Rifle barrel upgrade

[jelenko]

Remington Sendero is probably a good choice for the countour

For a rifle that's going to be 'carried all over the place'?

 

[338 dude]

I’m hoping someone or many of you guys can tell me what twist rate I need for 50-55 grain bullets up to 60 grainers

 

[TimS]

I have a Remington 700 in .223 that I am considering rebarreling to get better accuracy. I want to stay with a .223 so not interested in anything besides .223 remington. I’m going to coyote hunt and deer hunt with the rifle so it needs to have a twist rate that will be optimal for 50-55 grain bullets and still handle 60 grainers for deer. I want a barrel with a contour That will be handy for carrying around. I do not want a heavy contour or bull barrel. This will be a hunting rifle that will be carried all over the place. I am hoping to achieve somewhere between dime and quarter size groups at 100 yards. I realize I may have to play with different loads to get the results I’m hoping for even with a precision barrel. So give me some good ideas for custom barrel manufacturers that make the barrel in looking for.

l guess that I will be “That Guy”. If is for coyote AND DEER. I believe that you and the deer will be better served with a faster twist for heavier bullets.

The county next to me probably has as many deer killed with a.22wrm as any other caliber, but that’s another story.

 

[Briansm785]

Yes. I will want to shoot a deer or two with it just to do it. Sounds like a 60 grain partition is a fairly popular bulletin for that task so I need a barrel that will be likely to handle those.

I’ve never rebarreled a rifle so this is all new to me and I appreciate the suggestions and links to the info. I think I’ll go 1 in 9 twist and I am going to take the suggestion to go .223 wylde just for versatility. This gun is about versatility anyways. I’ve been piling up both .223 and 5.56 loaded ammo. I already have lots of bullets and primers so I might as well have another way to use the spent brass. I’ve been disappointed with this gun out of the box so far. I’ve got some more loads to try but I’m doubting it’s going to behave the way I want regardless of loads.

 

[stacy]

THERE IS ALOT OF WORK THAT CAN BE DONE TO YOUR RIFLE IF IT A FACTORY RIFLE FOR ACCURACY IF YOUR HAVING PROBLEMS WITH IT BEFORE YOU START WITH THE BARREL

 

[joshb]

8 twist Bartlein in Remington Varmint contour or medium Palma. 22-24”

 

[Briansm785]

THERE IS ALOT OF WORK THAT CAN BE DONE TO YOUR RIFLE IF IT A FACTORY RIFLE FOR ACCURACY IF YOUR HAVING PROBLEMS WITH IT BEFORE YOU START WITH THE BARREL

Oh yeah I know. Glass bedding, insuring no barrel to stock contact, better trigger, double check scope base and rings, Try 20 some different loads and on and on. I’ve got some more stuff to try. I just want to build up a rifle and since this one is shooting like crap it’s a good candidate.

 

[jkohler]

If your wanting to shoot mostly 50 to 55 gr bullets I wouldn’t personally go with a Wylde chamber.

 

[jelenko]

THERE IS ALOT OF WORK THAT CAN BE DONE TO YOUR RIFLE IF IT A FACTORY RIFLE FOR ACCURACY IF YOUR HAVING PROBLEMS WITH IT BEFORE YOU START WITH THE BARREL

Hmm. This may be a good point. ETA: Hmmm, Hmmm - I see you've got this covered.
Which bullets have you worked with?
Assuming the factory barrel is still on, you might try Tubb's 'Throat Management System' to see if smoothing out the throat makes a difference. I've seen several reports of significant improvement in accuracy.

You could also check to see if the barrel is free floated and loosen/retorque the action screws.
What stock is the action/barrel in? If it's not in one with bedding blocks, that alone would make a noticeable difference.
I'd replace the X Mark trigger. The one I had experience with was into the 'atrocious' range. The pull weight varied significantly from pull to pull.

On the other side, truing the action would be way down my list. My understanding is receivers marked RR are in pretty good shape from the factory.

 

[Briansm785]

I’ve played with several loads with 50 and 55 grain V max using h322 and cfe22 so far. I have an IMR powder I was reading about that guys have had success with that I will try and varget is on the list. The trigger on this gun pulled way over 6 pounds and I have a Timney ready to go in it before I go any further. I know that will help but I also know it’s not all of the issues. Stock bolts were tight. I do have barrel to stock contact that will be addressed soon. I may get what I’m looking for out of this gun tinkering with it but my experience tells me I’ve got too far to go most likely.

 

[Briansm785]

I appreciate all the input on barrels. Also thanks to those that posted about other possibilities and oversights. I think I know what I’m after and now have the confidence That my logic in selecting a barrel was leading me in the right direction.

 

[AckleymanII]

Ok, hunting coyotes, 55g will like a zero freebore reamer. For deer, about .030 for using a 62g Speer gold dot or just use a 55g speer gold dot that is also bonded core bullets.

If you jack the RPM up with an 8T, then bullets are more apt to shed their core or open sooner, and this maybe of major concern for you.

For deer and coyotes, you could make your life easy by shooting a 55g Sierra, nosler, or V max, and for deer a 55g Speer Bonded Core Gold dot. Benchmark has a node at 3475 fps out of a 12 twist 24" barrel, Rem 700.

I have killed a few does with 55g Hornady sp with the cannalure which is a tough and accurate bullet at 3200 fps, shots were 100 or so yards...they flopped on lung shots.

63g Sierra semi points will stabalize in a 14 twist, and this is another good deer bullet.

The 55g Speer gold dots are very, very accurate in my Rem 12 Twist sps stainless.

Your barrel choice is much less important than the reamer used to chamber the barrel with by a real craftsman. You want short freebore, not a freebore for a long heavy bullet.

Some years ago, I shot two does on a pond dam at 270 yards with an AR 15 loaded with 62g ttsx, they both ran 100 yards, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. We butcher all our deer, not much damage on the inside of those does, they just bled out internally. If you are going to shoot deer with a 223 in the afternoon, I would go with a neck shot, or shoot them square through both shoulders on a broadside shot, gold dot bullets will do this.

Best of luck to you

 

[Rich S]

For a rifle that's going to be 'carried all over the place'?

Adds about a pound over a light weight barrel. My guess is around 8 lbs. For the coyote and deer stand hunting I do thats not bad. Here in IL we are still stuck with slug guns for deer so guess I'm use to a little extra weight. Usually only walk 20 minutes or so to a stand or coyote set. I do think a medium contour barrel makes a 223 more all purpose. It makes a decent varmint gun, long range plinker and is ok from a stand. My 223s/204s etc... range from about 7 lbs to 16 lbs depending on the use. I'd go lighter if I planned to carry it a good portion of the day or as a truck gun.

 

[joshb]

I just read thru your post again. I have a Remington 5R 223. I played with all kinds of loads, trying to get a good one. Right around 200 rounds, it settled in and started shooting.
My favorite powder for all my 223’s is H335 for 52s up to 69s. Look at around 22-22.6 grains for some magic to happen.

 

[stacy]

I’ve played with several loads with 50 and 55 grain V max using h322 and cfe22 so far. I have an IMR powder I was reading about that guys have had success with that I will try and varget is on the list. The trigger on this gun pulled way over 6 pounds and I have a Timney ready to go in it before I go any further. I know that will help but I also know it’s not all of the issues. Stock bolts were tight. I do have barrel to stock contact that will be addressed soon. I may get what I’m looking for out of this gun tinkering with it but my experience tells me I’ve got too far to go most likely.

HAVE YOU GOT ANY H-4895 IF SO TRY THAT WITH THE 50GR VMAX WITH 450 PRIMERS BUT DONT GET UPSET YET BECAUSE YOUR FACTORY RIFLE IS NOT READY FOR ACCURACY TESTING UNTIL THE CORRECTING ARE MADE IT LIKE BUILDING A DRAG RACING ENGINE FOR THE GROUND UP SEVERE THE SAME ISSUSES I THINK YOU WOULD HAVE A GOOD RIFLE IF THE PROPER STEPS WERE TAKING

 

[rockhound78]

I would go with either a 1-9" or a 1-10" twist. I took a Rem 223 barrel and chambered to 22Br. It shoots under 1/2". It has a 1-12" twist and the heaviest bullet I have shot so far is 62gr. My 1-8" twist 22br. disintigrates most of the lighter bullets.

My next 22 barrel will be a 1-10"

 

[spaniel]

If you spend what you would have spent on a smith to chamber/install a single barrel on the tooling to do Remage barrels, you'll never need another smith.

I've had nothing but stellar results with McGowen Remage barrels.

You'll still need to do your own bedding etc. None of this is complicated. But if you're not up for it, a blank from virtually any decent manufacturer will probably make you happy once your smith does the work.

 

[std7mag]

338dude,
Where did you get that chart?
Looks like Berger.
Which has me confused, because my Berger & Sierra manuals show up to 73gr bullets with a 1:9 twist.

I'm currently shooting 69gr SMK, TMK with a 1:9.

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

Berger changes/updates their min twist rate recommendations all the time

 

[338 dude]

338dude,
Where did you get that chart?
Looks like Berger.
Which has me confused, because my Berger & Sierra manuals show up to 73gr bullets with a 1:9 twist.

I'm currently shooting 69gr SMK, TMK with a 1:9.

It is a chart from Burger it came with an order from powder Valley