Oldbloke wrote:I'm not having a go at you. It could well be a reason but only for very few. If that's the main reason for selecting one over the other I'd suggest a more appropriate cartridge might be a better way to go.
Who would need to load 80 or 90gr bullets in a 223?
And if the throat is that long, will 45gr bullets shoot accurately? It will be a big jump. I don't know.
Reliability, weight, fit, accuracy, machining quality, feed, finish, known faults. I think these are what he is most likely after.
I would stay away from any rifle that has known feed issues. I like internal mags, you can't lose them.
I know you're not, you're making valid points.
I may be mistaken, but I think the OP has mentioned that he primarily shoots targets?
If you're only shooting targets out to around 300m you don't really need high-BC bullets unless it's windy, heavier bullets tend to be less effected by wind. If you start extending the range past 300m then you want to start looking at higher-BC bullets to beat wind and reduce flight time, lighter bullets dump velocity very quickly. Even out to 300m the longer bullets are better, but not required.
For example:
53gn Match at 3300fps compared to an 80gn ELDM at 2850fps (you probably won't be able to make 2850fps seating these to 2.340" to run in the Mini-action though, and they won't work in a 12"-twist barrel).
Zeroed at 250m, in a 10mph full wind, out to 300m there's little in it aside from the wind.
At 150m the 53gn is 100mm high with 90mm of wind, the 80gn is 106mm high with 47mm of wind.
At 300m the 53gn is 130mm low with 406mm of wind, the 80gn is 120mm low with 195mm wind.
Just use whichever bullet gives you the smallest groups and concentrate on reading the wind accurately.
Past 300m though:
At 500m the 53gn is 1550mm low with 1370mm of wind and 1300fps (nearly subsonic already), the 80gn is 1200mm low with 600mm of wind and 1900fps.
At 800m the 53gn is nine-meters low, with 4.3 meters of wind and 900fps, the 80gn is 5.2 meters low with 1.7 meters of wind and 1450fps.
At 1000m the 53gn is 20.3 meters low with 6.9 meters of wind and 780fps, the 80gn is 10.3 meters low with three-meters of wind and 1214fps - it's still supersonic, despite starting out 450fps slower than the lighter bullet. Flight times are 2.55 seconds and 1.81 seconds - the lighter bullet is affected by the wind for three-quarters of a second longer.
You will certainly learn more about wind shooting the lighter bullets, but your scores and accuracy has got to be better with the longer bullets. At 1000m a seven-meter wind hold is going to be far less accurate than a three-meter wind hold - if your wind call is out by 2-3mph your shot is probably still going to be on the target with the 80gn bullet.
I also like internal mags, but it's harder to change cartridges quickly when I want a subsonic shot.