Picked up a new build from Jon Beanland a few weeks back, and think that I found a good look for fire forming.

Build specs are melonited Defiance Deviant, Defiance bottom metal, Accurate mags with milled front plate,Manners EH1 in elite swamp, huber 2 stage trigger at 2#, Rock Creek 7twist #4 taper at 22", throated for 80.5gn Bergers.

Jon told me to load a few dummy rounds at 2.48" for cycle testing. Runs like butter. Jammed some IMR8208XBR into Lake City brass, primed with cci-450's, seated them at 2.48"coal and went to the range. 23.8gn shot pretty well, but when I shot the 24.0gn group, the clouds parted and all became right with the world. 5x shots at 100yds with a Bushy LRHS on 12x went into 0.245"ctc. Think I will run this until I get my brass formed and then see what happens. Next step is to hang the magneto speed on and see how fast those pills are moving.

The more I shoot this 223AI, the more I like it. Between this and the 22creedmoor, I can shoot about whatever I need to here in Oklahoma. My 9 twist 20" 223ai might just get stuck in the safe and not see daylight for a while...

Will get pics posted soon.

Sounds like a fun little rig!

I been thinking about a .223 1:8 or 1:7 for a while now. I'd like it to end up heavy, like my competition rifle. Practice with it on the positional stuff and also use it as a second rifle for the prairie dogs.

Congrats! It's nice when a plan comes together.

It's a blast to shoot (no pun intended), and silly accurate, even with fire forming loads.
This is 5x shots at 100yds with fire forming loads on the 80.5gn Bergers. Small squares are 1/4" for reference.

As pictured with a butler creek sling, TacOps stock pack with 5 loaded rounds and a loaded 5rd Accurate mag and without the harris bipod, this rig weighs in at a svelte 11#6oz. Not too bad at all.

close up in front of Jon's shop when I picked it up.

Looks good. Don't see too many people posting from my hometown of Yukon.

I'm a BIG fan of the .223AI..got three of them. Not shooting anything heavier than a 62 Barnes, but Ive shot a bunch of big game..up to Scimitar Oryx with them, and gonna shoot some more next week!

That's impressive! Oryx are tough little buggers.

That's a dandy looking rifle you have there. At 11lbs its quite a bit lighter than mine.

Had Mark Gordan at SAC build me a 223AI several years ago. It's a great shooter but a bit on the heavy side with MTU contour barrel and AICS chassis. It too shoots well with fire form loads. I like that it's pretty easy on powder. I went cheap and had it throated for a 80gr Amax.

I like to introduce shooting to youth with it as the recoil is nill but performance is great.

Mark actually did the melonite work on my action. Great people to work with and oustanding quality in his builds.

The 223AI throwing heavy for caliber pills is like the little engine that could and as you say, recoil is nearly non-existent. Perfect for the next step up from a 22lr for new shooters to cut their teeth on.

Jason, would wind be a factor or would you be able to use heavier bullets to compensate for the wind, where I used to p.d. hunt, western Ks. & Ok. wind was always a factor, shot a 22-250 1-9 twist 70gr berger.

1:7 twist would allow for use of 90gr Sierra or Berger bullets albeit slower but .160 or higher BC from the 70gr Berger improves wind performance some. In my 22-243 with a 1:8 twist I have to run them at 3100+ for good stability but they do well at that but I do loose enough BC

1:8 would get you stable with the 80 to 82gr bullets which are .08 or so higher BC than the 70gr bullets in BC.

By the way the 90gr Berger has a higher BC than the 105gr 6mm target bullet so many seem to like in that diameter.

Wind is ALWAYS a factor. But getting a .224" cartridge to stabilize a 75+ gr bullet means a huge increase in BC. Increase in BC meant increase in weight, decrease in velocity, but it's not "slow". The increase in BC is what helps in the wind, because .223, .223 AI. .22-250, 22 Creedmoor are going to make the speed.

My first .22-250 barrel was a 1:14. My load for 55 gr SGK made 3780 fps MV. Shot that barrel out.

Next barrel 1:8. My load for 75 gr A-Max makes 3200 fps MV. 580 fps slower, out of the barrel, but waaaaaay better in the wind.

Barrels are a consumable commodity any way, but it's sure nice to cheat the wind with high BC's. That 75 Amax at 3200fps is a no-joke killing machine. I have a 22 creedmoor that also shoots the 80.5gn Bergers like the Ackley and its in the neighborhood of 3400fps,it just wrecks critters. I expect around 900-1400rds on the barrels and I am fine with that. Its a critter gitter, not a match gun, so I am willing to trade barrel life for performance.

It really is!

Bucks the wind very well for a .224" bullet.

Those 75gn amax have proven to be quite messy on coyotes out of my friend's 22x47L.

Took the 223ai out shooting rocks last week to fire form brass. Talk about fun. Recoil is hardly more than a 22lr.

Magneto Speed says that my fire forming load is averaging 2740 fps.