Rem 700 Pattern .223 Trainer Rifle Recs

[mopar411]

Hello!

I'm really looking at getting a .223 trainer rifle this offseason to get more practice time in on the range to really dial in wind calls and positional shooting. It seems that the gold standard is the .223 tikka, however my main rifle is the Havak Element which is a Rem 700 ish pattern.

Is there a solid .223 rifle that's a 700 pattern? Or would there be any use of training on a Tikka, then having the Havak as my main rifle? Seems the different action won't translate very well

 

[mtnbound]

Hello!

I'm really looking at getting a .223 trainer rifle this offseason to get more practice time in on the range to really dial in wind calls and positional shooting. It seems that the gold standard is the .223 tikka, however my main rifle is the Havak Element which is a Rem 700 ish pattern.

Is there a solid .223 rifle that's a 700 pattern? Or would there be any use of training on a Tikka, then having the Havak as my main rifle? Seems the different action won't translate very well

The only issue with shooting a Tikka is you will probably ask yourself is the Havak giving you that much more performance when you compare costs. Not bashing them but it’s hard to beat a Tikka for the money.

 

[mopar411]

I've definitely had that thought go through haha. I went with the Havak to have something that's ready to hunt, no fuss, great warranty, and most importantly the $550 barrel replacement. (also have been loving the rifle so far) Tikka is 100% best value, but just don't have all the time to tinker

 

[JohnJohnson]

Kind of depends what you mean by trainer. I guess Bergara rifles are alright but they don't seem to have the same reputation as Tikka as far as consistency goes. Seems like a bit of a lottery. What does trainer mean? Same general stock ergonomics, weight, balance, and all that? 90 degree bolt throw since the Seekins has that?

 

[Hydra6]

I compete in PRS with Impact actions (Rem 700 clones). I have a 223 trainer based on a Tikka action that I use for practice - cheaper to load ammo (plus I load 223 on a progressive so much faster) and saves wear/tear on the competition rifle.

Another option is to get a 22 bolt gun like a PRS22 or NRL22/22X rig. Some of these are Rem 700 action clones. Can be cheap to shoot if you stay away from the top 22 ammo and certainly get wind practice.

 

[Wapiti1]

Any bolt action will work. What you will want is a similar stock and trigger pull. You're trying to instill the muscle memory for the shot sequence, not running the bolt.

Even then, any rifle will work to some degree in keeping your skill level up.

Jeremy

 

[mopar411]

Okay perfect! For a trainer rifle 100% want to have similar weight, stock, length, and ideally same bolt throw. Sounds like the bolt throw is pretty low on the priority list for making a clone training rifle. And there's a lot of aftermarket options to mimic the Seekins stock and trigger for a Tikka which is great

I plan on sticking with .223 for the training rifle so that I can have enough recoil. I need a lot of practice in learning stable field shooting positions (and staying in the scope for watching the shot), and my .22 just doesn't have enough recoil for that

 

[mopar411]

And just to confirm, I assume it's super important to have the same scope on the training rifle as on the actual hunting gun? Or at the very least the same reticle?

I have the Maven rs1.2 and it would be nice to save money on a cheaper scope. But mainly it's not the same weight, so different rifle balance

 

[Bert01]

In my opinion the closer to your other rifle the better, but anything is better than nothing, if you understand what I’m saying. Shooting with something that’s not exactly the same is better than not shooting at all so don’t get too tangled up in the details.

 

[Castle Rock]

I think you are heading in the wrong direction, I would get something a bit different and work on shooting skills and technique by adapting to different guns rather than blindly only learning one platform

 

[Grundy53]

Hello!

I'm really looking at getting a .223 trainer rifle this offseason to get more practice time in on the range to really dial in wind calls and positional shooting. It seems that the gold standard is the .223 tikka, however my main rifle is the Havak Element which is a Rem 700 ish pattern.

Is there a solid .223 rifle that's a 700 pattern? Or would there be any use of training on a Tikka, then having the Havak as my main rifle? Seems the different action won't translate very well

I hunt with an Element and my .223 trainer is a Tikka. It's not a problem.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

 

[mopar411]

Sounds like Tikka .223 is good to go! I've had too many bad experiences with bad rifles to get something not proven

 

[ramblinman]

I find 22lr to be 80% as effective as my go to rig in training.

Building positions yup
Natural point of aim yup
Breathing yul
Trigger press. Yup
Doping wind into a shooting bracket yup
There’s a few more, like breaking and moving target to target.
Range, dope, shoot.

Add in the fatigue side of shooting, I’m more fresh and more able to shoot positions, try things etc etc with the 22lr.

The obvious downside for me isn’t recoil or bolt gun manipulation.. it’s the less serious I am with each shot. It’s hard to value each training rep the same as a center fire.

Oh and thumbs get sore from stuffing mags.

If ur shooting overbore hunting cartridge maybe run blue dot loads or imr 4198 for some recoil and save on barrels and yank more rounds through the 22lr. Nobody gets worse at shooting after burning 5k through the 22lr trainer.