.223 Wylde Chamber in Trainer?? I don't get it. . . or do I?

dcmdon · Jul 10, 2024

Hi all.

I recently picked up a used Bighorn Armory barreled action to use in a .223 trainer I've wanted. My goal with this is to have a cheap to shoot centerfire trainer that I can use out to the limits of the round. I live in the Northeast so we arent' shooting 2000 yards around here. In fact, my home range maxes out at 300 and the 69 gr SMKs I reload to SAAMI length work great at that distance.

I had some minor reservations because the bartlein barrel that came with the action had a .223 Wylde chamber.

I don't really understand why a bolt gun would be chambered in .223 Wylde rather than .223 Rem but stopped worrying pretty quickly because with the action, barrel, trigger, 20 moa rail, and magazine, the price was less than a Bighorn action itself. I reload so I figured I could load long to put the bullets further into the leade.

This morning, I was thinking about loading big long bullets and then I realized that this might be by design. The longer leade of the Wylde chamber, originally intended to allow ARs to shoot .223 Rem accurately and .556 safely, just might be a great way to allow reloaders to load .223 Rem to handle longer bullets loaded into a longer than SAAMI length COAL.

Is this right? Does the Wylde provide a benefit over straight .223 rem chamber for reloaders who want to set a long 77-80 gr bullet out further and still have reasonable jump?

If this is true, I'm on to another question.

What is a good amount of jump for this kind of cartridge?

I would measure it by loading a dummy round long and let the bullet set back in the chamber. I'd measure the cartridge and then set the COAL shorter than the measured length by whatever jump I was shooting for.

Does this sound reasonable?

Thanks to all. I find that the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know. Locally, I am a knowledgeable resource for several people. But this is a topic where I'm pretty ignorant but trying to fix that. Ha. Thanks again.

Lightning8 · Jul 10, 2024

Yes - I load my bolt 223 with Wylde chamber 75 ELDMs loaded longer than AR mag length.

JR1200W3 · Jul 10, 2024

Correct. The Wylde gives you a little more free bore. And as an added bonus if you have a gas gun in .223 Wylde you are more likely to have a load that shoots well in both rifles.

powdahound76 · Jul 10, 2024

I have 3 bolt guns with the Wylde chamber

Its the easy button and you will find ringing accuracy out of it is easy.

Enjoy!!

I have 2 ARs with really good barrels and that said, there is a load that they and all 3 bolt guns shoot darn well.
24.0 Varget and 77 smk at AR length. LC brass, CCI SR primer

Rob01 · Jul 10, 2024

Yes it is by design so you can load the heavier bullets longer so they aren't shoved deep into the case and taking up powder area. I load my 75 ELD-Ms at 2.470" in my .223 Wylde chamber and that is .020" off the lands. Below is a pic of how the bullet sits in that round. The Wylde is the right chamber to get in a bolt gun if you plan to shoot heavier bullets.

dcmdon · Jul 10, 2024

You guys have made my day. I considered the Wylde chamber to be an unknown. When I spoke to the seller, I realized he knew much more than I did and there had to be a reason. But I forgot to ask him.

The barrel is a Bartlein blank, fitted and chambered by Blue Mountain Precision. Alll good stuff. When I had my original concern, I thought to myself, there must be something you don't understand.

Thanks again.

The seller indicated that the barrel had roughly 800 rounds through it.

What is the barrel life of something like this in .223? I realize it depends on how accurate you want it to be, but a range would be appreciated.

I'm guessing .223 when fired in a bolt gun (reliaveily slow firing) isn't exactly a barrel burner.

I had an acquaintance years ago who used to load sub-calibers of the Remington Ultra Mag. Some as small as 6mm RUM. When the barrel burned out after 500 rounds, he'd cut the barrel by an inch or two, rethread, and rechamber it.

Is that a practical thing to do if you are paying someone to do it? Would anyone make a best guess what it would costs to cut an inch off a barrel, thread and chamber it? Worth it? Not worth it?

Thanks.

DIBBS · Jul 10, 2024

Your barrel should be good for 6-10k accurate rounds IMHO. If it was set up by Blue Mountain precision, it should be a tack driver.

One of my 223 Ackley barrels , which burns a little more powder than the standard version, has probably 4k through it, and is still going strong. A standard 223 trainer has 2k through it and should last a good long time if I don't sell it.

If I was shooting a high intensity barrel burner over bore cartridge, unless I had the skills to rechamber myself, I would purchase a new barrel as they are a consumeable item , particularly with a 6mm RUM.

dcmdon · Jul 10, 2024

OK. Now you are making me feel like I paid an unfairly low price for this thing.

The seller was very nknoledgeable, and I know he knew he could have gotten more.

I never seem to score deals. Thanks to ScottyD

Bighorn precision action, BMP/Bartlein barrel, Huber trigger, BHP 20 moa base, and a .223 AICS mag - $950 shipped.

I may throw my MDT XRS from my rimfire Bergara on this. I'm dying to shoot it.

Left Hand Sale - FS: Price DropSOLD: Barreled action LH Bighorn TL2 chambered in .223

SOLD! Lefty Bighorn TL2 barreled action with Huber trigger. Chambered in .223 Wylde by Blue Mountain Precision. 20" threaded MTU contour Bartlein 1:7.5 twist with 700 rounds on it. Always feed great for me with the plastic AI .223 mags (One magazine included). Huber 2 stage trigger included...

www.snipershide.com

spife7980 · Jul 10, 2024

It’s a generation behind, they are on the tl3 now, but that’s a nice price and likely why it’s a bit more affordable. You did well and the seller wasn’t taking advantage, a good deal on both sides I believe.
You should enjoy that rifle for a long time.

I pull my 223 barrels at ~5k just because I figure thats enough on any barrel. Many years of service to get there.

dcmdon · Jul 10, 2024

Excellent. Thanks. I am not and will never be at the level where having the latest and greatest vs as good as it gets, but last gen, makes any kind of difference.

anon · Jul 10, 2024

I have even used 50gr V-Max bullets in both Service Rifles and bolt guns with Wylde chambers for 200 yard reduced courses with success. You actually need to remember there is wind.

In an regular across the course match, the 200 and 300 yard lines are fired with mag length ammo, the 600 yard line may be fired with heavier long loaded single load rounds.

Sounds like you made a nice find.

supercorndogs · Jul 10, 2024

You don't nessisarly need to load your light bullets long for it. My bolt action wylde shoots my 53 vmax load great at ar15 mag length.

sinister · Jul 10, 2024

A 223 Wylde throat should give you great precision with 73-77 VLDs through maybe 7500-10,000 rounds. You'll never generate heat on the throat and leades like you will with an autoloader.

If you free-bore longer with a Ned Christiansen 5.56 neck and throat reamer you can use 80s if you have a 1-7 or 1-8 twist, making it a 1,000-yard rifle. It'll be slower than a 6.5 and you'll have to keep up with winds, but it's more than capable of good groups with ridiculously low recoil.

msgriff · Jul 10, 2024

I'll repost the following just for fun. Here's the text of a reply from Mr. Wylde regarding the .223 Wilde chamber:

Posted By: Bill Wylde
Date: Thursday, 13 November 2003, at 8:46 a.m.

"In Response To: Re: .223 Wylde

The case dimensions of the Wylde reamer are that of one of the NATO prints. Not a thing tight about it. As I recall, there were two NATO prints in use. I don't recall the print number used, but do have it in old records somewhere.

Throating was about the only change. The decision was made to make the freebore diameter .2240" as a good bullet seal. That done, excess freebore made little difference to accuracy. One of the reasons the magazine length 69's shot so well in the chamber. It so happened that the 80 grain Sierra seated to the lands was about ideal at .2470" OAL. Simple luck.....All of it.

The initial reamer(designed in 1984)was mainly geared toward Canadian 5.56 ball, as I was experimenting with their issue ball for competitive purposes. This operation was slow in getting off the ground, and really didn't start happening until about 1990. The use of 5.56 NATO ball in Canada was a short lived affair. Handloads were allowed in about 1994.

Just prior to this time the AR's were gaining great strength in the U.S. The military finally got involved. The rest is history.

You might ask how the the 62 grain 5.56 ball worked for Canadian LR prone shooting to 1,000 yds? It was supersonic in barrels of 28", and longer. It also was very competitive with the 147 grain 7.62 ball in use there at the time. The wind drift differential at long range (7.62/5.56) was about 15% in favor of the 7.62.

Those days were very interesting."

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.223 Wylde Chamber in Trainer?? I don't get it. . . or do I?

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