Which 223 barrel?

beanie10

I am looking into getting a 223 either a Reminton 700 or Tikka T3.Which do ye recommend? One thing that is confusing me is lite barrel, heavy barrel or fluted barrel. Ill be mainly doing targets and foxes. Which barrel should i go for?

Glensman

I prefer fluted.
The theory is that they are lighter, stiff and have a larger surface area for cooling.

My .223 has a fluted-heavy barrel. I prefer the sporter barrel on my .270 though...

beanie10

How much is the lite barrel effected by quick firing, lets say by zeroing the rifle?

Cass

Its more a matter of the primary purpose of the rifle, and what you will be doing 80% of your shooting with. I mean if you got a heavy barrel that would stand up to mulitple shots in a target sitution, then went out hunting with it you might find it too heavy to carry comfotably for any perios of time. Each barrel has its advantages and drawbacks.

Lite barrel

Pros

• Light, obviously.
• Well balanced. (not pulling the muzzle down)

Cons

• Not good/suited on higher cals such as .270 - 30-06.
• Barrel heats up quickl, and mirage can be an issue due to th thinness of the barrel.
• Mod (if used) can effect POI as it is a heavy weight on a light barrel.

Fluted barrels

Pros

• Usually medium contour so not overly heavy plus fluting helps keep weight down.
• Larger surface area so aids in quicker cooling.
• Can handle a mod (if used) better than a lighter barrel with less shift in POI.
• Able to handle more shots without "overheating" than a lighter barrel.

Cons

• With fluting the heat from the bore can reach the "surface" of the barrel quicker so mirage will appear quicker than a heavy barrel, but not so quick as a light barrel.
• May cause slight/medium pulling of the uzzle due to being slighter heavier.

Heavy barrel

Pros

• Can fire multiple shots without much/any mirage
• No shift in POI with mod (usually)
• Good for Target work
• Will work well on any caliber upto/including 30-06 - .300 WinMag.

Cons

• Weight, Plain and simple its a heavy carry and not always best suited to hunting.
• Will constantly drag the muzzle of your rifle down creating problems when slinging it.
• Makes for a heavy off hand shot. Usually needs a bipod/rest

With all that in mind i would say the fluted barrel would provide you with the best of both worlds. Its heavy enough to handle a few shots without causing heating/mirage problems for that little bit of target work. Its not so heavy that you cannot carry it for a half day, but not so light that the mod "sings" when you fire.

As its going on a .223 some of the issues i mentioned above may not necessarily effect you as much as say a larger caliber. For example my old 30-06 with light barrel was a pig. Anymore than 3 shots and she was climbing up and right. Barrel would be steaming after 5 successive shots.

So my own opinion. You want a medium contour, fluted barrel of about 24" in length.

landkeeper

it also depends what grain bullets you intend to shoot with it too, heavy bullets have a better bc but you need a faster twist rifling therefore you can get away with a shorter thicker barrel
most of the american heavy barrel rifles are built to shoot light bullets and have a slow twist therefore need long barrels but they are designed for setting up ans shooting from one place