What load are you guys running in your .223 trainers? I'm considering building a replica of my comp rifle (6.5x47) in a .223. Most shooting out to 500m. I'm taking a hard look at the Tikka Varmint 1/8 Twsit with 20' barrel - I'm wondering what kind of velocity I could expect with Varget and 75-80g pills? Cheers BP
22.5 grains of AR-Comp under a 75 A-max in a wylde chamber using lapua brass = 2875fps from my 26" barrel and seems to keep them grouping inside .2 mils at 3 and 5 hundred yards.
Mine is on here for sale at the moment. It has a 23 inch 7.7 twist Bartlein barrel. 2865fps with 24.2 grains of Varget pushing a 75gr Berger VLD. It has been a solid performer to 1000 yards and bughole at 100 with single digits SDs.
My trainer, and MR comp rifle is the Savage 11VT .223 available only from Dick's Sporting Goods. The barrel is a standard Savage Varmint 24" 1:9", and it carries a bore sighted Bushnell 4-12x40 scope. This rifle is good to go as is for F T/R, as a starter/trainer. I replaced the scope with a Mueller Target Dot 8-32x44 scope, added a Harris-style bipod and adjusted the trigger to it's lightest setting, guessing about 3lb. That's it.
My load is the one I shot at the Berger SW LR nationals in the 600yd MR F T/R matches. It is Winchester brass, Hornady 75gr HPBT-Match (2.255" OAL), CCI BR-4, and 24.4gr of Varget. Velocity is estimated at 2800-2850fps. Accuracy is outstanding as tested at 300Meters.
