Hello Gentlemen,
I need your help; I am looking to purchase a rifle in .223 caliber. What I am looking for is a bolt action rifle with iron sights. It seems that configuration of rifle id now a rarity. So far I have on the list a Ruger m77 Hawkeye African, a CZ527 carbine or a Savage 11/11 Hog Hunter. Does anyone have experience with these three rifles? Or can give me a lead on some other rifle that meets these specs?
Thank you

What are you going to use it for. There is a wide range of bullet weights for this caliber. Lighter bullets only require 1:14.If you wish to shoot the heavies than 1:10 might be better.

IMO, the finest 223 bolt action is the Sako Vixen, no longer in production, but usually available on the auction sites. Mini Mausers are good, so is the Brno ZKK-601 if you can find one. I'd get an AR15 type semi-auto too if you don't already have one.

I would look for a rifle with a twist of as fast as 1 turn in 8", to as slow as 1 turn in 9".

An 8" twist will stabilize 77 and 80 grain bullets rather well...or monometal bullets of the same length but lighter weight...in my experience.

With today's very excellently balanced bullets and precision machined barrels, it will still also perform very, very well with 50-55 grain bullets.

And now that the election is over, the crazies are already pushing hard in the courts to ban all bullets containing lead from use in the hunting fields. So the ability to stabilize the long monometal bullets may come in handy very much sooner than we would hope.

Here is the rundown on .223's with iron sights
Ruger 1:9
Savage 1:9
CZ 1:12
Steyr 1:9
Heym SR-21 1:12
Merel KR-1 is 1:9
Sako Bavarian 1:8
Sako hunter 1:8 and 1:12

Out of all of the ones listed above I would choose either the Sako or the Heym

Thank you gentlemen for all of the advise.
This is mainly going to be a plinking knockabout rifle, with a slight chance of hunting so a heavier bullet is in the works.

I have a CZ full-stock carbine, and am perfectly happy with it.

Having said that, it's not going to stabilise the heavy bullets.

You also love or hate its looks - specifically, the Bavarian style stock and the magazine.

quote:

Originally posted by 458dia:
Hello Gentlemen,
I need your help; I am looking to purchase a rifle in .223 caliber. What I am looking for is a bolt action rifle with iron sights. It seems that configuration of rifle id now a rarity. So far I have on the list a Ruger m77 Hawkeye African, a CZ527 carbine or a Savage 11/11 Hog Hunter. Does anyone have experience with these three rifles? Or can give me a lead on some other rifle that meets these specs?
Thank you

Buy what you want in a rifle, then smith a Williams 5D peep sight onto it and take out the screwed-in aperture for quicker target acquisition.

There is some data out there on CZs having two different twists depending on which model 527 you get. The carbine or the full length has a 1:9 IIRC. The other is 1:12 as stated. Check with CZ-USA... It's tough to beat CZ for VALUE.

458 dia, despite what you may read here by many that have not done it, a heavier bullet for hunting is not needed in .22 centerfires. Same with premium bullets. The common cup and core 55 grainers work mighty fine. Teancum uses 40 grainers and has had very good luck and at some fairly long distances. I like the CZ"s. The protruding box magazine is somewhat ugly, My understanding is that someone makes a smooth one that holds one less round. No problem--with a .223 one well placed shot is all you need. I also don't like the backwards safety, but I guess you just get use to it. I'm not sure which CZ's have a front sight as the one I have shot has a scope.

I'd stay away from the Savage rifles in .223 unless you're willing to fiddle with it. The production tolerances in the extractor/ejector system make for a lot of rifles with ejection issues. The solution is cheap but not 100% certain, either. The basic fix is to put a larger diameter ball under the exractor to keep it centered in the best position. You may have to play with the spring and/or try a different extractor. An ejector plunger with a longer groove for better protrusion is somtines needed as well.