.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.

For those of you regularly shooting .223s at longer ranges, let's say out to 1000 yards. What would you say your hit rate would be compared to shooting a heavier bullet. Lets say 70ish grain 223 vs 147 gr 6.5CM.

Would you say that wind is an absolute killer or are you dialing for wind and still hitting at the same rate you would with the 6.5?



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Not exactly apples to apples comparison but at 1000yds my 6.5cm w/147's @2650 drifts .3mils less in a 10mph wind than my 223ai w 75amaxs @3050. That's about 11". This 223ai is 5mph gun and the 6.5 is a 6mph gun. 500yds and closer they are about the same. I am not good enough to shoot the difference.
 
Not exactly apples to apples comparison but at 1000yds my 6.5cm w/147's @2650 drifts .3mils less in a 10mph wind than my 223ai w 75amaxs @3050. That's about 11". This 223ai is 5mph gun and the 6.5 is a 6mph gun. 500yds and closer they are about the same. I am not good enough to shoot the difference.
Ok good info. I shot some PRS rifles last week. My first time shooting past 300 yards and I consistently hit steel at 905 and 1140 yards with some coaching from my buddy and Hornadys app.

I want to put together a Tikka for PRS style shooting. My math says it will cost me $1 a round to load 6.5 CM and .50 cents a round for .223, even cheaper if I shoot some of the bulk seconds.

Id eventually like to have two identical guns, one in 223 and one in 6.5 but want to see if I can get by and get alot of trigger time with the .223 first.

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Id eventually like to have two identical guns, one in 223 and one in 6.5 but want to see if I can get by and get alot of trigger time with the .223 first.
This is the answer. The cost savings is realized very quickly. For volume shooters, it’s cheaper to build a whole second gun.
 
This is the answer. The cost savings is realized very quickly. For volume shooters, it’s cheaper to build a whole second gun.
I shot over 100 rounds on my range day with my friend. Could easily have shot more. If im going to take time away from my family once or twice a week, im going to make it count and get some shooting done.

Just for an experiment I priced out loading 1000 6.5 147s and 1000
223 69gr . It was around $475 for the .223 and $990 for 6.5.

That's a massive difference. One is unaffordable, one I could make work.

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For those of you regularly shooting .223s at longer ranges, let's say out to 1000 yards. What would you say your hit rate would be compared to shooting a heavier bullet. Lets say 70ish grain 223 vs 147 gr 6.5CM.

77gr OTM:

I had 2 good (great) spotters behind me in early June shooting a big azz steel target at 906 yards surrounded by grass and shrubs and we couldn't see the trace reliably. We couldn't see the misses or the hits at all.

Shooting rocks surrounded by other rocks was OK though to see a hit and a miss.

6 Creedmoor was no problem in same scenario.
 
I had 2 good (great) spotters behind me in early June shooting a big azz steel target at 906 yards surrounded by grass and shrubs and we couldn't see the trace or the hits.

Shooting rocks surrounded by other rocks was OK tho so see a hit and a miss.
Its funny you mentioned that because my buddy shot a 6BR in a match on Sunday and it was difficult to spot impacts.

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I shot over 100 rounds on my range day with my friend. Could easily have shot more. If im going to take time away from my family once or twice a week, im going to make it count and get some shooting done.

Just for an experiment I priced out loading 1000 6.5 147s and 1000
223 69gr . It was around $475 for the .223 and $990 for 6.5.

That's a massive difference. One is unaffordable, one I could make work.

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Depending on how much you shoot and what components you use on your build, it takes a LONG time to come out ahead in your comparison. I own a bunch of guns and I'd say the average cost of my last few, all in, is about $3000-$4000 including optics.

That's roughly 6-7k rounds using your cost savings to break even. High volume shooters you will come out ahead, majority of shooters will not. Owning more guns is never a bad thing tho, so build another.
 
For those of you regularly shooting .223s at longer ranges, let's say out to 1000 yards. What would you say your hit rate would be compared to shooting a heavier bullet. Lets say 70ish grain 223 vs 147 gr 6.5CM.

Would you say that wind is an absolute killer or are you dialing for wind and still hitting at the same rate you would with the 6.5?



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I would add that just the volume of practice I’ve been able to do with the .223 has helped with wind reading. There’s no hesitancy to send rounds until you figure it out like there would be with more expensive ammo.
 
One reason I bought a RAR 556 was to use my AR mags. Rough and cheap feeling but it shoots. Hard to justify buying a chassis for it when the chassis costs more than the gun did.... still on the fence whether or not I buy a stainless howa mini in 223 or search for a stainless tikka 223.
 
One reason I bought a RAR 556 was to use my AR mags. Rough and cheap feeling but it shoots. Hard to justify buying a chassis for it when the chassis costs more than the gun did.... still on the fence whether or not I buy a stainless howa mini in 223 or search for a stainless tikka 223.
Blued Tikka all the way

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Would you say that wind is an absolute killer or are you dialing for wind and still hitting at the same rate you would with the 6.5?

I like that the wind calls are exaggerated in my training rifle. My Sierra 1345's are a 2.5mph gun and my 77gr SMK make a 4 mph gun with my average loads.

I have some above average guns too but tend to load them average.
 
For those of you regularly shooting .223s at longer ranges, let's say out to 1000 yards. What would you say your hit rate would be compared to shooting a heavier bullet. Lets say 70ish grain 223 vs 147 gr 6.5CM.

Would you say that wind is an absolute killer or are you dialing for wind and still hitting at the same rate you would with the 6.5?



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Not exactly what you asked for but I’ve taken 69gr SMK’s to 825yds. Started at 550yds, then 725, then 825. 550yds was “good” hit percentage for the wind (80% on 12”x12” target). 725 was less successful and 825 was less than 50%. Shots were chronographs and velocity spread was too high to hold 12” vertical. If I did it again with the same barrel (1-9 savage) i’d neck turn and anneal brass. If I was serious about it with 223 I’d get a 7 twist and go 80gr SMK.

Wind at 725 for that day require over 3 feet of hold. Too much to dial and too variable.

A good method of practice is 22LR at 200 yds. Mini-Palma as it was known.

Good luck.
 
Other than the fact that everyone kinda looks down their nose at a Ruger American, is there a reason they wouldn't work? its a 1:8 twist and I know it's a low end fit and finish gun, but generally speaking, they put bullets where they need to be.

The Ruger American is the new Remington 700. Some will likely be horrendous out of the box, some will shoot like a gun 3x the price, but most will shoot better than the person pulling the trigger
 
For those of you regularly shooting .223s at longer ranges, let's say out to 1000 yards. What would you say your hit rate would be compared to shooting a heavier bullet. Lets say 70ish grain 223 vs 147 gr 6.5CM.

Would you say that wind is an absolute killer or are you dialing for wind and still hitting at the same rate you would with the 6.5?



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I think bullet splash is the limiting factor for usefulness at the longer ranges. Usefulness doesn't necessarily mean 1st round hits for me though, it means learning to work in the wind.

I don't expect a lowish bc bullet from a .223 to compete at long range, it's a learning tool past a certain distance.

Now apples to apples high bc .224 bullet at high speed vs .264 bullet, like wind # bullets you are going to have better hit rate with lower recoil.

Hold wind dial elevation.
 
I think bullet splash is the limiting factor for usefulness at the longer ranges. Usefulness doesn't necessarily mean 1st round hits for me though, it means learning to work in the wind.

I don't expect a lowish bc bullet from a .223 to compete at long range, it's a learning tool past a certain distance.

Now apples to apples high bc .224 bullet at high speed vs .264 bullet, like wind # bullets you are going to have better hit rate with lower recoil.

Hold wind dial elevation.
That's what he had me doing shooting his PRS rifles. Holding all the wind calls. I like that better than dialing. Dialing back and forth between each target is enough stress for me as a beginner.

Now if I can find someone to trade my MOA 10x SWFA for a MIL quad, I'd be more on my way .

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