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MVP Varmint vs Ruger M77 Hawkeye vs CZ527 Varmint

Daryll

.270 WIN
I realise that the Mossberg forums may not be the place for an un-biased opinion... :lol:
.. but I'm looking for a new .223.
My requirements are for a bolt action rifle, at least 24'' Heavy/Varmint barrel, 1:9 or 1:8 twist, to throw 55 to 75 gn bullets upto 600 yds.

My local gunshop can get me new MVP Varmints, or new CZ 527 Varmints, or he has a used Ruger M77 Hawkeye Varmint Target. The MVP is about £700, the CZ and Ruger are both around £850
(yes, I know thats a lot more than you'd pay.... makes me sick!!)

So.. if you had the choice, which one would you go for..?

Daryll
 
Well, you will require a 1:7" or 1:8" twist if you are shooting 75s.

If all copper 75s you definitely need 1:7".

As you know, 55 up to 64-gr would be fine with 1:9" but they don't fly to 600 worth shit.

If it were me I would go with the CZ for the overall higher quality but the rifle only comes 1:9" which will never shoot MOA to 600-yards. And they have that weird scope base "issue".

I'd pick the Ruger Hawkeye Vamint next but it too is 1:9" twist. Durn it. Again not a 600 yard rifle unless you have perfect conditions and then it's not MOA.
 
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Thanks nitesite, thats strange...

Over here, the majority of match bullets are 69gn, with people going up to 75 to buck the wind... but generally the fastest twist available here is 1:9... I think Tikka does a 1:8, but thats about it.
Many of the "Varmint" rifles are 1:12 (like the older CZ varmints are) to accomodate 30/40/50gn bullets, but the "target" rifles tend to be 1:9.

I've even had people say they've shot well with 50gn and 1:12 twist out to 600....

Presumably with the "scope base issue" you mean the 16mm dovetail..? (its a European thing..) but several manufacturers make rings for that.. or you can buy a picatinny rail to fit on them...
 
When shooters get out to 600 yards what sort of accuracy can they achieve with shorter bullets and slower twists?
 
Yeah, a 1:7 twist is geared more towards heavier bullets.

1:7 became more popular back around 2004 or so. Actually, it didn't really even exist much until the Mk12 Mod0 SPR (special purpose rifle) was created back in 2000 in the midst of the Iraqi war.

I'll be entirely honest, while I have a few 1:7 twist barrels, I generally like a 1;8 better because they tend to do better all around. At least for me and how I shoot. Granted that I don't shoot long range. Most days 100 yards is farther than I shoot and 75 yards is most common.

I just like the 1:8 because it shoots the heavier and lighter bullets about as equally well. The 1:7's don't like some of the lighter varmint loads any more than the 1:9's like the heavy long bullets.

None of my 1:9 twists like anything much heavier than 68 or 69 gr. That's about where my AR's fizzle out and I don't really keep much stock on hand heavier than that either because they cost too much.
 
My local gunshop can get me new MVP Varmints, or new CZ 527 Varmints, or he has a used Ruger M77 Hawkeye Varmint Target. The MVP is about £700, the CZ and Ruger are both around £850

I have an MVP, the Thunder Ranch/18" barrel, and the Hawkeye Predator, which has a 22" heavy barrel. The MVP is very good as accuracy goes with bullets out to 68gr. The extra weight on the Hawkeye, naturally, gives the Hawkeye the edge for accuracy at any range. That may not be the case with the longer barrel MVP. I also had a CZ 527 for a while, it was not the varmint version, but accuracy with that rifle with lighter bullets in the 1:12 twist was exceptional.

I.e. you can't make a bad choice with any of them.
I suspect the MVP would cost a bit less than the other two. My MVP shoots a lot better than the purchase price suggests, it cost less than half of what I paid for the Predator.
600yds is a stretch for the 5.56 with any bullet if there's even a slight breeze.

Not exactly an answer
 
Thanks Terry... I ended up with the MVP, mainly due to cost.

Its only been down the range once so far, with some 55gn plinking ammo, and that was just to get some rounds down it to break it in... I did the fire 1, clean, fire 1, clean, routine, ending up shooting a couple of 5 round groups.
At the end It only took 3 patches to go from fouled to clean...!!
(Unlike when I first bought it... as usual cleaned it as soon as I got it home, and it took me 2 evenings to get it properly clean!!

Over the holiday break I've loaded up a few batches of 69gn ammo using Ramshot TAC, and I made some 75gn batches today... I'll get down the range next weekend and see how they shoot.
 
hmm going from memory 600yds is pretty much the max effective range for 5.56 and .223. Not to say you can't reach past it.. but things tend to go wonky once you do.
With that said, I've never used a .223 or 5.56 rifle to reach out that far. When I have done anything past 500yds it was always .308 or some other .30 cal round.

As for the MVP rifle.. they do not like 5.56 at 100yds let alone 600yds. My experience with 75gr Match ammo and the group was pretty open, nowhere near acceptable for your purposes.
My testing pointed Winchester 45gr .223 giving the best overall group @ 100yds for a factory load.

If you plan on loading your own, I'd love to see what results you can come back with either way.
 
Thanks Stampeed... yes, I'm not planning at going past 600yds... my club range is only 50 yds, but a few times a years we get to use a (fairly) local military range which has up to 600yds available. We normally start at 100, then 300, then 600.

When I bought the rifle I did buy a box of Hornady 75gn rounds to use as a benchmark to compare with my homeloads. (Factory ammo is a lot more expensive here in the UK, which is why most UK shooters reload..)
I'm guessing the 69gn loads will be better than the 75gn ones, but as we all know, each gun is individual, and while your MVP didn't care for 75gns, mine might love them... or not...

Daryll
 
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