Looking to barrel my 700 223 to shoot heavies, possibly the 88 eld's until I can do a proper TL3 build. Lots of remage info out there and looking for some suggestions.
- Thread starter PAYDIRT
- Start date
Lots of people like Northland Shooters Supply.
Yes I saw that, also saw 3-4 others.
I would probably go with the northland 7 twist criterion in the 223 match chambering for those long 88s. The match chambering has .090 of freebore as opposed to the .062 of the wylde chamber.
I have a PVA remage in 223 but it is a wylde chamber with the .062 freebore I believe (hes never corrected me on that spec when I say so on these forums though he wont share his proprietary reamer print that hes designed, it does work well though) that shoots wonderfully but I think he only offers it in the wylde chamber. Im loading the 75eld for it and I think that with where Im at now the additional .030 of freebore couldnt hurt and the bigger bullet shouldnt be thrown off too adversely. (Wylde is the safe answer if mag feeding right up on the lands for every bullet under the sun is an absolute requirement, Id hate for you to get something and then in your certain scenario it wouldnt work even though I think it would. Thats why I didnt mind the wylde chamber from PVA)
McGowen has lots of good things said about them by those who have them, xcaliber has some desciples but I have heard of a few issues though they seem to be taken care of well and then there is McRees as well.
If youre coming from a factory barrel then you will be pleased with all of them I am sure, If you have an aftermarket barrel then I would still think all of f them would meet your standards.
I have a PVA remage in 223 but it is a wylde chamber with the .062 freebore I believe (hes never corrected me on that spec when I say so on these forums though he wont share his proprietary reamer print that hes designed, it does work well though) that shoots wonderfully but I think he only offers it in the wylde chamber. Im loading the 75eld for it and I think that with where Im at now the additional .030 of freebore couldnt hurt and the bigger bullet shouldnt be thrown off too adversely. (Wylde is the safe answer if mag feeding right up on the lands for every bullet under the sun is an absolute requirement, Id hate for you to get something and then in your certain scenario it wouldnt work even though I think it would. Thats why I didnt mind the wylde chamber from PVA)
McGowen has lots of good things said about them by those who have them, xcaliber has some desciples but I have heard of a few issues though they seem to be taken care of well and then there is McRees as well.
If youre coming from a factory barrel then you will be pleased with all of them I am sure, If you have an aftermarket barrel then I would still think all of f them would meet your standards.
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I'm a fan of my Criterion, it shoots great (savage barrel nut system on a Nucleus).
These will need to mag feed. Would love to shoot the 88's just wondering if I can push them fast enough out of a 26" or if it wouldn't be better to go with the 75's in a Wylde chamber. I was told by Northland the Wylde had .078 free bore and the Match chamber had .090.
Going to take this moment to shine a light on some of the differences in terminology between... well everyone. They claimed .078, thats from the end of the neck diameter and the beginning of the transition to the freebore diameter. The .062 is what I was referring to which is from the end of the transition. Two different people talking about the same reamer but different certain little aspects leading to differing info.
Here is their print for it that they had sent me for the Wylde.
Here is their match chamber print
I put together a Remage .223Rem with a Criterion barrel from Northland earlier this year. The barrel is 26", 1 in 8" twist, and Wylde chambered. I don't know if mine is chambered incorrectly for throat but I am running the 80gr ELD-M's at OAL of 2.545in which just barely fits in the MDT magazine (2.550 in) and is only 0.005in off the lands in my rifle. I've had great success with the 73,75, and 80 gr ELDm's with TAC powder in LC or Lapua brass and CCI 41 primers at 3045fps, 2830fps, and 2960fps respectively. All shooting at 0.5 MOA or less.
I'd buy another Criterion barrel in a heartbeat without hesitation.
Thanks. I was wondering how that fit together. I'll also be running the MDT mag, and I thought length would be an issue. I'm just curious if I could run the 88's long enough in the match chamber, and if I can run them fast enough to take advantage of the 88 v/s the 75 or 80?
It would be close to be able to push the 88gr fast enough to stabilize well. I know I'm pushing my 80gr load pretty hard. Ramshot does list 25.8gr as MAX charge weight for the 80gr SMK and TAC so you technically have some room to play with when developing a 88gr load. Length wise it would all depend on what the 88 has for a tip to ogive distance for optimum jump and magazine compatability. Looking in JBM the 88gr is 1.240in while the 80gr is 1.600in so 0.080in longer. When I did seating depth test my groups opened up once I was jumping more than 0.020in
I woyld suggest bugholes he can do up a bartlien for you and his barrel nut is alot less clunky then others.
So you were getting 2960 with the 80's?
Another vote for Criterion from Northland. They shoot very well.
Almost, I just rechecked my Magneto Speed data file and my last three five shot strings averaged 2945fps, all with ES under 30. This was on a 90F+ day this past September.
I attribute it to running a near max load of TAC and just an overall slightly faster than normal barrel. I've had friends duplicate my 73gr ELDM load with TAC and their speeds were 50-75fps slower.
I have been absolutely amazed by this barrel as it shoots just about every load I've tried in it. For reference I tested some Black Hills 77gr and it was just under 0.5MOA, Avg of 2898fps (listed as 2750 from 20" barrel) ES=24 and SD = 10.4 Hornady VMax was a bug hole group, Avg of 3166fps, ES=20 SD=9.2 both of those factory rounds are magazine length so the jump distance is significant. Also to the best of my recollection that data is from a day in April and it was maybe 75F-80F.
Lastly, the reason my 75gr ELD-M load is only at 2830fps is because it's on a great accuracy node (0.3MOA or less) and I've got the 80ge ELD-M load above 2900fps already.
