Indecisions of Jon for a .223

[270man]

Jon,

You don't say what your application is but it seems that you want the 223 as a varmint rifle. Here's my experience. I had a Rem 700V with 24" heavy barrel but hated lugging it around on my shoulder. It probably would have been fine if I could have found a place to sit on my fanny and shoot varmints -- but I never did. I also had (and still have) a Rem 700 BDL sporter with 24" barrel and found that there was very little difference in its accuracy versus the 700V. I sold the 700V and put the 12X Leupold scope on the sporter. I"ve never regretted it.

Carrying was much easier but I still wanted something that was lighter and more portable. A Winchester Lightweight M70 with 20" barrel and thin forearm is very accurate with handloads and I tend to take this one a lot more when I'm out kicking around in the woods and looking for targets of opportunity. Still have the 700BDL for dedicated prairie dog hunting.

Just my two cents,

270man