad with both .17hmr and .22lr tubes, the extra barrel has to be registered as a variation on your ticket.
most of the blokes in the UK that make stright pull ARs tend to build them to order, I'm sure many of them will fit a tube to your requirments.
 
The Blaser you're looking at won't handle anything heavier than 55gn, limiting you to 300yds tops, if it's not too windy!!!
 
Hmmm. Looks as though I shall have to go for the black rifle, and ignore the taunts of the purists, and the terror of vegetarians. The heavier .223 loads are ideal for roe, too.

Scottish roe, that is, but much too light for English roe. The Scottish ones must be easier to kill on account of all the deep-fried grass they eat.
 
If you are worried about an AR15 not going down well with the tweed and breeks crowd, there are a few alternatives.

Armalon make a couple of nice .223 bolt action rifles that will take a low or high capacity magazine and so could do double duty for both field use and practical competition. One is a conversion of a Remington 700 to take AR15 magazines (the PR) and the other is a good old Lee Enfield No4 converted to take Mini-14 mags (the AL42). I had a play with one of these last time I visited Armalon and it looked very nice: the bolt is really smoooth. Armalon are a bit pricey - they are called Armanaleg in some quarters - but the quality is top notch.

There are also a few .223 CAM rifles still knocking around, but I don't think that they are nearly as good as the Armalon rifles.
 
It's actually kinda hard work finding a .223 Rem bolt gun with a 1:9 or tighter, as we discovered a few yrs ago when Mrs Stoat announced she wanted a sniper rifle for her birthday.

We ended up with the Remi 700 Police, but you DON'T want to be dragging one of them up hill & down dale, since it is a total anchor.

It's serious bollox-off-a-gnat with 69gn Match Kings though!
 
AR15 all the way for me...I know a few guys who use them for target and vermin. Not everyone appreciates its looks of course.

The beauty of the AR platform is its flexibility. You can own one lower, then add uppers as you need (variation reads as barrelled action IIRC)

I have AR's in .22LR/.30 M1 and 2x.223's (14.5" and 20" H-BAR, both 1 in 8 twist)

Larger cals are also available over here - .30 whisper/6.8SPC/6.5 Grendel/6mmAR/
 
stoatman said:
It's actually kinda hard work finding a .223 Rem bolt gun with a 1:9 or tighter, as we discovered a few yrs ago when Mrs Stoat announced she wanted a sniper rifle for her birthday.

We ended up with the Remi 700 Police, but you DON'T want to be dragging one of them up hill & down dale, since it is a total anchor.

It's serious bollox-off-a-gnat with 69gn Match Kings though!

Tikka T3 has 1-8" in .223 IIRC. Southern Gun Company rifles were always the best of the AR15 derivatives but you had to be careful with ammunition selection as they could be a bitch to extract sometimes. I think SGC used to have two slightly different chamber specs to allow for using army-barmy or standard.
 
I've also just found that the Sako range of Hunters has a 1:8 in .223, and 6-shot magazine. Might be worth considering.
 
sako/tikka barrels are identical. Superb rifle in .223 but to be honest the sako is no more accurate. I sold many more Tikkas than Sako when I was in the trade and theTikka was the one that surprised us most often. Stocks are a bit pump but with a heavy bipod and a decent steel scope it starts to feel like a grown up rifle
 
JonnoJonno said:
sako/tikka barrels are identical. Superb rifle in .223 but to be honest the sako is no more accurate. I sold many more Tikkas than Sako when I was in the trade and theTikka was the one that surprised us most often. Stocks are a bit pump but with a heavy bipod and a decent steel scope it starts to feel like a grown up rifle

I've found the latest Tikkas a bit wobbly; I don't like the slightly shaky feel of the bolt. The older models were engineered; the new ones are fabricated. Now several enraged Tikka users will leap on me with shouts of condemnation.

I like the sound of those Armalons. Had a look at the web site and will give them a call tomorrow. Do the SGC ARs ever have much trouble cycling?
 
SGC is the only one I would touch. He's a slow old grumpy t*at to deal with but if you give him your precise spec, stick to it, get the quote in writing etc, you will have an accurate rifle. His .22 conversion upper (cz made IIRC) was excellent if you got the ammo combination right and cleaned it well. I favour Blaser, and if you went for the heavier barrel I think it's a tighter twist (1-10 or 11). Have a look at Mauser as well; that's a proper rifle www.mauser.com
 
I would go deffo with the Remington 700 answer, I have several in various calibers................a better rifle you will not find , stock too heavy as was said earlier..............change it with anyone of the zillions of custom stocks out there. I have to admit all mine wear new trousers.
 

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