New to F-Class, New to Shooting

[templar1975]

Hi Everyone,

I hope someone can help, I am a completely new shooter having used the club rifle only while supervised upto now. I am currently applying for my own licence and plan to buy a .223 for my first rifle in f-class to keep ammunition costs down.

Just about everyone at the club has told me when buying my own rifle I should be looking for a .223 with a 1/8 twist.

Can someone tell me why that is exactly ? And what ammo I should also be looking at for firing from 100m - 800m

Also can anyone recommend an entry level rifle that comes with a 1/8 twist as I am trying to keep costs down as much as possible to keep the wife happy.

I was looking at a new Howa 1500 in .223 but I think it only comes with a 1/12 twist so I guess that rules that rifle out.

[ShaneG]

Tikka make 1/8
Some of the Hornady 75 gr factory may work?
But really you will need to reload!

[Steve N]

Hi Templar,
1/8 twist is required to stabilise the long 80gn projectiles used. You might get away with a 1/9 twist if you stick to 69gn pills but they will get affected more by the wind and are best suited to the shorter distances. 300 to 600 yards in lighter wind conditions. A 1/12 twist barrel is suitable only for lighter projectiles up to 55gn and these do not have a high enough b.c. to be effective for F Class.
As a rule most factory hunting type titles are not suited but Tikka make 223's in 1/8 twist. The Tikka T3 varmint is accurate enough but the 24" barrel might be a bit short. You need all the help you can get to shoot a 223 out to 800m. The Savage Target rifles are also good and have a 1/7 twist with 30" barrel but are even more pricey.

Have you considered a 308 instead? There is usually quite a few second-hand Target rifles around with good barrels at reasonable prices. 308 NRAA ammo is available if you don't reload, is only a couple of bucks more than 223 ammo and will get you to 800m. Ask around your club members and you might find that someone has or knows of a used rifle that would be ideal. Plenty of Omarks are still shooting very well.
Steve.

[templar1975]

Actually I have been toying with the idea of maybe just going for a .308 instead, is there anything in particular I should be looking for ? Twist etc ?

If I can buy ammo from the NRAA just a little more expensive I can live with that.

Reloading my own ammo is definitely something I will be looking into eventually but one thing at a time or the wife may string me up!

I really appreciate the info though I think going the .308 route may just solve a number of issues for me.

[Steve N]

The 155 used for F Class standard seem to do well in any twist from 1/10 up to 1/13. 1/12 is pretty common.

[templar1975]

Okay I will look into that, thanks very much I really do appreciate it. Been loving every moment down at the range and I am keen to get going with my own equipment. I will ask the lads down there to keep their ear to the ground if anyone has something appropriate for sale.

[argh]

Templar, the Howa 223 is 1:9 twist and wont stabilise the 80gr projectiles. Would be fine with the 69gr sierra, but not sure how that would shoot to 800m unless you load them very hot. ADI load charts say that max load gives 3000 fps, and ballistics calcs indicate that at that spped the projectile will go subsonic between 700 and 800m. Out of interest, ADI through Outback ammo are now loading 69gr sierra matchkings in a factory load, but at a claimed 2950 fps so would be good from a factory 223 up to 700m.

308 might be a better go, and you can load it with the NRA 155gr match ammo until you start handloading. Alternatively you can shoot any match grade ammo if you shoot F/TR off a bipod

Out of interest, I bought a Howa in 308 to start with, and re-barrelled after 2 years of 'learning.' Rifle shoots OK at the moment, but if I went back in time I would probably look at getting an OMark that has already been converted to FClass (Scope rail, etc). Much better choice for a starting rifle IMO.

Good luck and enjoy shooting

Cheers
Adrian

[pjifl]

80 grain bullets are almost - but not quite - up to the standard NRAA specified projectiles for a 308 in performance. Especially at the very longs. I have shot a 223 at 1000y and often done well with it. But that was a long time ago. Now better projectiles are available for F Standard (308). There is no point in having a barrel of less twist (ie a number greater than eight) for this almost competitive shooting with a 223.

I doubt you will load competitive 223s any or much cheaper than 308s. And you need superb and hot loading to catch up to a 308 these days.

Suggest you put off any purchase and borrow a 308 for trials to see how you like it. There are many 308s set up for target shooting to be had second hand.

If there is no special reason to go for the 223 I would chase up a 308.
If at some later stage, you want to shoot a different cartridge in F Open the 308 bolthead will take most other higher performance cartridges. The 223 will not.

Peter Smith.

[templar1975]

Initially, my decision to buy a .223 was down to 2 things, I like the club rifle I have been using which is an Omark in a .223 and also trying to keep the cost of ammo down to keep my Wife happy haha. But yeah I've been looking at the NRAA .308 ammo and the price is negligible so I think I am going to settle on the .308.
As Pjifl suggested I will see if I can borrow a .308, put a few rounds down the range and see how I get on with shooting that.

Again, thanks for all the help guys I really do appreciate everyone's advice