223 advice

eoin.d

hi lads i need some advice, i have a .22 but want to move up to a .223 for long distance rabbit shooting some fox maybe and targets, i need some advice on what type 223 would you recommend and how much would you be talking for a good second hand. also will i have any trouble get a licence for a 223 if i keep the .22 thanks lads

Tawny Owl

Hi eoin.d sorry for jumping on your thread, but in the same position myself was always thinking the .22LR at a close distance would be ok but not fair, needed a better round, so again hope you don't mind I am looking for the same info.;)

eoin.d

hi tawny owl, what 223 have you been looking at so far

vapour_trail

Get rid of the .22 and get a .17HMR! Rabbits out to 200 yards and a bit further if you know what you're doing. Itll take foxes under 200 yards with a well placed shot. Its only €15-€18 for 50 rounds of ammo ! It is incredibly accurate and powerful and underestimated. A .223 is way overkill for rabbits, a lot more expensive to run and the gun itself is a lot more expensive.

Dont just jump for a .223 , take a look at the HMR first. I own a .22lr and a .17hmr and Ill be going for a .223 but itll shoot no rabbits. Ill only be using it for foxes and long range on those hard to fool magpies and grey crows. I often shoot them out to 200 yards with the .17hmr but I need to be able to reach out to 300 or thereabouts for foxes.

Cass

eoin.d wrote: »

......i need some advice on what type 223 would you recommend..........

Hard question. So many choices. Here are some;

• Tikka
• CZ
• Remington
• Savage
• Sako
• Marlin
• Steyr

Then of course you have the models within each brand. Here are some of them:

• Tikka - T3, varmint, stainless, tactical.
• CZ - Standard, lux, laminate, kevlar
• Remington - SPS, CDL, VSSF, Varmint
• Savage - Model 10, 11, 16, 25 in BTH, BVTS, Axis
• Sako - 85 (varmint, varmint laminate)
• Marlin - X7
• Steyr - Mannlicher, scout, pro hunter

....... and how much would you be talking for a good second hand.......

As above it depends on the make/model. They can go from €550 (new) up to €2,000 (new) so taking into account second hand condition, and the fact that you will be buying a scope, rings, etc that the original owner will have fitted you are taking between €500 to €1,500.

also will i have any trouble get a licence for a 223 if i keep the .22 thanks lads

Depends on Super.

Most likely not. A rimfire is a short range, plinking rifle. A .223 is a centrefire medium ranged varmint rifle. They perform very different functions, and this can be the basis of your "good reason" for wanting it.

650gs

go for the .223 you will never change back

daithi55

started off with a .17hmr in cz was a great rifle for crows and rabits and the od foc
then moved to savage stevens .223 as a dedicated foxing gun i shot the world of foxes with it and the odd rabbit
ive now moved on to a savage accu trier .243 for deer and foxes

if your just shooting rabbits and the odd fox the .17hmr is perfect
if your going mostly for foxes and targets then the .223 is the way

insignia33

eoin.d wrote: »

hi lads i need some advice, i have a .22 but want to move up to a .223 for long distance rabbit shooting some fox maybe and targets, i need some advice on what type 223 would you recommend and how much would you be talking for a good second hand. also will i have any trouble get a licence for a 223 if i keep the .22 thanks lads

Maybe Im reading wrong, but seems to me you mainly want it for long distance rabbits with foxes and targets just thrown in as an after thought. That been the case, do yourself a favour and get the 17. Or maybe even look into this new 17 hornet everybody is talking about.

A 223 will destroy rabbits. You'll be scooping them up with a shovel

However, if I picked you up wrong and you mainly want a foxing round then 223 would be perfect.

650gs

Good scope head shots on the bunnys no waste

eoin.d

thanks lads alot of great advice there. i will be still using the 22 for the rabbits but just wanted a longer range rifle. mostly for targets and some fox. i want something to do me in the future for more fox shooting. i was looking at the remington sps and couple of cz, they seem like a great rifle. once again thanks for the great advice

TriggerPL

eoin.d wrote: »

thanks lads alot of great advice there. i will be still using the 22 for the rabbits but just wanted a longer range rifle. mostly for targets and some fox. i want something to do me in the future for more fox shooting. i was looking at the remington sps and couple of cz, they seem like a great rifle. once again thanks for the great advice

What about the 17 hornet !! That is a caliber il be trying at some stage

iverjohnston

TriggerPL wrote: »

What about the 17 hornet !! That is a caliber il be trying at some stage

Was out foxing with a lad last week, he has a Howa 223. Was very impressed with it. Has probably 800 foxes accounted for in 5 years with this rifle . Not used on smaller stuff thought. Am looking at a tikka secondhand in this calibre.

sniperman

vapour_trail wrote: »

Get rid of the .22 and get a .17HMR! Rabbits out to 200 yards and a bit further if you know what you're doing. Itll take foxes under 200 yards with a well placed shot. Its only €15-€18 for 50 rounds of ammo ! It is incredibly accurate and powerful and underestimated. A .223 is way overkill for rabbits, a lot more expensive to run and the gun itself is a lot more expensive.

Dont just jump for a .223 , take a look at the HMR first. I own a .22lr and a .17hmr and Ill be going for a .223 but itll shoot no rabbits. Ill only be using it for foxes and long range on those hard to fool magpies and grey crows. I often shoot them out to 200 yards with the .17hmr but I need to be able to reach out to 300 or thereabouts for foxes.

++++1;)

yubabill1

My shooting buddy used a Remy 700 223 to great effect for long range rabbits (well, 200yds for absolute consistent hits) and some target work.

He used cheap FMJ ammo to get results that would discomfort many.

As long as you believe in your kit, you will go a long way.

Tawny Owl

eoin.d wrote: »

hi tawny owl, what 223 have you been looking at so far

Sorry only getting back to your question, and I don't really know yet just want something bigger to take a Fox down, and to be fair would hate to think of using the .22 and leaving the thing to die in pain. So I think a little shopping on here will do first, Cass through out a very good list there.

dogcityroller

One of my mates has a howa 1500 rifle in 223. Cannot fault this rifle at all. Good trigger,lots of options on stocks and barrels.Very accurate rifle out of the box for very humble money.

bennybrendy

17 hornet will not be coming out in ireland sorry to the barer of bad news. Savage are the only company making the rifles and the irish distributor for savage are nor bringing in that calibre mainly because the only manufacture of the round is Hornady and the Hornady distributor in Ireland are not bringing in the rounds due to it being to similar to a 223 round and very similar in price.
I work in the trade and was excited to read about the round and checked into the availiblity because i wanted one myslef, only to learn that its a non-runner.

bennybrendy

17 hmr all the way. The round is a better all round shooter for small game like crows, mags and rabbits and is still fit to take a fox out to 150yrds. I have an anshutz 17hmr and will never part with it.

Dec the trucker

Hey eoin d. I have a Remington vssf 223. Lovely gun and accurate but you need to be Rambo to carry it around. It's way too heavy. I'd love to change it for a tikka. Agree with the lads on the .17. Great flat shooting rifle for anything out to 200+ yards. But if your heart is set on the 223 I'd recommend you stay away from Remington.

Lotharmike

Have a look at the 204 before you buy a 223.Far superior round

bennybrendy

Lotharmike wrote: »

Have a look at the 204 before you buy a 223.Far superior round

.204 rounds are becoming harder to get, dealers will are unlikely to stock rounds for a gun that is practicaly obselete due to the .223 becoming far more popular.

Lotharmike

I disagree completely ,never had any problem getting 204 rounds or for the 223 I traded for the 204. Obsolete remark is baffling really.I would pick the 204 over any of the calibers I own or have owned absolute cracking round.Most under rated round out there.

DMW22

When you compare the .204 and .223 together with Hornady's 40gr V-max the .204 wins hands down! The 40gr v-max in .204 still beats the 55gr v-max in .223 for energy down range and is better in the wind.

The one area where the .204 falls down is the range of ammo available. Also since the majority of factory .204's can't run the 40gr stuff because the twist rate is too slow it means you will need to re-barrel it. This means you are stuck with the 32gr stuff as Federal has stopped manufacturing the 39gr rounds.

I was recently looking at the .204, .223 and .22-250 as a varmint calibre. I was strongly considering the .204 as the rifle was a project rifle and would be re-barrelled in the future but the .223 won out as I liked having the option of running 40-75gr bullets.

I don't want to turn this into a .223 vs .204 debate as I know ye all love them around here

bennybrendy

By no means am i debating the merits of a 204 round its a brilliant round but one of the biggest things to consider is the resale value or trade in value you will get in the future.
Arriving to an RFD looking to trade in a 223 compared to a 204. The RFD would far sooner have a 223 on his shelf second hand than a 204. Thats exactly why the trade in value you would get for your 204 would be a lot less than a 223 value.
That coupled with the choice of ballistics available in 204 compared to 223, the 223 is a better choice.

session savage

I have a .223 tikka T3 Lite and its without doubt the best rifle Ive ever had. And for my style of shooting the .223 is the best round Ive ever had.
I use it for foxes out to 500yds (486yds furthest yet)
Rabbits too, so far the longest rabbit I shot was at 375yds.
As was mentioned above if you shoot a rabbit in the body with a .223 your gonna be scooping it up.. BUT. the further out you shoot a rabbit the less trauma will be involved. So if the rabbit is under 200yds you can easily take a headshot and you havent ruined the meat out past that if you want to you can shoot a body shot and the trauma wont be too bad (as far as picking it up anyway)
Personally I have a .22 PCP that I use if I want a rabbit for the pot or if Im in a position to take a nice looking grazer with the .223 Ill go for the headshot and theres no problems. However if Im looking to do a bit of long range verminting then I adore the .223.
Theres no buzz like getting a clean shot on a rabbit at near 400yds. or a fox at near 500.

If I had to hand in all but one of my firearms Id keep the .223 every time.

yubabill1

Shoot your rabbit with 223 FMJ and very little meat damage.

Kinetic energy dump is enough to kill with a chest shot out to as far as I can hit them: I see no problem with FMJ with a chest shot at the ranges mentioned.

Personally, I don't go much over 200 yds for rabbits, but that's just me and I'd much rather less than 100yds for my first shot of the day.

nedcbr6

Hi there like what Ur were saying abt the 204 what twist rate would u need to shoot the 40g ????
Cheerz

DMW22

nedcbr6 wrote: »

Hi there like what Ur were saying abt the 204 what twist rate would u need to shoot the 40g ????
Cheerz

From what I can remember you needed a 1-11 or 1-10 twist. I think most people went with a 1-11 twist as the happy medium.