hi,

I have a remington 700 in .222 that has a pitted bore and I'm considering what to rebarrel to. I want to be able to connect with gophers to 500+ yards without to much recoil. Secondary usage would be on coyotes. How would a 223 AI perform in this situation? Im pretty sure the gophers wouldn't provide any trouble but how far would I be able to get reliable kills on coyotes? Are there any other calibers which would be good for the job and could fit into my action? I've shot my friends 22-250 but find that muzzle blast can be a little excessive (maybe only because of his 22 inch barrel) so I'm leaning towards a little less powerful round.

Brett

How did the .222 shoot after you cleaned the bore?

I still have to shoot it, that will be the deciding factor if I rebarrel or not. I also might try reboring it to 6*47 if the local gunsmith can do that. The previous owner let the trigger down alot, sometimes if the bolt is cycled hard it wont catch the sear, the guy also removed the safety.

I just want to get some ideas in case the gun will not shoot good.

Brett

223 AI with short picht ( 1 in 9 ) and 75/77 gr bullet can make accurate shot at 600 yards with 24 or 25 barrel that work .

IF you want to keep your barrel a long time try to fireform in your old barrel in 222 rechamber in 223 AI , built a swicht barrel rifle with a pined recoil lug .

another way is to use the very good 22 BR ( Lapua brass ) that a small impresive cartridge (near to equal the 22.250 in velocity )but you need to open your boltface and fit a SAko extractor and 22 BR doesn t need fireforming .

22.250 with 1 in 9 barrel can also work with 26 inch barrel muzzle blast is far less than in a short barrel and velovity is very good bur barrel life is not good as the 223 AI or the 22 BR

good shooting

DAN TEC

I would just put a 223 rem barrel on it.

Well I might just go with a .223 since the gunsmith I usually use says he doesn't believe in Ackley's designs and doesn't have the reamer.

Does anyone know where I can get a new remington take off heavy barrel in .223? I might just go for one of those since it will be cheaper.

Thanks for the advice so far,
Brett

May I suggest that you just clean it out and try it. The rifle does not have all that much potential to be a long range varminter anyway.

Try to use it as it is within it's range. That's what it was made for. If it will not shoot well then sell it and buy a rifle made for 500 yard shooting.

Puting this into perspective there is a Rem 722 in a local shop and they are asking $229 (usa) for it. The end of the bbl has a tiny bit of rust in it. I bet it will shoot fine when kept clean but why bother with it? It will always be a Remington and it has a small bolt face. Not something to leave with a gunsmith.

You can go to WalMart and buy a .243 with a scope for $350 and it will be better in every way for long range varmints and also be usefull for mid range deer.

Don't invest a cent in that rifle.

[ 03-03-2003, 21:55: Message edited by: Savage99 ]

Savage99,

Maybe I am a little optimistic at the ranges, It will be more like out to 500 yards instead of 500+. I do plan on shooting it and if it shoots I wont rebarrel, but from looking down the barrel I don't think it will shoot to well.

I'm curious as to what you mean by not leaving the small bolt face with a gunsmith? When I talked to my smith he said that he wouldn't open up the face so I had to rebarrel to a similar cartridge.

Brett

Bullet Proof,

The reason not to leave it at a gunsmith is that unless the bolt is opened up to a larger cartridge head size there is no hope that a .222/223 will be an effective varmint cartridge much beyond 300 yards. Of course something can be hit at 500 yds with one but you will have run out of power before that.

This is like trying to make a racing car out of a Checker Cab. It was made to be a .222! Accept it at that and either use it, and it is a very useful low report cartridge, or move on. There is nothing more expensive than something that fails to do the job you got it for.

Look at the numbers. Your 700 now with the rusty barrel may bring $175 or so. For another $175 you can get a .243 at Walmart that will reach to 500 yds on varmints, be brand new and even take big game cleanly. If you put $300 or so into a new barrel you will be puting good money after bad.

If you want to reuse all your 222 brass then get a new barrel in 20 cal in Vartag turbo I think it is and that is a 222 necked down to 20 cal. If you get a 1-12 twist it will shoot up to 45g bullets and maybe a little higher. This will really help on those 500y shots. If you want even more speed then Tach 20 would be the ticket and it is a 223 knecked down to 20 with a sholder blown out to 30* rather than 23. It will spit out 33g bullets at about 4300 so going with a 40g or 45g for the distance would be no problem.

BP, go to .223 and be happy. Truth is, once the wind is blowing, hitting little critters at over 400 yards becomes the exception rather than the rule. Way too many variables.

Once upon a time I lived in the center of the prarrie dog world. This was back when such shooting was free. I had all the free shooting I could reload for. I tried a .222, 22-250, 220 Swift, 6x47, 243, and 6mm Remington. Even used a .22 Long Rifle! After awhile I started using my hunting rifles to use up un-used/leftover ammuniton; I've shot dozens of prarrie dogs with a 300 H&H! Eventually I ended up with a very accurate .222 Sako. Out to 225 yards it was automatic. After that it became a matter or judging the wind. And the wind is not consistent in the rolling terrain that p.d's live in. I've shot at a couple hundred p.d.'s at 400 yards, and it becomes a matter of playing with the wind at that range. The 6mm's worked better at that distance, but recoil becomes a factor when shooting 100+ shots in a session.

Here's a general observation: it's a lot easier to talk a 400 yard shot than to actually do it! Particularly consistently.

When it all boils down, if I were starting all over, I'd recommend a .223 or 22-250.

And I'd recommend a 223AI................

If recoil is a factor I'd think about the Tact20, the .223 case necked to 20 caliber is less pressure sensitive than the 20t-n-t and with the 700 action you'll be plenty strong enough. I'll go one further, the wind thing is not as bad as everyone says with the 20's. Also they are flat shooting as hell. My personal best shot with the Tact20 was 404 yards mesured with my Lieca 1200. I put the crosshairs level with the top of his back and touched the trigger, that coyote never knew what hit him.

I would reccomend the Tact20 to anyone, its a damn good cartridge that more and more people are trying and finding that they don't want to shoot any thing else. Ask some other 20 shooters what they think, better yet try to buy their gun,LOL

Good luck in whatever you do

Slydog

Buillet Proof,Rebarrel for the 223AI To get the most out fo this shoot Nosler 40gr BT or VMAX 40 gr. I do not consider this atrue coyote buster. That game truley starts with the sixes (243cal). But if you place your shot well and pick and chose your time to shoot this223AI will kill a shitload of coyotes.

Bullet Proof, I think you first need to find a different gunsmith. I would be very sceptical of a gunsmith that didn't believe in an Ackley design, or know how to alter a boltface. As far as the caliber, there is nothing wrong with the .223 AI. With the proper twist and bbl length, it will get you to 500yds. You could alter the boltface to .473 for the .22-250 etc. I think that is counterproductive as it is somewhat costly and weakens the boltface. If you want something bigger than the .223 AI, I would get the safety fixed, clean up the gun, and sell it. Then look for a USED Rem in .243. This will give you a good foundation for a custom later on.

Very easy to swap a 233 bolt for a 308Win(.473") bolt in the Rem 700's. Lots of guys are looking to do just that(procure a 223 boltface 700 bolt) and I know several of them(grin).............

Bulletproof, You want to kill something at 500 yards? I was in a gunshop yesterday where there was a Remington Sendero in 25-06 that somebody had won on a raffle and wasn't shot! They had traded it in for 3 Jennings and a Raven!!Haha!! He was in a spring cleaning mode and put a green tag on it for $495.00!!! No rechambering, rebarrelling, or nothing needed!! Just sell that small bolt face action for 300.00 or so and get yourself a real gun!! 25-06....the varmint rifle from hell ..in the eyes of the varmint!!! GHD

Thanks for all the replies, I've abandoned the other smith in favor of Ron smith,the barrel maker, who is located not too far from my place. He said he would chamber for ackley if I wanted. This would more be a gopher gun with a possibility of coyotes so I don't think I need to go with 6mm, although I'm sure it would help if I wanted to reach out more often then not. I'm going to go shoot the gun later today and then make a decision.

Thanks again,
Brett

well maybe I'll just try it like it is for a while, at the range I had a makeshift rest of sheets which wasn't very stable and I put 4 into less then .5" I pulled one to make the group .8" I'll have to remember my good rest next time and see whta I can do.

Brett

Problem is for hitting PD out to around 500+yds, it's going to me very hard to find some thing that wont have alot a muzzle blast.
skinner