223 AI vs 223

[eric n]

Any feeding issues in a Remington 700?
A lot of good reasons to move forward with the 223 AI re barrel.

Mine ran flawlessly with a bdl after a little tweeking of the feed lips and adding a spacer. Its set up for AI mags now but I get the occasional hiccup with the 10 rounders, the 5 rounders modified run great. I kinda wish I would have stayed with a bdl as my plans changed for the rifle.

 

[John from MN]

Looking a little better to me everyday.

 

[DogBuster]

222 Rem mag ?

 

[acloco]

I'm want to try the 80's. The Hornady fellows at SHOT indicated they'd be scarce for the foreseeable future. "Seasonal" was the adjective they used.
Are you necking up 204 for that combination?

Big YES on using 204 brass. Prefer RP headstamp - the WIN seems to split necks after necking up and fireforming with mild loads.

204 brass is usually plentiful and a lot cheaper than 222 Mag headstamp as well.

 

[alf]

222 Rem mag ?

Not hardly.....some cases for comparison.....

221 Fireball --- 222 Rem --- 223 REM --- 223 Ackley --- 222 Rem mag --- 22-204

The 22-204 has about one more grain capacity than a 223 Ackley and almost two more than a 222 RM, and no fireforming required.

 

[Gabe22BR]

I like my fireball!! Looks like you need a new case.

 

[SShooterZ]

Helpful picture alf, thanks for sharing.

What kind of velocities are you getting? Anything special about the round other than neck out, load and fire?

 

[alf]

Helpful picture alf, thanks for sharing.

What kind of velocities are you getting? Anything special about the round other than neck out, load and fire?

No sweat, I usually have to post that pic every once in a while to set the record straight.

The beauty of the round is just neck up and go straight to load work, no dickin' around.

A couple of 22" barrels both gave 3075 with 75 VLD's.

One 24" goes 3150 with 75 VLD's.

Another 24" gives 3075 with 80 VLD's.

A 26" gets 3125 with 80 VLD's

 

[Dubbo]

What are you using for 22-204 dies?

 

[alf]

What are you using for 22-204 dies?

I had a 204 neck die honed out, and use a Wilson inline bullet seater.

 

[Tommie]

Looking for opinions on a 223 re barrel, is it worth the extra effort going with the Improved.
Barrel most likely will be a 1:8 twist finished at 24-26" shooting 70-80 grainers.

My first question is:
What will the gun be used for?

Follow-up question:
What action is this going on?

 

[Dubbo]

Plinking/target out to ~600 yards and groundhog/coyotes. I don't plan on using it for FClass.
I have a remington 700 available for the project. Still researching what barrel length would be best for 223AI and straight 223...

 

[STS]

Exactly. Pretty much takes a lot of the shine off the .223AI. I have a .223 AI reamer and probably would opt for this.

 

[varmintshooter]

With 204 brass being so hard to find I would stay with a 223 case based round and the ack version would make it a little faster.

 

[lpreddick]

another vote for a .223 AI. i can get mvs close to my .22-.250 with a LOT less powder, thus much less barrel wear...my lands are about as sharp as when new and i have 800+ rounds fired and most approaching hot.. brass doesn't seem to grow. my biggest complaint is feeding, both from a mag and when single shot loading. i have the feeling the AI is more accurate than the standard .223.

 

[Tommie]

Of the two cartridges the AI obviously offers some increased performance potential. Whether iit's worth the higher die cost is up to you.

That being said, there are sportier chambering options for the .378 bolt face. Take a look at the .204 Ruger, 20 Tactical or 20 Practical before making your decision.

 

[lpreddick]

I also have a 20 TAC and it can REALLY smoke the 32 and 40 gr bullets . The limiting factor is bullet choice. Speed YES!!! 22 cal bullets come in many weights and bcs.

 

[alf]

another vote for a .223 AI. i can get mvs close to my .22-.250 with a LOT less powder, thus much less barrel wear...my lands are about as sharp as when new and i have 800+ rounds fired and most approaching hot.. brass doesn't seem to grow. my biggest complaint is feeding, both from a mag and when single shot loading. i have the feeling the AI is more accurate than the standard .223.

Perfect, a round you have to burn up barrel life to fireform, and then won't feed for shitt.....

Sounds like a ringing endorsement for a 22-204.

 

[Ackman]

Perfect, a round you have to burn up barrel life to fireform,

Say what? You can't really believe that.

 

[JRS]

The 2 grains of additional capacity in the AI version isn't worth the cost IMO.