Yet another 223

W

William Suter

Well-known member
I have a weakness for 22 caliber rifles or so it seems. I picked up another 223 this weekend. Its a Remington 700 and suppose to have a Lilja barrel. I bought it from a guy walking the floor at a gunshow. He said it had a Trigger Tech trigger but I knew right off it wasn't. I told him it wasn't and then he said it was a Timney. I have a few of them and knew it wasn't Timney either. It's in a McMillan stock with molded in camo and all the metal is ceracoated a tan color. It has a tactical knob on the bolt and its also spiral fluted. The barrel is heavy, which I like, and threaded fora suppressor or break. I pulled the bolt when I got home and it has a Sako extractor, another plus!! I finally got around to pulling the action out of the stock and it was TIGHT with a very nice bedding job. I can't scope the barrel but I used my OAL modified case and a 55 grain VMax and touching the lands was easy with an OAL a little less than 2.250 so I think the throat is going to be fine.
 
Last edited:
You're a brave man buying a used rifle like that from someone who either doesn't know what they have or they intentionally misrepresent what they have.

With that said, I hope it shoots well... I too have a soft spot for .223 bolt guns.
 
I knew right off this guy was blowing smoke. He said a gunsmith that I was personal friends with built it. It wasn't his work and I knew it right off. He's been dead for a few years now. The barrel is fluted and it didn't look like the tooling he used and the markings on the barrel wasn't his. He couldn't stamp a straight line if his life depended on it. From the get go I figured if the barrel is trash the stock and action was worth what I paid for the rifle. I ran some patch's through the barrel and it cleaned up really quick with little to no copper fouling. I'm waiting on a scope so I started checking OAL on several bullet types and weight and touching the lands was easy on all the bullets I tried so I'm thinking the barrel is in decent shape. A range trip will tell the tale. The rifle came with a nice braided sling and a set of TPS rings.Just another little plus. Buying used guns at a gun show is always a roll of the dice. I've bought some that look great and turned out to be junk and some that look like junk and are tack drivers.

Bowhntr6pt- I know what your saying and there are occasions that I get stung, but, that's what I do. I buy,sell and trade and shoot them until I get bored, then swap them off. I'm old, kinda single, and live alone. Guns, gun shows, gun shops and the gun club is about all I do until hunting season rolls around and I don't do a lot of that anymore. Killing deer is fun. Dragging them out, not so much. I don't drink and to old to party. Firearms are my hobby and has been for many years. I use to shoot a lot of 3-D archery but it kinda died out around here so I gave it up. Damn, I just gave you my life story. LOL
 
Hello everyone, My name is William.
** group says** Hi William !

I have been a gun-a-holic my entire life. My addiction started at an early age,with just a bb gun, then a 22 lr. Soon after that I'm walking in gun shops and then the gun shows ,looking for my next fix ! Soon buying 1 rifle at time isn't enough ! Then I'm at the gun club lusting over other peoples guns , I just couldn't help myself !
Someone suggested group therapy for my addiction . So here I am, but I'm not exactly sure this is the group therapy they had in mind.

Once again my name is William and I am an addict . :cool:
 
Last edited:
William Suter said:
Bowhntr6pt- I know what your saying and there are occasions that I get stung, but, that's what I do. I buy,sell and trade and shoot them until I get bored, then swap them off. I'm old, kinda single, and live alone. Guns, gun shows, gun shops and the gun club is about all I do until hunting season rolls around and I don't do a lot of that anymore. Killing deer is fun. Dragging them out, not so much. I don't drink and to old to party. Firearms are my hobby and has been for many years. I use to shoot a lot of 3-D archery but it kinda died out around here so I gave it up. Damn, I just gave you my life story. LOL
Click to expand...

LOL... all good Sir.

I miss 3-D Archery, I use to shoot it a lot in the early to mid 90's and it seemed to just slowly die out. I use to go to events that had fifty to sixty plus people.

I'm getting up in age too and yep, dragging a deer out by yourself sucks.

As far as the rifle, looks like you evaluated the sum of the parts... that's a good strategy.
 
The bad part of buying a gun at one of our local shows is they tie the bolt closed with a zip tie. If your a dealer with a table you get extra ties so you can check things like the barrel and bolt condition. If your just a guy like me, just walking around trying to sell your rifle, you don't have an extra zip tie. So, its a roll of the dice. I've been pretty lucky, most of the time, but I have gotten stung on a couple of occasions.
 
Well, my new Arken scope came last Friday and I got it mounted. Today was the first day we had that it wasn't raining or the wind blowing 30MPH. I met up with a buddy and headed to the club. After hanging targets I pulled the bolt and bore sighted the Remington. I brought a box of 223 55 grain FMJ just to get on paper then planned to switch over to my handloads. First shot was even with the bull but 2" to the left. Close enough for now and had to try two more shots for sh-- and grins. Amazed, it shot a 3 shot 1/2" group with FMJ's???? I couldn't believe that. Gave it a few clicks to the right and switched over to my handloads, AA2230 and 52 grain Bergers. The rifle just stacked bullets on top of each other. My buddy was watching and now he wants to buy it. He wants my 308 to. He said tell him how much for both and he would go to the bank.I'm not to sure I want to sell either of those just yet. I bought an Arken EPL-4 6-20x50 and it was a perfect match for the rifle. I have another scope just the same on my 6.5 CM. I have no complaints at all about the Arkens even though the are Chinese and very reasonably priced.

I can't believe it, I posted a picture. I been a member for a long time and finally I can post a damn picture now.
 

Attachments

  • 20260701_125819.jpg
    20260701_125819.jpg
    149.2 KB · Views: 60
Last edited:
Not exactly stacked. Maybe I fudged a little. But not to bad. Upper right target sucked. I think I hit a node change or I just choked.

(Those are all 5 shot groups at 100yds.)
 

Attachments

  • 20260701_221541.jpg
    20260701_221541.jpg
    55.4 KB · Views: 50
Last edited:
I plan to shoot some different bullets and different powders next time out. I hope to tighten groups up a little. I had the Bergers kissing the lands with the loads I shot yesterday. I plan on working on seating depth to. Seems that all my 22 calibers like the Bergers but some are going to be weened off of them. They are just to hard to get these days.
 
William Suter said:
I have a weakness for 22 caliber rifles or so it seems. I picked up another 223 this weekend. Its a Remington 700 and suppose to have a Lilja barrel. I bought it from a guy walking the floor at a gunshow. He said it had a Trigger Tech trigger but I knew right off it wasn't. I told him it wasn't and then he said it was a Timney. I have a few of them and knew it wasn't Timney either. It's in a McMillan stock with molded in camo and all the metal is ceracoated a tan color. It has a tactical knob on the bolt and its also spiral fluted. The barrel is heavy, which I like, and threaded fora suppressor or break. I pulled the bolt when I got home and it has a Sako extractor, another plus!! I finally got around to pulling the action out of the stock and it was TIGHT with a very nice bedding job. I can't scope the barrel but I used my OAL modified case and a 55 grain VMax and touching the lands was easy with an OAL a little less than 2.250 so I think the throat is going to be fine.







Mega Fire Blaze Big Circus
Click to expand...
That sounds like a serious setup! Finding a setup with a Lilja barrel and a proper bedding job at a gun show is a total win, even if the guy was off on the trigger info. The Sako extractor is a nice touch too—definitely worth finding out what that trigger actually is once you get it to the range. How does it handle on the bench so far, and do you have a specific optic in mind for it, or are you going to test it out with something you already have?
 
Last edited:
Back
Top