I currently shoot a 243 with a hunting barrel for fox and deer. I use a 70gn Ballistic tip for fox and a 100g soft point for fallow deer. The 70 grainers are my first developed home load and will give 5 shots in a 5p at 100 yards consistently. I just use a factory load for the soft points, the grouping is much wider, think 4 in a 2" circle, but good enough for what they're used for and I know what to dial in when switching between the two.
To develop the loads I joined BPRC, which allowed me to test a few types of cartridge and powder weights to see which was best. I always thought I would not enjoy paper punching but, the combination of developing your own load and target shooting appeals to me, a lot, I've just found out. Plus, there's a good few guys to have a bit of banter with which for the most part, my shooting to date has lacked.
So, I thought about getting a 223 which was more dedicated to range work, however, I would also likely use this forfox and perhaps rabbit shooting on the places where I don't need to pick all the dead rabbits up, as I would imagine a .223 round won't leave a lot of useable meat behind, still, the buzzards should enjoy the bounty.
I figured that the best choice would be the lighter grained bullets, as I already have 70gn upwards covered in 243. So, maybe 40 to 55gn for the .223. I looked at a few and seem to think that the Remmy 700 Police would be about the best choice. A 1 in 9 twist means I can shoot the mid range weight bullets and perhaps a little heavier/ lighter, a heavy barrel allows me to shoot multiples on the range without problems associated with a lighter hunting barrel. I've been advised that the offerings like the Savage Model 12 and Sako 85 only really suit the heavier weight bullets with their 1 in 12 twists (although Sako state the 223 is available in 8" 10" & 12")?
So, my question is really, would this rifle be a good compromise between range work to maybe 300 yards, and varmint work out in the field? Or is there a better choice straight out of the box that would meet both requirements? What would be the best choice, bearing in mind the wallet wouldn't support a cupboard full of dedicated rifles for purely range work just yet. I'd rather have something that needs just a little fettling than something that will need frequent trips to a gunsmith to bring it up to scratch.
My thanks in advance.
