factory .223 Rem 1-7 twist barrels

[memilanuk]

How long or short are these throated? I.e., if you seated a bullet like a S80MK or B80VLD to the lands, what is your approximate OAL from case head to bullet tip?

[sharpshooter]

I don't think there is a correct answer to this....I've never seen 2 alike. For what reason, I've never figured out. If you ask someone like Joe DeGrande, he'll probably tell you that the chambers are SAAMI. The chamber itself is, but the freebores tend to be all over the place. ???

[memilanuk]

That does seem... odd. I imagine its possible - somehow ???

Is there anyone out there that has a 12 VLP or LRPV with a 7 twist that shoots heavies that wants to chime in on what your particular OAL looks like?

[Budweiser360]

80SMK is approx 2.511
80B VLD is approx 2.470
90B VLD is approx 2.580

That is mine with factory Savage chamber and almost 600rounds down the pipe. We are waiting on a throat reamer to take the 90VLD out to an OAL of approx 2.67.

[memilanuk]

Hmmm... 2.511" w/ a S80MK doesn't seem unduly short... not exactly 'long' either, though. My 'views' on the matter are probably skewed from shooting AR gas-guns, where ~2.450-2.500" for the same round is about 'normal' for a new barrel. For a dedicated LR bolt gun... it probably is a bit shorter than would be ideal - but I imagine they have to fudge somewhat, taking into account the wide variety of stuff people might try to force in the chamber ;)

The throat on my 24" LW barrel only seats a B80VLD to 2.400"... and thats jammed 10 thou into the lands ;) so it sounds like a bit of an improvement there.

How'd the B90VLDs do in your barrel so far for accuracy and velocity?

[Budweiser360]

Just recieved the 90's a couple weeks ago and still waiting for a range to open. Apparently they have a node right about 2800-2840fps and this speed has been attained in a standard 223 case. That load also shot a 1/2" 3 shot, 200 yard group out of a McGowen 1-7". Higher velocities were attained but the accuracy wasn't there.

I will report my findings out of my Savage barrel when I finally get out to shoot again.

[memilanuk]

Any issues with feeding rounds into the chamber? Can you simply drop a round in the 'tray' of the receiver and run the bolt forward, or do you need to 'hand feed' the longer bullets into the chamber?

[Budweiser360]

Handfeed, unfortunately. It has been awhile since shooting the 80SMK's and I think those did feed, but neither of the Bergers will, and the 80 AMAX will not either. A loaded 90VLD will not eject without taking the bolt out. Time for a long action .223 I guess ::)

This is all with the OAL that I shoot at, those who load to a mag fed length will not have these problems but will lose a lot of case capacity.

[memilanuk]

Nuts. I wondered if that might be the case. For the 24" LW .223 barrel my wife shoots I had to have the gunsmith put a radius on the entrance to the chamber (think Fred suggested it). We measured how thick the actual case head area is to give us an idea of how far we could get away with extending the radius into the chamber. Not as far as I'd like, but enough to give fairly reliable feeding on a ~2005 10FP Accutrigger action with a single shot block in the mag well.

I'm working on getting a .223 Rem barrel and bolt head from Savage to work with... maybe I can talk 'em into improving this a bit.

Monte