Rifle to handle 223, 80gr projectiles

[Schadenfreude]

Can anyone suggest a Sporting Rifle that will load from the magazine and chamber 80gr .223 projectiles as I have a few.I have been shooting them for years in my Omark and my No4 conversion will only handle 69grs.I have been looking at the Henry Long Ranger.It does not have to be minute of angle,just minute of animal.

[Wyliecoyote]

Tikka CTR with no mods will handle 80 grain ELDMs and Sierra SMKs loaded right out in its 10 round magazine. A standard Tikka 223 with a Waters magazine upgrade can also do it.

[bladeracer]

Can anyone suggest a Sporting Rifle that will load from the magazine and chamber 80gr .223 projectiles as I have a few.I have been shooting them for years in my Omark and my No4 conversion will only handle 69grs.I have been looking at the Henry Long Ranger.It does not have to be minute of angle,just minute of animal.

I'm using the 8"-twist Ruger American Predator in an MDT LSS chassis with AICS mags. Lets me run 80gn ELDM at 2.450". But you can also load them at 2.260", you just lose some velocity.

[Oldbloke]

You may have considered it, but might just to be easier to buy a 243?

[Schadenfreude]

I don't think the 223 projectiles will shoot very well in a 243.

[straightshooter]

Can anyone suggest a Sporting Rifle that will load from the magazine and chamber 80gr .223 projectiles as I have a few.I have been shooting them for years in my Omark and my No4 conversion will only handle 69grs.I have been looking at the Henry Long Ranger.It does not have to be minute of angle,just minute of animal.

I assume your ammo is loaded with 80 grain SMK's so I foresee 2 problems.
1 No matter what rifle you select the 80 grain SMK has an extremely tight hollow point so on game they tend to perform most of the time like a FMJ but when they feel like it they will blow up and only make an ugly surface wound on medium game.I have tried using a center drill in a drill press to make an internal chamfer on 30 cal SMK's but the result was only a slight improvement. I don't know what what would happen with an 80 grainer.
2 The Henry has a 1 in 9 twist so the 80 grainer will be unstable and accuracy will be woeful.
I think your only real option will be something like a Rem 700 or similar with a blocked magazine which gets unblocked and have a 1 in 8 barrel fitted.

[Schadenfreude]

Thanks for your suggestions,a few things to think about.

[bigrich]

Can anyone suggest a Sporting Rifle that will load from the magazine and chamber 80gr .223 projectiles as I have a few.I have been shooting them for years in my Omark and my No4 conversion will only handle 69grs.I have been looking at the Henry Long Ranger.It does not have to be minute of angle,just minute of animal.

Mate, as has already been suggested, step up to a 243 if you want to shoot 80 grains at game. I’m thinking about a faster twist for 65 game kings or 60 vmax out of my 223. Which are hunting bullets. But that bullet weight has its limits on game weight. What game are you thinking of shooting ?

[Schadenfreude]

Thanks for your input,I have plenty of larger calibre rifles,I'm just enquiring if anyone can tell me what off the shelf rifles can chamber and fire 80gr projectile from the magazine.Anyone with a Long Ranger 223?

[bladeracer]

Thanks for your suggestions, a few things to think about.

Why do you want to use 80gn bullets? Are you trying to reduce wind drift or just trying to carry more energy? If you just want to use them because you have a heap of target bullets then you need to determine how well they're likely to work on flesh targets, some make very poor hunting bullets, but it will depend on what size animals you're shooting.

The twist rate of the barrel determines what bullet _length_ will stabilise. 9"-twist in .224" caliber will stabilise bullets up around 1.000" in length, so look for a heavy bullet that doesn't have a boat tail, or a hollow-point, or a polymer tip - soft-points are your best bet. Speer's 70gn SP was designed for the 14"-twist .22-250 so is a good choice for a heavier hunting bullet in the .223. The 80gn ELDM is a useful hunting bullet but is too long for 9"-twist. Try pulling the polymer tip out and use it as a hollow-point and it might be almost short enough to stabilise, if it's still too long you'll have to file about .5mm off the point to shorten it enough. But since you haven't got a rifle for it yet, buy an 8"-twist .223 rifle, or move up a caliber or three - .243, 6.5CM, 7mm-08 or even .308.

[bladeracer]

Thanks for your input,I have plenty of larger calibre rifles,I'm just enquiring if anyone can tell me what off the shelf rifles can chamber and fire 80gr projectile from the magazine.Anyone with a Long Ranger 223?

All .223Rem rifles can chamber and feed 80gn bullets from the magazine, you just have to seat the bullet short enough to work. If you load them at the standard 2.260" it will feed through all .223 rifles. But you lose some potential velocity due to the reduced case volume.

The Long Ranger has a 9"-twist so will struggle with most of the 80gn bullets available, most are VLD or ELD designs which are too long. But some designs have long polymer tips that can be removed to shorten the bullet significantly. The rifle appears to be a short-action in all chamberings so should be able to feed cartridges up to 2.800" in length, but the .223 mags may be blocked for the 2.260" .223 cartridge, as may the bolt stop - these may not be insurmountable though. I would have to actually handle one to see for sure.

[bigrich]

Thanks for your input,I have plenty of larger calibre rifles,I'm just enquiring if anyone can tell me what off the shelf rifles can chamber and fire 80gr projectile from the magazine.Anyone with a Long Ranger 223?

All .223Rem rifles can chamber and feed 80gn bullets from the magazine, you just have to seat the bullet short enough to work. If you load them at the standard 2.260" it will feed through all .223 rifles. But you lose some potential velocity due to the reduced case volume.

The Long Ranger has a 9"-twist so will struggle with most of the 80gn bullets available, most are VLD or ELD designs which are too long. But some designs have long polymer tips that can be removed to shorten the bullet significantly. The rifle appears to be a short-action in all chamberings so should be able to feed cartridges up to 2.800" in length, but the .223 mags may be blocked for the 2.260" .223 cartridge, as may the bolt stop - these may not be insurmountable though. I would have to actually handle one to see for sure.

Good detailed advice as always blade

[Jorlcrin]

You may have considered it, but might just to be easier to buy a 243?

My read of the OP's question was that he already had a quantity of 80gn .224 projectiles, and was looking for a suitable .223 rifle he could use them in.

I have a Tikka T3x CTR in .223Rem, and while the largest projectile I've used to date was 75gn (Both Hornady BTHP Match and Rexem F-Bomb), I'm tempted to try out a box or two of 80gn pills..Just for the heck of it

I'm finding the .243 doesnt get a lot of work these days, since we started using the 69gn and 75gn pills in both our .223's.

[bigrich]

I'm finding the .243 doesnt get a lot of work these days, since we started using the 69gn and 75gn pills in both our .223's.

what are you using these pills on ?