I am very interested in these 2 rifles. Mainly target shooting, and coyotoes. I know that 223 would be cheaper, but a friend of mine loads for both of these so ammunition price is of little concern. So please give me your recommendations. Also, the savage has a 1/12 twist in 22/250 and the remington lists 1/14, what would be the heaviest bullet i could shoot in each, and which would you prefer if i went 22/250? Thanks in advance.

Chris

I have a 12fv in 22-250 that is a tack driver.
IMHO you can't go wrong with Savage or 22-250.

Hey Dunno.......Ugh, Chris,

You asked, so here's my $0.02 worth.

If your friend reloads - firstly I'd be his Buddy, a REAL good Buddy (I didn't say intimate, either, just Buddy). Either have him teach you how to load for yourself with your Dies & Components or buy him a set of .223 Remington Dies; either way get .223 Remington Dies, Cases & Bullets. This will not break the bank and will be less expensive than for a .22-250 Remington or .243 Winchester.

After you've got everything set up in .223 Remington.......



Purchase the Savage 12FV in .223 Remington; use the $$$$$ left over from making the Savage decision over the Remington and purchase .223 Remington components.



You'll have to ultimately make your own decision but you're not gonna go wrong with either the Savage or the Remington. It'll boil down to what you'd like to spend, as the Savage ought to be less expensive. The Savages do have their plus points as you've suggested - the Savage will digest much-o heavier bullets in .224" caliber than the Remington due to barrel twist.

Now, both the .243 or the .22-250 will heat up barrel RIGHT NOW when you're at the range just sorta plinking away and rather rapidly putting bullet-o-s down range. So whether or not you just want to blast away or cook 'em off somewhat slower not to burn the barrel up in short order could perhaps be a consideration, too. A .223 Remington barrel for a Savage 12FV can be replaced much easier and less expensive, too.

If you're just interested in shooting at the local range the real purpose of using heavier for caliber, VLD bullets is actually gonna be lost unless you plan at shooting at some real distances and these VLD components tend to be much more expensive than "standard" componets, too. for 100, 200 or even 300 meters regular old, vanilla-flavored 55 grain .224" or 70 grain .243" bullets are gonna get you were you need to be without alot of fuss.

Have Fun.

I don't know where you live but up here I hunt yotes in the winter and I've heard some folks complain about the accu-trigger on the savage when wearing gloves.

I'm a fan of the 243 but again it's not fur friendly on the yotes. So if you want to save those hides go for something smaller. Even the 22-250 can generate some huge exit holes.

Thanks everyone for your recommendations. I want to start reloading, but I dont have room for it at the moment. Got the money saved to buy everything, just waiting until I have somewhere to do it. I wont be just blasting away, so I dont expect the barrel to overheat. Im in Mississippi, and coyotes and armadillos and such are pretty much our only varmints. I wont be keeping the coyote hides, they will go to the farmer if he wants them for anything. They are killing his dogs and his barn cats, so he told me I can come shoot them if i want. I have been looking for a reason to get a new rifle, and that was it.

Main reason I was considering the 243 was I could also hunt deer with it, because I usually hunt out of a ground blind. So the weight wont be a factor. And it will be much easier on the shoulder than my 7mm Rem. Mag. But at the moment Im leaning toward the 22/250, and possibly the 223 after Gerry's post.

If you're looking at the SPS Varmint you might find that a stock replacement is in the possible future. The factory stock is very flexible, especially at the forend and that can harm accuracy.

I have a Remington .223 SPS skinny barrel, I hated the stock and replaced it with a Remington classic stock. My trigger was gritty and had a lot of creep,I replaced it with a Timmney trigger.I went in knowing I was going to make these changes.The rifle loves 40gr. Noslers and 55gr Hornady Sxs.

A friend offered a Savage 10FP .223 I cleaned the barrel, lightened up the Accu- trigger,torqued the stock bolts. Proceeded to shoot some great 4 shot groups with every bullet heavier than 50grs that I tried . I usually manage to pull the last shot of a 5 shot group.

The down side to the Savage is it is butt ugly,and not real user friendly , it has the Choate stock which is bulky and heavy, but I bought it for shooting pdogs and for shooting from a bench.The tiny groups the Savage keeps throwing has me smiling.The stock can be always changed sometime down the road if I don't warm up to it.

Just my .02$

I have the skinny version of the 243 stainless sps. I too took went in knowing I was going to replace the stock (McMillan mountain stock) and the trigger (Jewell)but also shortened and recrowned (for moderator) and ended up liking the rifle so much I bought it some williams bottom metal and had the whole blasted to a finer finish.

Very accurate indeed. Gets hot quick in warm weather.

A stock replacement was gonna be on list also, later on when I could afford a good one. Thanks everyone for your recommendations.