What is the toughest .223 /5.56 bolt action rifle on the market today?

My CZ 527 is pretty tough, maybe the ruger GSR in 223.

Good question.....

I would think the Ruger Action is pretty tough.  The Hawkeye action.  Being a Mauser action.  And I think the .223 version is the same action as the full sized calibers.  I'm not sure what Remington's status is but they used to make a 700 in .223.   Which is obviously a strong action.

I would think both of those are strong enough for 5.56, but I'm not sure they cut their chambers for 5.56......  Or wylde.  I think I've heard it said that the Ruger has a 5.56 friendly chamber.  But I'm not sure if they're meaning the American....  Because those are rated for .223/5.56.  I wouldn't think the action is as TOUGH, though.  But I don't really know that.

I wonder if Savage is still making the Model 10 I think it is, the normal bolt gun, in .223.  I don't know much about the import or smaller manufactures guns.  You could check Kimber.  I know CZ makes .223 guns but I think one of the actions they make is a rebated action for the smaller rounds.  .223 /7.62x39.  Not sure about their American...

Anyways.....

You may want to clarify by what you mean by "tough" and others might have some more to say about it.

Just looking for a bolt gun that could be used for variety of different things and be able to take a licking and keep on ticking.

If that's the case I think if you stayed away from the budget line of most manufacturers (axis, American, compass, ect) you should be fine.

Not that there is an issue with them but they do have a lot of plastic parts and cheap stocks.

Yeah, by "tough" I understood the O.P. to mean a durable bolt-weapon that's reliable under harsh or extreme conditions over time, like a traditional mil bolt action would be  -  the P1917 or 1903/03A3 for example.

Except the O.P. asked for current commercial production bolts chambered in .223/5.56mm.  Personally, I'd want a Mauser - or Mini-Mauser - action, with a chrome-lined barrel (max of 20"), that could be fed by equally durable and reasonably-priced AR mags, like Magpul's 5-, 10-, or 20-rd 5.56 PMags.

The above criteria eliminate Mossbummer and Savage.

CZ might be a good choice, but while the 527's mag is detachable, it's proprietary, not an AR/P-mag type.

Maybe Ruger, ... but their Scout rifles, or at least the early models, had problems caused by Ruger's proprietary mags.

Considering all the wood stocked hunting rifles that have seen hard use over the decades it shouldn't be difficult to find something that will meet your needs.

Below is my post with brief impressions of the Ruger American 223 AR mag rifle, in a thread discussing practical rifles. There's more discussion at that thread.

I am a skeptical type of shooter. I prefer my Mauser, M1917 and 1903 actions for their proven reliability and ease to maintain them.  Even if a modern budget rifle can out-shoot my 1903 Sporter, I am willing to give up a bit of accuracy for the reliability of a military action. It's just what I prefer. I don't care if my Savage bolt action shoots more accurately than my 1903, I'd just trust the 1903 way more in field conditions.

That said, it does appear to me that the Remington 700 action has proven itself pretty well in tough field use, and is used hard in many competitions. Also, many competition rifles actions are essentially clones of the Remington. So I would therefore trust the basic action of the Remington. To use the inexpensive and available 223 cartridges, you really don't have a Mauser option anyway, so you are (with some exceptions from Ruger and CZ) limited to push feed sporter rifles.

You did not mention using detachable magazines, but now that I have a bolt action rifle that takes AR 223 mags, I really do like this setup. Easy and quick to load and unload. So with the Remington, to make my ideal rifle, you would have to add bottom metal (such as by CDI Precison) and then use fairly expensive AI magazines in 223. Personally, I think this would be a very good build: reliable, proven, and accurate. But it would probably cost at least $700 or more to put together. If you have the funds, to me it would be worth it.

But the Ruger Predator undercuts all of this by taking AR mags right from the start for under $450. Mine looked pretty good, and I think the action will prove to be rugged and reliable. Not M1917 trench warfare reliable, but still very reasonable.  I still feel the action is clunky and needs some smoothing-out of the bolt as it is delivered, but I also think that this issue can be addressed and will then give you a reliable rifle. I describe the binding issue in the practical rifle post below. I prefer the feel of my Remington (action smoother by far, and no binding of the bolt under hard use), but for the cost, the Ruger brings what could prove a very good option.

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https://www.ar15.com/forums/Armory/What-do-you-all-think-of-the-concept-of-a-practical-rifle-Bolt-or-lever-/2-487282/?page=2

I just picked up the Ruger American Predator rifle, 223 AR mags. The predator has a 22" threaded barrel. I only had a chance to put a scope on it and sight it in at 50 yards. Using a front rest I was getting 1" groups with mil-surplus grade 55 grain ball ammo. I put about 40 rounds through it.

I like the rifle a lot. It is accurate and comfortable to shoot. To me, it will be a volume bolt action "fun" rifle, and takes the place of the military surplus rifles that I used to shoot lots of rounds through when both the rifles and surplus ammo was cheap and available.

The action on this could be smoother, and the bolt lift is still a bit heavy to easily work the action from the shoulder. There is some very small machined step or something in the receiver: if you cycle the action hard and push the bolt up and forward at the same time, it kind of catches a little bit and hangs the bolt up. The bolt is a bit stiff, and I am used to smacking around a Mosin Nagant action - which you never have to baby. I imagine that 15 seconds with a dremel polishing bit in the right spot would eliminate the issue, but for now I'll just concentrate more on pushing the bolt forward rather than up. The magazine worked well. It wobbles a bit since it does not have the deep mag well that an AR does, but did not give me any issues. Feeding, extraction and ejection were all 100%. After sighting it in at 50 yards, I shot clay pigeons off-hand in the backstop. It is a handy, reliable, and fun rifle. For the price you pay, you are getting a lot.

For me, it's just what I wanted. It would be an improvement if the bolt was smoother, but either more use, or some careful polishing, can take care of that.

It fits my definition of a practical rifle. It could use use some back-up irons to complete the "do-anything" package, and they could be added if so desired.

I tried the forward-mounted scout scope on both a Marlin 30-30, and with a no-gunsmith rear sight mount on a Mauser 98. That arrangement just did not work well for me on either of them. The scout scopes had low magnification but a fairly small eye relief area. Any speed for me was lost if your eye was not in-line with the optic.

On my 9mm ARs, I installed a traditional rear mounted scope, and that is faster for me. For the cost, size and weight, the Weaver V3 1-3x scope is great for close range work, with a little bit of magnification to help at moderate ranges. The Weaver is tiny and light, you hardly notice it's there. Really a great optic for light rifles used at modest ranges.

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ETA: I read up on the CZ 527, and it seems like a really nice action, a true "mini-mauser". It comes in 223, 7.62x39, and 300 BLK. Sounds like a contender to me. Proprietary magazines... but they look like well made steel, so no issue there.

CZ even sells a complete line of factory replacement parts. All the springs, firing pins, extractors... spares are all available. Even complete spare bolts. Sounding like a better option with everything I read about it.

I have a CZ 527M, the carbine model, but in 7.62x39mm. It is one tough little light rifle, accurate and reliable too. The proprietary mags does somewhat suck, to be certain, but I just bit the bullet and stocked up on several.

I have a Remington 700 VTR in .223 with a Leupold Mark AR scope that has been through a number of years of unpampered field use without issue.  I bought the rifle at a significant discount when the local chain gun store had it on a close out sale.

MHO, YMMV, etc.

The 527 mag is very flimsy

almost all will take a licking and keep on ticking to be honest.  But if your really looking at a super tough action look at one with a mauser action.  Most push feed actions use tiny extractors that can break, though they don't very often.  But just google savage 110 extractor or remington 700 and  you will find plenty of them that have broken.  A mauser extractor is a big ass piece of steel which isn't likely to break even if you have to literally hammer a fired round out of the action.

If reliability is your top priority a ruger hawkeye in stainless with a drop plate magazine is going to be hard to beat.  
mauser action
drop plate magazine means you can't lose a mag and it won't break.   Reloads will be slower
stainless means it will hold up a bit better than blued and ruger 77 synthetic stocks are a little better than the ones found on say a ruger american or savage.