Tikka T3 223 barrel heat?

[patriot07]

I have a CTR in 6.5CM, which I've had for maybe 5-6 years now and absolutely love it. I get 9-10 shots before barrel heats up. I'm 1000+ rounds into the barrel and it's still crazy accurate.

I am looking at a 223 T3 lite as a starter gun for my son and something I can shoot at prairie dogs where we hunt out in west Texas every year. It's not fast and furious - we normally see a few dozen over the course of a day. But I had a T3 lite in 308 years ago and it was 3 shots before barrel heat would start throwing rounds outside of my .75"-1" group. Is the 223 likely to hold up to a few more rounds before it gets to that point? Maybe 5-6 at least? Or are my expectations too high?

 

[mark5pt56]

I doubt it will be any different with the .223. If you can do a couple things-shade and keeping the bolt open to allow air flow until you have a shot.
3-go with the Varmint model

 

[K9TXS]

On my .223 & 6 BR, I use a small towel over the barrel and keep the towel wet with a spray bottle. After putting the towel on, I wet it down. I've been doing this for several years and could not ask it to work out any better. If you look at the muzzle end, you can see the towel is slightly frayed. The towel had slipped over the muzzle slightly and caused the fraying. I just fold it back over. I've also started attaching a stainless clip to the bottom of the towel. This adds a little weight to the bottom of the towel and keeps it in place when the wind picks up.

The photo below is my 6BR at the range.

 

[beetroot]

I have a 223 T3 lite I use in some short/medium range matches and 10 round strings are fine.
My first PRS/Field/Comp rifle was a 260 T3 lite and even that was fine with 10+ round strings.