AusVarmint

Well I am thinking of starting centrefire field rifle as well.

From what I have been reading, .223 is a reasonable cartridge choice but any suggestions on rifles - remington, tikka etc

what is everyone else using?

Do yourself a favor Viper step straight past a 223 and into a 204.

Didnt even give the 204 any thought.......do they burn barrels out quickly? With a kid on the way the purse strings in this house have been tightened

V|PeR wrote:Didnt even give the 204 any thought.......do they burn barrels out quickly? With a kid on the way the purse strings in this house have been tightened

Viper how many shots will you fire a year?(be realistic)
So if acceptable accuracy lasted for 3000 rounds how long will the barrel last you in terms of years.

yeah fair point Missed.....can see barrel lasting a number of years as would probably shoot it max 10 times a year at 42 shots = 420 plus few practice and i have 6 years life.

from what i read a 204 is bit more costly to run?

ALso, you suggesting 204 as it shoots flatter or what are the other advantages?

If you are serious about shooting any rifle discipline do yourself a REAL favour and check to see what the best shooters in that discipline are using.

We are fortunate down here to have some of the best field rifle shooters in this country competing at Para Range.
I spoke to Rod Frisby and Dave McCarthy last Sunday about your question, and they told me that they use the 222 Remington for Field Rifle shooting. Mind you, they have pretty classy outfits with custom action and barrels, etc. Why use the 222 over other calibres?

OK, for rapid fire you need a cartridge that will easily chamber from a standard magazine - the 222 does this superbly. The 222 is slightly more accurate than the the 223, as evidenced by the fact that the 222 was the top benchrest cartridge in the world before the PPC blew everything away. The 223 was good, but could not quite match the 222 in pure group shooting accuracy terms. Because you only shoot to 200 yards, heavy bullets are not required. A good 52 grain match will do the job.
Recoil is also a factor, and the 222 causes no problems there.

Some shooters have used the 6mmPPC, but there is a bit of work required to get the short cartridges to feed reliably from any magazine. You have to get through the rapid fire section first, remember. Can't afford lost points through a foul up.

Having said all that if you must use a 223, then it will do the job for now, but in time when you get good at it you will need to upgrade to a match barrel and a 222. Forget the 204 - great varmint cartridge, but not for field rifle comp.

Me, well I'll stick to benchrest, but if I got back into field rifle, I would use a 6 x 47mm (222Mag necked up to 6mm), but that is another story.



Brendan Atkinson

jimbo wrote:If you are serious about shooting any rifle discipline do yourself a REAL favour and check to see what the best shooters in that discipline are using.

We are fortunate down here to have some of the best field rifle shooters in this country competing at Para Range.
I spoke to Rod Frisby and Dave McCarthy last Sunday about your question, ...
<snip>
Brendan Atkinson

This is why I like this site....

Great work Jimbo

never really shot field rifle but there is a beautiful tikka master sporter in 222 on here that would make the perfect outfit

Hi mate. I have a ruger 223 and love it. It’s all factory based and I still love it. I don't have time to go to the range and don't have time to reload. I can still shoot bunnys to 200m and can fit a reasonable priced scope to suit the equation.

Mate at the end of the day it all ends up to what your tastes are and how far you want to shoot out too. The further you want to shoot the more it's gonna stab you in the pocket.

Realistically the scope plays a huge part of the equation and a quality firearm regarding barrel and trigger.

If you are a farmer, I would just go factory based. If you are a range shooter then something else might be your gold regarding accuracy. These types of sport, leisure, fun, gold and life are two totally different categories in my opinion.

At the end of the day it all comes down to within an inch.

Hope it helps mate.

Missed and Alex dont realise your talking about a particular competition. They think your talking about a hunting rifle.
As far as competition advice goes, do what Jimbo tells you!

cheers guys

plenty more food for thought there

does anyone out there know were there is a 6x45 reamer i can lend borrow buy,and a set off dies as im pretty keen to give one off these a go as i have a6mm barrel with only 500 rounds threw it.thanks ,jack

Could prob get from the states, dollar is up too, check out dave manson or Pacific Tool and Gauge.

A small 6mm is my pick too, I built a 6mm BR for the job, after using 223 & 6mm PPC, way better than any 224 cal, seems to feed better in more guns than the PPC's, bullet holes are clearly easier to see at 200m and they buck the wind way better too as I rarely have to hold outside of the 10 ring at 200.
I also have a 6x45 which is a great case for the job and feeds better than the BR, but lack of magazine length is an issue in many 223's if you want to change to 6x45. 55 gn bullets are ok but 70gn bullets are better but you have to seat them fairly deep in the case.