Thinking that I might pick up a rifle for varmints. I have A LOT of .223 laying around so I might as well use on something other than paper. Thinking used Rem 700 or Sako. Suggestions?

My absolute favorite varmint rifle is an AR15 in .223

Mega Arms upper and lower
A2 butstock
Houge grip
Rock River 2 stage trigger
18" Wilson H-Bar barrel 1-8" twist with rifle length gas
4.5-14x40 AO Leupold VX2

I should have mentioned that I have an AR. A LMT Defender 90. Looking for a bolt-action.

If you only want to use your rifle on varmints, you can go with a 14" twist, but if you want to use heavier bullets, you will need a faster twist.

I have a BRNO ZKK 601 in .223 which is quite nice, but they are rather hard to find. I'm not sure whether CZ makes the 550 in that caliber.

But an LMT Defender is not a varmint rifle

I have a Mossberg MVP. It's chambered in 5.56, shoots fantastic, and uses AR-15 magazines, which is Handy if you already have them around.

The Sako Vixen (L461 or A-I) is the absolute princess of small actions. Nothing else compares. If you can find a .223 it will be somewhat pricey, but worth it, and accurate.

For economy, the new Howa Mini is probably a good buy for the price, but rather pedestrian with its synthetic stock and extended magazine.

Remington 700's are well-established and usually accurate, but who wants an action large enough to hold a .300 SAUM for a petite .223?

The Interarms Mini Mark X (sold under that name as well as Charles Daly and Remington 599) is a rough semi-copy of the Sako L461, but unfortunately I've never seen a barrel on one that would do even close to MOA.

I have a Rem 700 223 and a Sako 223. Actually multiple of both.
They are accurate and 100% reliable. Can’t go wrong with either.
Lots more after make and customing options on the Rem. The sako is scaled very well for the smallish 223 cattridge.

I have a semi custom Cz 527 (left handed) by Wayne at ahr.

A Blaser barrel.

Ton of ar.

I would look at cz 527.

https://cz-usa.com/product/cz-...uro-varmint-223-rem/

Mike

Were it not for the backwards safety, the CZ hands down. The weight and feel is great in my books. I like my .222's and .223 and I think I would like a .204 Ruger. My .222 in Remington 600 is a nice rig.

I have several Savage rifles, a couple of which are chambered for .223. I love my LRPV. But the LRP (which is a .243, but available as a .223) is excellent too.

IMO, the upsides of those rifles are their price, trigger and out-of-the-box pin-point accuracy. The downside is they are barrel-heavy and every now and again a Savage will have a minor extractor/ejector issue.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
But an LMT Defender is not a varmint rifle

Depends on how you define "varmint" but it's an excellent choice for the 2-legged variety. ;-)

I've owned .223 Varmint rifles
Ruger mods. 77& #1
CZ 527
Savage I believe Mod. 110
All were MOA and the only problem I had was with the Savage Accutriger. It had to be cleaned now and again or would not function.Other than that it was a great rifle. roger

my most accurate 223 is also an AR Varmint rig.
I just built a second one.

I doubt your gonna find a bad 223 if you spend more than 500$ on it.

I’ve got a Remington 700, a Sako L461 and a Cooper 21 MTV.

Remington is nice if you like to tinker.

Sako is about perfect just the way it comes

Newer model Cooper’s seem really hit or miss on quality control

I have a couple AR15's that are great varmint rifles. Pin point accurate and quick follow up shots.
I also have a Howa 1500 .223 with a medium weight barrel that I am really happy with.
Both platforms are great in their own way but I must say the AR's are hard to beat.

In an earlier post someone mentioned that my LMT is not a varmint rifle. What are the main differences between an AR like my LMT and one built specifically for varmints?

Thanks in advance,

JDG

Bill's Ruger RPR in 223 in the Classifieds is available. You won't do much better than that.

Picked up a used Steyr Ultra Light in 223 a few years back..very accurate, very light even with a Nikon 2.5-10.

have several... ruger scout in .223,,, like the way it carries and shoots... hate the cumbersome magazine... cz527 varmit... single set trigger... 5 shot removable magazines... 1 ragged hole with 72 hollow points if I do my part... both shoot extremely well fro 50 gr to 75 gr stuff... identical glass.. zeiss 3x9x40 conquests...

I have the L461 in 222 and one in 223 and they're super sweet little rigs.

I also have a couple Rem 700's and while they're more "bulky" than the little old Sako, they are perfectly adapted to a billion after-market upgrades.

I'm just finishing a high-end 20 Practical (necked down 223 case) on a 700. What's not to love about 3800+ fps and a .287 BC 39 grain pill for yotes and whatnot?

Note:222 or 223 are actually just about perfect for most scenarios.

Zeke

I agree with stonecreek and Zeke, the L-461 Sako is the queen of the crop...A cartridge should match its action in size is my opine..

This thread is keeping me up at night. I would really like the understand the difference between an AR platform varmint rifle and an AR like my LMT (which has not been out of my safe in ~ 5-years.) Ultimately I want to do is replace that with something more practical that I can use for varmints.

JDG

quote:

Originally posted by Doublegun:
This thread is keeping me up at night. I would really like the understand the difference between an AR platform varmint rifle and an AR like my LMT (which has not been out of my safe in ~ 5-years.) Ultimately I want to do is replace that with something more practical that I can use for varmints.

JDG

There are many forms of AR15's that like some bolt rifles are set up more specifically like a Varmint or Target rig, typically this begins with a mid weight to heavy contour barrel.
A Flat top upper for mounting a target/Varmint scope and the lack of a fixed front sight all make it more Varmint rifle like.
I'm surprised that I need to explain this....
However whatever rifle you have like some thin barreled bolt rifles put a scope on it and see if it groups like a useful varmint rifle or find a load that it likes, it may turn out that your LMT can be a varmint rig.
I have a couple 16.5" barreled AR's that are sub 1" shooters.

So, basically it’s just the barrel. That’s it. That much I knew, I didn’t know if there were other specifics that distinguished one from the other.

quote:

Originally posted by Doublegun:
This thread is keeping me up at night. I would really like the understand the difference between an AR platform varmint rifle and an AR like my LMT (which has not been out of my safe in ~ 5-years.) Ultimately I want to do is replace that with something more practical that I can use for varmints.

JDG

quote:

Originally posted by Doublegun:
So, basically it’s just the barrel. That’s it. That much I knew, I didn’t know if there were other specifics that distinguished one from the other.

Normaly it's 3 things that seperate a sweep and defend rifle vs a long range rifle in the AR configuration

A heavy contour barrel such as an H-Bar or Bull that is 18" out to 22" with an 8" twist or

A rifle length gas system

A match grade trigger in the 2 to 3 pound range....one or two stage

Adding in an adjustable gas block to prevent the bolt from slamming into the rear stop point is a nice touch that most shooters enjoy.

Higher power optics normaly top off a varmint rifle but that has nothing to do with AR variant vs bolt gun

I picked up a Stevens 200 in 223 a few years back. Found it on the used rack at Gander Mountain for $249.
With most factory loads it shoots 3/4" or less at 100 yards. A few less than 1/2".
1 in 12 twist so I can't shoot anything with the heavy long bullets.
Bought a box of PPU M855's These are a 62 gr FMJBT Steel core boat tail. They cut oval holes in the target. Some almost a key hole.
Probably start to tumble farther out.
I know most people won't recommend a Savage rifle but I have found them to be quite good shooters.
The Model 11 is a good one two. I rebarreled one to 250 Savage. Shoots almost as good.
Leo

DAY;YUM...always with the "DESIGNATIONS"...

A varmint rifle is ANY RIFLE that kills VARMINTS...two legged or four, large or small, ANY CALIBER...ANY PLATFORM...ANYHOO.

I shoot sagerats with every rifle I have from 17 FB to 50 Rigby wildcats and even with my 12 and 20 ga SHOTGUNS FROM HELL once in a while....I GUARANTEE it will make you a better hunter being able to kill those tiny rat-things FROM 50- 500 yards with you "earsplittingloudenboomer" makes taking out a deer sized animal a chip shot.

I used a early Colt H-Bar and FMJ's to thin out the ground squirrel population in several states back in the day and I now have three complete upper barrel/scope sets apiece for my AR10-15 platforms...takes me ≈3 minutes to swap out not counting the coffee break(well maybe 4 minutes)...not to mention all the other "nightmares" calibers I've built over the years and I'm the low man on the totem when it come to cannon numbers compared to others here on AR.

BASICALLY...no flame intended...WHO THE HE** ARE YOU to tell me WHAT my rifles are...VARMINTERS, DGR or just plain bacon getters.

Hey...our rifles are what WE want them to be and every thing we dream of wanting them to be.

I swear AR members would argue over pepper vs pepper vs salt and pepper vs sriracha.


Good Hunting

quote:

Originally posted by 44magLeo:
I picked up a Stevens 200 in 223 a few years back. Found it on the used rack at Gander Mountain for $249.
With most factory loads it shoots 3/4" or less at 100 yards. A few less than 1/2".
1 in 12 twist so I can't shoot anything with the heavy long bullets.
Bought a box of PPU M855's These are a 62 gr FMJBT Steel core boat tail. They cut oval holes in the target. Some almost a key hole.
Probably start to tumble farther out.
I know most people won't recommend a Savage rifle but I have found them to be quite good shooters.
The Model 11 is a good one two. I rebarreled one to 250 Savage. Shoots almost as good.
Leo

I picked up a .223 Stevens 200 cheap too. Put a Rifle Basix trigger and a Boyds stock on it, added a Nikon 6-18 Buckmasters(?) scope and it shoots just like yours does. For varmints, I shoot shoot the 40 VMax. It's accuate enough and very reliable.

I have two varmint rifles, one is a full custom L-461 Sako in 6x45 and the other is my baby, an L-46 Riiahmakii Sako, 222 Rem. clip gun, classic stock design and all original, its just so nice to walk about shooting Jack rabbits, Rock Chucks, coyotes, Badgers, and more than a few deer have succumbed to its 60 gr. Hornadys, not only by me but by my children, grand children and soon, God willing, for my great grand children..that first deer has been my job for years.

I recently bought a Tikka T-3 Lite in .22-250. The ultimate varmit killer. This rifle shoots factory loads into easily half inch groups. Great rifle