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Factory .223

hukset402

hukset402

Weld On!
Full Member
Minuteman
Jul 24, 2020
312
347
nebraska
I have a bergara hmr in 6.5cm.
I shoot maybe a match a year, other than that just having fun when I get a chance to get out.

with the scarcity of 6.5 and my PILE of .223 I already have and it's availability I'm looking at getting a .223 bolt gun.

I am indeed a poor so a custom gun is out.
Was thinking either a howa or a Tika. Possibly somthing that I could drop in a chasis if I find a deal on one.

I'm also a lefty. Hoping the collective can give me some options.

Budget is gonna be sub 800.
 
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Looks like a Howa-Legacy .223 Remington is in your price range.... Most places are "Out of Stock". Left hand will add some challenge to the findings.
 
Being lefty and 'poor' is a challenge - I share your pain. $800 (and lefty) sounds like more of a challenge if you are looking for something match worthy. I just bit the bullet and pony'd up to a Tikka T3x CTR in .223. It would be an extra $250 on top of your budget - so you could cut costs somewhere else in your daily life to add to the budget? EuroOptic has lefty Tikka .223s in stock now - FWIW.

Until I found the CTR, I thought about combing the used forums as well as looking at LGS' and pawn shops for a cheap lefty donor action and build on that. I don't think I'll ever regret spending the extra and getting the Tikka. Ammo and components are so expensive now, the cost of gun is less important in the long haul IMHO.
 
I was just looking at those as well as the t3 tactical (or what ever it's called) might pick up some side work to try to add to the budget.

Not to worried about match worthy. Gun isn't gonna be the reason I dont get top ten lol. More of a fun thing to do with a couple buddies.
 
I just went down the same road, buy the Tikka! You’ll get a shooter with great components straight out of the box.
I bought a cheap .223 and ended up with a grand into it, it’s a shooter but if I did it again I’d buy the Tikka. If the bolt runs as smooth as my Tac A1 it’ll surely put a smile on your face!
 
I picked up a Bergara Premier Approach from Euro Optic last month for a bit under $1300. They were on special and marked down. Haven't shot it yet but looks like a well made rifle. I think they were over $1900 originally.

A little more then your budget but, as you have a Bergara already, you'll at least know what to expect from them with this.

I just took it out of the box and gave the barrel a good cleaning the other day. I'll get it scoped and take it out for a run. Looks like it'll be a fun and cheap to shoot!

Just to add it's a 223 of course :)
 
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I’ve got the CTR 20” in .223 - outstanding rifle out of the box. You won’t regret the purchase.
 
The bergara is way more capable than I am currently that's for sure. Since 6.5 is going for about $38 a box if you can ever find it, I'd like to work on the half wit behind the gun with somthing a tad cheaper.

I will for sure be look at the car next time I go around checking for ammo.
 
I know first hand that "left hand" and ".223" are a tough find. Tikka is about the only currently available factory option out there and they were out of stock for months. As linked above, EuroOptic got some CTR's in December. They also have a 24 inch barrel model that could be the ticket.

The Tikka TAC A1, Savage, and Remington 700 (used) are other options if you can find one. Howa doesn't make a left hand action (that I am aware of) and Bergara doesn't chamber .223 in their left hand B-14 HMR action.

I got impatient waiting for a CTR and went the custom option with an Origin action. A LOT more money though.
 
Are you shooting match ammo out of it? What’s your pile consist of?
 
If you're really concerned about cost, ye ole Savage 12FV on special and rebate is often 200 bucks, and in that little cartridge it should shoot into dimes. Expect a Ruger American Predator would be another value. Neither has the refinement of a Tikka, but they both have good shooting reputations, especially the heavy barrel Savage.
 
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The Savage 12FLV is the left hand model with a 26 inch, 9 twist, varmint barrel in .223. As Chickentoast says, they are great shooters. Unfortunately, when I looked, no distributor had any and Savage no longer lists the model on their website so it may be discontinued. There are other Savages on their site like the Axis in .223, but they are much lighter rifles.

Similarly, Ruger made a left hand American Predator in .223. It was also out of stock everywhere when I looked and is no longer listed on the Ruger site.

Unless you can stretch your budget to the Tikka CTR, you are probably looking at the used market. Keep an eye on the PX as you never know what will come up there.
 
Find a old Tikka T3 tactical 223. They are tack drivers. Mine has the 20 inch barrel. The only thing I did to it was put it in a KRG chassis so I could run AI 223 mags. The 223 barrels are 1/8 twist, so if you want to run 75 or 77 grain bullets AI or MDT mags will feed perfectly. The oem tikka mags did not feed reliably with the heavy/long 223 bullets.
 
Yeah I wish I never would have got rid of the one I had. But I wasn't thinking ahead....imagine that haha.
 
Sell the bergera, don't buy the tikka. Buy an Impact, an extra bolt .223 and a barrel in 6.5/.223.

Now you only need 1 optic and switch out barrel/bolt/mag for cheap practice. When you add up the total cost it will the same or cheaper and you get a much higher quality gun with more flexibility and no need for a gunsmith/sending your gun back to bergera.

Buying a bunch of cheap guns is penny wise pound foolish.
 
If I shot more than a couple hundred rounds a year I'd do just that. I will write that on the board though. Thank you.
 
As a lefty, I have no problem finding rifles being right eye dominant. :p(y) Best of luck finding what you're looking for!
 
This response isn't just for OP but anyone that finds this thread.

my 2 cents:

Tikka Varmint .223 is an awesome factory .223
accurate barrel, smooth reliable action, great factory single stage trigger
24" barrel, 1:8

If you want to shoot bulk .223 for fun/plinking/practice it's cheap with some recoil. .22LR you don't get the same recoil experience.

If you can afford both, bring both to the range.

I run a .22LR at 200-300 yards while my centerfire rifles are cooling between strings of fire. Even with a barrel cooler, it still takes a while. Just rotate between rifles. But it gets tiring shooting between just centerfire as the recoil and weight can be fatiguing.

.22LR is a great way to learn positional shooting with a lower price per shot than centerfire

.223 bulk ammo is a way to do the same at 3x the cost- barrel life is not abused is upwards of 4000 rds

.308 is fun to shoot, fewer rounds per trip, 4x the recoil of .223-barrel life is not abused is upwards of 4000 rds

6.5CM, 6mm, 6GT is lower recoil than .308, but ammo is higher $ and barrel life is 2500 or less

.223 can be shot for hours straight with the barrel cooling in between

.308 gets tiring pretty quick if done string after string even with cooling time

.22LR gets boring after a while if you want a "kick"... but if you want to practice fundamentals and shoot dots/groups and really get your technique in... they're really really good

So if you're a poors, get a .22LR

If you're a semi poor, get a .22LR & .223 Tikka Varmint (drop in a Bravo if the ergo of the cheap plastic factory stock don't work for you)- you can hit anything out to 600 reliably and easily with quality ammo

When you are past semi poors, get a nice centerfire in whatever caliber makes you happy having practiced with the .22LR and/or the .223
 
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i have both a howa mini 1/8 and a cz 600 1/7. they both are .8-1.1 @ 300 with ruag 69 and pmc 77. will be trying some freedom 77gr soon. i would say howa over the cz. cz is fine but a sort of weird setup and pretty much stuck with straight factory setup and stuff if that is an issue. have had several howas and never had one that wouldn't do 5 into 1 MOA 6.5,223,308. even the dissed on here cheaper ones with hogue stocks are pillar bedded and that goes a ways to overcoming the plastic stocks. of course,a tikka would be the bomb but close to 2x the $. have had and have tikkas but just can not say that they are 2x the rifle of a howa. there are expensive howas that have more expensive stocks and carbon barrels. i have never seen the reason to go there for more $ than a tikka.
 
For those that have one, how does the T3X light barrel .223 shoot? I have a .223 CTR that is a hammer but thinking about a second light hunting build for my son
 
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