Good .223 bolt action for my wife...

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Good .223 bolt action for my wife...

Posted: 5/20/2002 6:44:31 AM EDT

any suggestions?

I will be mounting a scope on it since accuracy is paramount when taking game with the .223.

Thanks,
White Horse

Posted: 5/20/2002 6:48:39 AM EDT

[#1]

I would definitely suggest the Remington 700 series. If your wife is small, the Remington model Seven is a good short bolt action rifle.

I have two 700's one BDL in .280 Remington and a ADL in .308. Both rifles will put five into a large ragged hole at 100yds with nothing more than a good scope and little trigger tuning.

Posted: 5/20/2002 6:55:58 AM EDT

[#2]

That Rem. Model 7 is an excellent choice.

Ruger's .223 bolt gun is great also. In size, it uses a unique action size. It is midway between the M77/22 .22 rimfire and the small action used by the .22-250, .243, .308, et al. A real neat package.

Posted: 5/20/2002 7:03:31 AM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
any suggestions?

I will be mounting a scope on it since accuracy is paramount when taking game with the .223.

Thanks,
White Horse

I have no idea what kind of game she will hunt, but .223 is really light. I would humbly suggest a 25-06 as a minimum and a Remington 700 type as an only. My wife has hunted well over 15 years with the 25-06.

Posted: 5/20/2002 7:06:46 AM EDT

[#4]

My wife uses a Rem. 700 in .30-06 as her "deer rifle." It is topped with a Leupold 3.5-10X scope with a 50 mm objective lens. Also, it is the stainless action/bbl and synthetic stock. It shoots right at 1" with the first load I tried. The recoil is very mild, apparently due to the stock. We have other rifles in this caliber and they all have more perceived recoil than the Remington.

Posted: 5/20/2002 7:34:18 AM EDT

[#5]

My bad. I forgot to include two considerations:

First, I am trying to get away from adding new cartridges to my gun collections. We currently have 7 firearms as follows:

.380
9 mm
.223
.30-40 Krag
.308
.30-06
12 ga.

<bad english>I would like to stick with something that I already have one of.</bad english>

Second, she has had shoulder surgery on her right (shooting) shoulder. She loves to shoot my PSS .308 with a shoulder pad or towel, but it is entirely too heavy for hunting. A light .308 would be great for hunting hogs and deer, but I don't want to risk having her shoulder come undone, so to speak. She is a very good shot with a scope, so that is not an issue. I think that she could do neck shots on a deer from a stand without any problems.

Sorry for the lack of info.

-White Horse

Posted: 5/20/2002 7:42:56 AM EDT

[#6]

White Horse:

I can appreciate the desire to not wanting to add yet another caliber. However, I have to agree that the .223 is awfully light to hunt much of anything with SAFELY (you don't want to nail a deer and have it run off a couple of miles and then die hidden in the brush).

If the .308 is too heavy, you could dial down to a .270 or even a .243. Both are adequate for deer and the like. However, you're adding yet another caliber......

Posted: 5/20/2002 9:52:18 AM EDT

[#7]

CZ 550 is a sweet deal!

Posted: 5/20/2002 10:02:44 AM EDT

[#8]

That .30-40 Krag is a fine medium range deer cartridge. You could probably pick up a sporterized Krag-Jorgenson rifle for reasonable and if need be, pare a little more wood off it and add a premium buttpad.

Posted: 5/20/2002 10:11:32 AM EDT

[#9]

I’ll third the Remington Model 7. However, it is light and, being a bolt gun, it will probably seem to kick a tad harder than an AR – though I can’t imagine this being a problem.

I’m not arguing with you, you know what you want, but a .243 Winchester or .260 Remington would probably be a little better cartridge than a .223 for deer hunting.

Posted: 5/20/2002 10:15:25 AM EDT

[#10]

Hey everone, how about this: www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/abolt/abt_micro_hunter.htm with a nice pad on the stock? I didn't know that Browning made such nice looking rifles.

-White Horse

Posted: 5/20/2002 10:28:40 AM EDT

[#11]

OK. I hear everyone on the .223 being underpowered loud and clear. I am thinking that with a shoulderpad and a pad on the stock, she should be ok with a .308. Any opinions?

-White Horse

edited:
p.s. I want to suprise her with this as a gift, so don't run up to her at the BRC and ask her if she's gotten her bolt gun yet. Thanks.

Posted: 5/20/2002 11:28:15 AM EDT

[#12]

Why not a .243? That will be easier for her to handle than a .308, but plenty for whitetail deer.

Posted: 5/20/2002 11:34:59 AM EDT

[#13]

An idea: buy the large bore of your choice and add a 'JP enterprises' recoil eliminator. I had to beg/plead/bribe my gunsmith to install this very ugly comp to my 300 win mag, but I've gotta tell ya, less recoil than my AR.

Posted: 5/20/2002 12:21:05 PM EDT

[#14]

.223, bad idea for anything other than varmints.

Think about a 6.5mm Swiss. There are plenty of old military rifles available for cheap that can be sporterized into really sweet hunting rifles. The 6.5mm is easy to shoot with almost zero recoil and is dead accurate. Ammo might be a factor.

.308 in a semi-auto might be an idea. Like a BAR Mk2? Less recoil, very accurate.

Posted: 5/20/2002 2:30:52 PM EDT

[#15]

Cooper Arms makes some of the best bolt actions I've ever shot.

They are expensive compared to the Rems and Wins, but in my opinion much more accurate right out of the box.

Posted: 5/20/2002 6:14:26 PM EDT

[#16]

Another vote for the Remington model seven in 243 Winchester,260 Remington, or 7mm-08 Remington. The 223 is to light for deer and the 308 model seven has a nice little kick to it, my brother has one. Go with the .243, the ammo is cheap, available in Wall-Mart and handles deer no problem. MIKE.

Posted: 5/20/2002 6:58:22 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
... I am thinking that with a shoulderpad and a pad on the stock, she should be ok with a .308. Any opinions? ...

Are you talking about your PPS in .308 or a lighter rifle such as a Model 7 in .308?

A lightweight .308 can really whack you. Even with all that padding, your wife might come unglued.

However, if you reload or are willing to start reloading, you could easily put together some mild loads for her.

Posted: 5/20/2002 8:12:28 PM EDT

[#18]

Are you a handloader? If so I would load the .308 with some 110 grain ballistic tips or other 110-125 grain bullets. A muzzle brake ang Pachmayer (sp?) Decelerator recoil pad would be just the ticket. I usually cut, crown and thread a bolt action for around $45, plus the cost of the brake. I'm not sure what this type of work costs in your neck of the woods. Someone suggested the JP recoil eliminator. If it's the same one i'm thinking about, I had one on a Colt Hbar Elite, and it worked superbly.

Balming

Summit Ammo

Posted: 5/20/2002 9:15:05 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
OK. I hear everyone on the .223 being underpowered loud and clear. I am thinking that with a shoulderpad and a pad on the stock, she should be ok with a .308. Any opinions?

-White Horse

edited:
p.s. I want to suprise her with this as a gift, so don't run up to her at the BRC and ask her if she's gotten her bolt gun yet. Thanks.

.308 is too much. Get you dealer to call Davidsons and order a Ruger 77R in 7.62x93, Dealer cost right now is $369. Get a good 2x7 scope and it already has rings. Its recoil is light and the slug hits hard and you run with alot better balistics than a 30-30 and costs $98 for 1000 rnds..
GG
Here it is
http://www.davidsonsinc.com/consumers/subsites/inven_product.asp?dealer_id=5902&item=77RP%2DMKII%2D76239&instock=all&manufact_combo=Ruger&mod_ser_combo=None&category_combo=2&model=None&g_type=Rifle&act_type=&finish_type=None&calib_combo=7%2E62X39&sight_class_combo=No+Sights&price_range=None&left_handed=&youth=&Offset_rec=0&num_rec=50&item_num=
GG

Posted: 5/21/2002 12:57:30 AM EDT

[#20]

I hate to even mention this here, but this is one of the rare cases where I would recommend the Ruger Mini-30 as a good option. Since you are looking for a hunting rifle (what the Mini-30 was designed to do) then the 5 rd mags should be plenty sufficient and the guns are reliable with these. And also since you are only going to be needing a few shots at once, the issue of the barrel heating up is not an issue. With a scope, which is a breeze to mount on these rifles, it will be plenty accurate enough for deer hunting out to and maybe exceeding 30-30 range....with roughly the same amount of power. Good softpoint rounds in this caliber are very effective on deer. Plus they are cheap and produce minimal recoil. I know you are interested in a bolt rifle but this one might be worth considering. After that I would recommend the Remington Model 7 in .223 or the Ruger M77 Compact in the same caliber. For anything bigger get a standard Remington 700 in .243, you can't go wrong with any of them.

Posted: 5/21/2002 1:16:18 AM EDT

[#21]

I've got a Remington Model Seven in .243. I love it, and recommend it to anyone who wants a solid, light, accurate, 20" barrel rifle.

Although one member believes that ammo is "cheap", I disagree. I generally pay around $14/20, even for "el cheapo" Winchester Super X. Not as expensive as some, but still far more expensive than .223.

I'll let you decide on what's appropriate for deer.

There are some good articles near the bottom of this:
www.realguns.com/archives/newarc.htm
page about the Model Seven in .223.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Good .223 bolt action for my wife...

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