Whether the 1 in 9 will do the job adaquately is another matter. I believe the long distance shooters prefer heavy bullets and faster twist barrels.
I do OK out to 600m (no easy access to longer range) with 69-80 grain bullets through a 20" 1 in 8.
Sight makes no difference to the rifle's accuracy, I use irons most of the time.
Hmm well the rifle i'm going for is a repeater which only comes in 1 in 9" the other option I have is to go for the single shot version which comes in both the 1 in 9 and also a 1 in 7.
However I will also be using it (mostly) for targets around 200-600 yards.
If mostly for targets, I would go for the fastest twist, 1 in 7. For game shooting, a single shot will also do the job; it's all about shot placement.
For out & out Target shooting, I use a 30" barrelled, single shot, b-a, 7.62 nato. For Service Rifle type match/target shooting I mostly use a 5.56 & 7.62nato.
So if I was to go for the singleshot 1 in 7" I should be good for shooting 300 to 1000 yards accurately?
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Your doomed if there is any wind at all in your 1000 yard shots in the light powered .223 .
That's a little rediculous to be reaching out that far accurately with a .223 ? Maybe 500 yards or so if your lucky .
It aint no .50 BMG round you know ?
You'd be much better off with a .3006 with .223 Excelerator Sabbot Bullets if you actually want to hit anything accurately with a .223 at those ranges . Even with that your asking allot , accurately . I think 1,000 yards is way out of the .223's league . JMHO ..........There is good reason .308 and .3006 or the 7mm's do so well in long range competition .
The .223 , not so much .................
Your doomed if there is any wind at all in your 1000 yard shots in the light powered .223 .
That's a little rediculous to be reaching out that far accurately with a .223 ? Maybe 500 yards or so if your lucky .
It aint no .50 BMG round you know ?
You'd be much better off with a .3006 with .223 Excelerator Sabbot Bullets if you actually want to hit anything accurately with a .223 at those ranges . Even with that your asking allot , accurately . I think 1,000 yards is way out of the .223's league . JMHO ..........There is good reason .308 and .3006 or the 7mm's do so well in long range competition .
The .223 , not so much .................
Boken
Well Boken, I think you are a little out of touch with what is/has been going on in the long range scene. .223's are consistantly winning a lot of long range matches.
I regularly shoot Service rifle at 600m with a 5.56(.223) and perform as well as the 7.62mm. Granted the wind does come into play a bit more but that is the name of the game. The 7.62 is also better for shooting in any knock-down matches, cos then you can use low shots and pebble dash your target; maybe not fair but everybody does it! a miss with a 7.62 can be much more effective than a miss with a 5.56!
If the OP wants to shoot .223 at 1000 yards, it is quite feasable and it's his choice.
Hmmm I would really like a .308 but the ammo is just too pricey at the moment I won't be using this rifle solely for 1000 yards but I do want a rifle which I can grow into.
Yepper,the 80gr bullet in .224 leaving the muzzle at 2800fps and a bc of about 440 is still supersonic at 1000yds,but it takes a fast twist.Go with WHL,s advice.The 7.62 is a much better choice for you in my view. sam.
The 1000yd shooters in this area are using anything from .223, 22.06, .264. and up. The best group at the last match, (baker city) was 5-9/16 from billy taylor, i don't have what caliber he was shooting. blue
Hmm I'm a total amature to shooting atmso some of the terminology is a bit confussing >_< What does 7.62 mean?
Thanks
7.62 in Target shooting circles, normally refers to the calibre 7.62 x 51 mm, ie the 7.62 nato round, dimensionally identical to .308 Winchester, sometimes mistakenly referred to as .308nato.
7.62 is the most common traditional target round and extremely effective when used at ranges up to 1000 yards.
If you are a Newb to target rifle shooting and you have a hankering for a .223, then I would recommend a decent bolt action rifle with at least 24" barrel with 1 in 7 twist and a 5.56mm chamber. (5.56 x 45mm is the military equivalent of .223 and can/does run higher pressures)
As for 1000 yard shooting with the .223, just make sure you can consistantly hold 0.5moa at 300 yards first.
Ben,shooting 1000 yds is not like shooting 100. When your rifle and ammo can get minute of angle with the .223,then consider moving to 400, then 600, then if you are not discouraged to 1000. There are tons of accomplished experienced shooters (like myself) who are quickly humbled when they see there spread at 400.yes,there are shooters that do well, but they have years and years of experienced and have tried more than one rifle to find one that can come close to what they want.
M14MAN:Very good post on how to make it work.I agree,there is a big difference in 100yds and 400yds.A lot more than four times the distance.So many get on here and talk like they want to start at 1000yds.It would be good if more posted the facts like you and prevented them from being discouraged.With a good rifle and adequate cartridge,a lot of research,and tons of practice,they,by starting right,can reach their goal.Men like you and WHL really help. sam.
first off, you've chosen the right scope for the job. you are going to need a faster twist barrel to shoot the heavier bullets that you need if you want to give the 223 a try at 1000yds. also shooting at that distance, you are going to want to handload your own ammo as the commercial ammo for the 223 and long distance shooting isnt cheap.
I agree with Lefty o on the ammo. There will be little a difference between the price of the match .223/5.56 ammo and the match .308/7.62 ammo. The .308/7.62 will ofcourse be more but the last time I bought a box of the Federal Premium .223 ammo with the 69gr and 77gr match bullets they both were near $30.00 a box of 20 and that was a few years ago.
Hmmm I would really like a .308 but the ammo is just too pricey at the moment I won't be using this rifle solely for 1000 yards but I do want a rifle which I can grow into.
The price of ammo really does not come into play here. If you are going to be shooting a .223 with 70 to 80 grain bullets you will most likely be reloading to keep costs down. Going to the range with 20 to 40 "Factory" cartridges to practice is not going to make you proficient, it takes 100 rounds a time and at $25 to $30 for 20 can you afford it without reloading and not for just 1 weekend a month. It takes practice, Practice and more Practice to shoot 1,000 yards. Reloading for a .308 is not much more expensive than for a .223 and is certainly cheaper than buying factory loaded .223. If you find custom or specialty ammo with these bullets weights you will pay as much loaded .308. If you are thinking that you can use surplus military .223 ammo for 1000 yd shooting you are mistaken. For long range target shooting you are looking at precision reloading, separating the cases by case volume, measuring the powder to the 0.1 of a grain and possibly neck turning and weighing each bullet and separating in groups within 0.1 grain.
I have been shooting and reloading for over 45 years and have found that .22 cal bullets (in my case 60 grain from a 22/250) are inferior to larger diameter heavier bullets for long range target shooting (600 yds +). I have used 25-06, 280 Remington, 30-06 and 300 Winchester Magnum with better results at 500 yds and beyond than the 22/250. You will hear people say that they can consistently get 10 and X ring shots at 500 plus yards with the .223, but first check what is being used at the national high power matches for 1000 yds. and compare calibers to the top scores. The national matches are a documented and more reliable source of information than a blog saying “Last Saturday I shot an 8 inch group at 1,000 yards with my .223”.
If you buy a .223 and really intend to shoot 1,000 yards, I think you will be disappointed and frustrated, especially if you are relativily new to long range target shooting. If you are not comfortable with the recoil of the .30 cals go the .25 cal., 6.5mm to 7mm (.280) route.
By the way 7.62 X 51 is the NATO designation for the .308 Winchester. There may be slight loading differences but the cartridges are interchangeable.
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Last edited by 15AcreWoods; 02-19-2009 at 11:25 AM.
Reason: speeling
So if I was to go for the singleshot 1 in 7" I should be good for shooting 300 to 1000 yards accurately?
Also is heavier ammo more expenssive than ur normal 50-60 grain? if so by how much?
i just bought a .223, so i have been looking at ammo prices fairly closely. ive found that 55 grain is the most common, and as such, is obviously the cheapest grain. the other most popular ive seen are 45, 50, and 62 grain. the 55 grain averages about 50 cents/rd, where as the others range anywhere from 53 cents to even 70 cents/rd depending on the brand. i havent had the chance to shoot at a considerable distance yet, but i would imagine that you would want a heavier bullet for the 1000 yard shot. cabelas' website is a good place to compare prices for .223, although they can run more expensive than most places. http://www.cabelas.com/ just search your caliber
3Likes
.223 accurate at 1000 yards? 
I won't be using this rifle solely for 1000 yards but I do want a rifle which I can grow into.
