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cimarronvalley · February 12, 2008, 05:39 PM

Hi all:
Does anyone else own a Howa 1500/Hogue stocked heavy barrel varmit rifle in 223 Rem?
I got a good buy on 2 of them last year, one in 223Rem and the other in 243Win. I've owned 2 Whetherby Vanguards (aka: Howa 1500) in 30-06 and 270Win and they are good accurate hunting rifles. So I figured the two heavey barrel varmits would be good for some back deck target shooting and varmit calling.
The 243 varmit is great. Using various bullet weight factory ammo I get 1/2" 5round groups on my 30m sight-in board and 3/4" groups on my 110m target board. She'll be a joy to work up reloads for.
The 223 varmit, however, is a different story. She has 22" barrel with 1-12" twist. Using factory ammo (various manufacturers) she does semi-good with 40-45 grn bullets. On my 30m target, I get about 3/4" groups with 5 rounds. On the 110m target, this grouping spreads to 1.75". Once you get to 50 grn bullets and up, forget about it! With 50grn @ 110m, 3" 5rnd groups, 55grn @ 110m, 5+" groups, 75grn custom reloads ? @ 100m (they didn't even hit my 2'x4' target board, when I tried them on my 30m target, they key-holed about a foot high-right).
Any suggestions gang? And yes it has good proven optics in Burris Fullfield II 4x14 scope that I use on almost all of my rifles. (Please do not let this degrade to a scope argument since I have tried numerous manufacturers with scopes values ranging from $29 - $1600. Based on this, I have selected 2 scope brands that I don't depart from; Burris/Pentax and Nikon.)
I have a Ruger Mini-14 pre-GB (eat your hearts out) and a little cheap Savage/Stevens Model 200 that are both in 223. They eat any ammo you throw into them with great accuracy.
Thanks gang

February 12, 2008, 05:39 PM	#1
cimarronvalley Senior Member Join Date: October 7, 2007 Location: Shawnee, Ok. Posts: 155	Howa 1500 Hogue Varmit Hi all: Does anyone else own a Howa 1500/Hogue stocked heavy barrel varmit rifle in 223 Rem? I got a good buy on 2 of them last year, one in 223Rem and the other in 243Win. I've owned 2 Whetherby Vanguards (aka: Howa 1500) in 30-06 and 270Win and they are good accurate hunting rifles. So I figured the two heavey barrel varmits would be good for some back deck target shooting and varmit calling. The 243 varmit is great. Using various bullet weight factory ammo I get 1/2" 5round groups on my 30m sight-in board and 3/4" groups on my 110m target board. She'll be a joy to work up reloads for. The 223 varmit, however, is a different story. She has 22" barrel with 1-12" twist. Using factory ammo (various manufacturers) she does semi-good with 40-45 grn bullets. On my 30m target, I get about 3/4" groups with 5 rounds. On the 110m target, this grouping spreads to 1.75". Once you get to 50 grn bullets and up, forget about it! With 50grn @ 110m, 3" 5rnd groups, 55grn @ 110m, 5+" groups, 75grn custom reloads ? @ 100m (they didn't even hit my 2'x4' target board, when I tried them on my 30m target, they key-holed about a foot high-right). Any suggestions gang? And yes it has good proven optics in Burris Fullfield II 4x14 scope that I use on almost all of my rifles. (Please do not let this degrade to a scope argument since I have tried numerous manufacturers with scopes values ranging from $29 - $1600. Based on this, I have selected 2 scope brands that I don't depart from; Burris/Pentax and Nikon.) I have a Ruger Mini-14 pre-GB (eat your hearts out) and a little cheap Savage/Stevens Model 200 that are both in 223. They eat any ammo you throw into them with great accuracy. Thanks gang