Practice Rifle .223 or 6.5 creedmoor

[treyboy7]

Not a bolt action but I love my Radical Firearms RF-15 in .223/5.56 for practice/fun/varmints. I've also taken a nice sized doe with 62 gr Barnes tsx ammo. She died less than 15 yards from where she stood. Very versatile gun, cheap ammo allows me to get tons of reps in. I'm around 1 MOA with factory PMC Bronze 55 gr .223 ammo, 40 cents per shot. Can't beat that. Trigger is very similar to my bolt guns, it has definitely improved my accuracy for shooting any of the rifles I own.

 

[Rusty85]

No question 223.

 

[Darryle]

If you are going to buy an X-Bolt, make sure the 223 has the correct twist if you plan on shooting anything heavier than 62gr.

I say 6.5 Creedmoor in the X-Bolt would be a great choice, 7twist and you can buy cheap quality ammo anywhere from $.90 up to $1.10

I have 2 X-Bolt 6.5 Creedmoor rifles and both will out shoot me, had a couple of slow twist 233 X-Bolt rifles, very disappointing.

 

[mww982]

If you are going to buy an X-Bolt, make sure the 223 has the correct twist if you plan on shooting anything heavier than 62gr.

I say 6.5 Creedmoor in the X-Bolt would be a great choice, 7twist and you can buy cheap quality ammo anywhere from $.90 up to $1.10

I have 2 X-Bolt 6.5 Creedmoor rifles and both will out shoot me, had a couple of slow twist 233 X-Bolt rifles, very disappointing.

I saw your previous post on the .223 either on here or Rokslide. I'm looking at the X-Bolt Speed SR in .223, browning shows a twist rate of 8, is that good for a bullet weight about 62gr.? I was leaning towards the 6.5 but the overwhelming majority has said the .223 over the 6.5, so kind of torn now.

Right now, it pretty much looks like the X-Bolt Speed SR is the only .223 I can find from Browning, used or new. It has a sporter barrel, was wanting either a heavy sporter or bull barrel for a practice gun. I can find that in a 6.5, plus with a break or eventual surpressor I figured the recoil would be pretty tame.

 

[Darryle]

Verify the twist, I had one that was listed by Browning as an 8 and it was in fact a 12. I wish they would jump on the 233 fast twist train like they have with everything else they make.

IIRC, an 8 will twist everything up to 75gr possibly 77gr nicely.

I still vote 6.5 Creedmoor, it's a little more expensive to shoot than the 223, but not by much.

Just this week, someone sent me an email with 500rds of 6.5 Creedmoor ammo for $565, maybe Target Sports USA?

 

[bultinkle]

You don't need a heavy barrel for 223, I'd get a priofile that balances most like your main guns.

 

[Slick8]

I saw your previous post on the .223 either on here or Rokslide. I'm looking at the X-Bolt Speed SR in .223, browning shows a twist rate of 8, is that good for a bullet weight about 62gr.? I was leaning towards the 6.5 but the overwhelming majority has said the .223 over the 6.5, so kind of torn now.

Right now, it pretty much looks like the X-Bolt Speed SR is the only .223 I can find from Browning, used or new. It has a sporter barrel, was wanting either a heavy sporter or bull barrel for a practice gun. I can find that in a 6.5, plus with a break or eventual surpressor I figured the recoil would be pretty tame.

The berger calculator says an 8 twist is limited to about 73 grains with a vld at 2650 and sea level.

In my experience additional velocity doesn't buy much forgiveness in twist rate but altitude does.

FWIW, I had an 8 twist 22-250AI running 80 grain eldm's at 3100 fps from a 22 inch barrel. They were .5moa at 600. Never had a chance to shoot farther with it where the marginal twist may have shown issues.

 

[RockyRandy]

According to your question which would be best for training and shooting small varmints I would differently go with the 223 for several reason.
1, Spotting shoots, less recoil.
2, Learning wind calls.
3, Cost of ammo.
4, Great little varmint gun.

Weather you buy a stock gun or have it custom make I would mimic your hunting guns setup the best you can, trigger pull, scope, and so on.

I have a 6.5 creed and just built a 22 creed and I'm amazed at the difference in the recoil between the two and that's why I vote for the 223.

There are a 100 different rabbit holes you can go down on this one. Best of luck.

 

[Janno05]

I'm not sure what distances you have for practice, but I have found myself using a precision rimfire trainer more than anything else. A .22lr at 100 yards is pretty humbling when it comes to wind calls.

 

[340 in Va]

I have 3 rifles, a crappy Remington 597 .22 LR and two Browning X-Bolt's (7mm-08 and .300 win mag). To improve my shooting, I am thinking about getting another X-Bolt in either .223 or 6.5 creedmoor. The practice X-Bolt would be a dedicated practice gun and would be used if I do a little predator hunting. Between the .223 or 6.5 creedmoor, which would you get?

Asking because I want to keep the 7mm-08 and .300 win mag as dedicated hunting rifles and the round count down on them.

I have the 223, 6.5 CR and 6PPc in heavy barrel and 243 in sporter. There are a few other things to consider. Not sure what the laws are where you hunt, but 223 is not allowed for any big game in some states, and 243 cal. 70 gr. and up is not allowed when any big game season is in. If you reload the cost is not that much difference. I run 53 to 55 gr. in 223, 68 in 6PPc, 90 in 243 and 120 to 140 in 6.5. If I was going to buy only one it would be a 6mm creedmore, set all triggers the same, and go have fun. Another way to go would be to get a good bolt action 22 and practice 25 t0 100 yards, and use 7mm08 for varmints and deer.

 

[Browninglover1]

My 223 with 75 grain ELDM is my favorite centerfire training rifle. It's noticeably cheaper to shoot than a 6.5 when volumes get large and the ultra low recoil makes shooting it all day a true pleasure.

 

[mww982]

I have the 223, 6.5 CR and 6PPc in heavy barrel and 243 in sporter. There are a few other things to consider. Not sure what the laws are where you hunt, but 223 is not allowed for any big game in some states, and 243 cal. 70 gr. and up is not allowed when any big game season is in. If you reload the cost is not that much difference. I run 53 to 55 gr. in 223, 68 in 6PPc, 90 in 243 and 120 to 140 in 6.5. If I was going to buy only one it would be a 6mm creedmore, set all triggers the same, and go have fun. Another way to go would be to get a good bolt action 22 and practice 25 t0 100 yards, and use 7mm08 for varmints and deer.

I don't reload right now, don't have the time or space for it. Wish I did though.

I plan on keeping the 7mm-08 as my deer rifle and the .300 win mag as my western hunting\big game gun. I have been wanting to add a small caliber rifle to the mix as a practice\predator gun. I like the x-bolt line so far and just pulled the trigger on a X-Bolt Speed Surpressor Ready https://www.browning.com/products/firearms/rifles/x-bolt/x-bolt-speed-sr.html.

 

[340 in Va]

I don't reload right now, don't have the time or space for it. Wish I did though.

I plan on keeping the 7mm-08 as my deer rifle and the .300 win mag as my western hunting\big game gun. I have been wanting to add a small caliber rifle to the mix as a practice\predator gun. I like the x-bolt line so far and just pulled the trigger on a X-Bolt Speed Surpressor Ready https://www.browning.com/products/firearms/rifles/x-bolt/x-bolt-speed-sr.html.

223 or 6.5? Set triggers the same and you should be good to go.

 

[mww982]

223 or 6.5? Set triggers the same and you should be good to go.

223