Anyone Run a 223 for Short Range FTR?

[AlexE]

Is there any advantage in shooting a 223 for short ranges (and perhaps calmer conditions out to 600)?

I was thinking that the light recoil/easier handling would be more conducive to shooting fast and small, especially when using ETs. Is this the case?

[Tim L]

I don't but I have considered it. My conclusion was that the expence of a different barrel and bolt and dies and brass, combined with my limitations of reading the wind well enough to shoot that calibre, did not support the idea.
A well tuned 308 shooting 155s can put 10 in the x ring and at short distances you could run them quite slow to knock the recoil back even more if that was a concern. With that said you can be running the 155s at 3200 fps, smashing the x ring and still pop one in the 5 ring as well. Where would a 223 land?

It's very much a personal decision and I've seen Jim Blomfield carve it up in Fstd with his bipod mounted 223 on more than one occasion. I just know I couldn't.

[DenisA]

I've put a .223 together recently for my son in FSTD. I shoot a detail with it myself now and then just to keep tabs on how its going. They feel like a toy to shoot, it barely moves with free recoil, its pretty fun. Here's the interesting part, using 80.5gn FB at 3000 fps which is 24.8gn ar2208 in this case (with along free bore) results in almost identical wind deflection as the 155.5 FB .308. I haven't looked at a ballistics program, but in the real world, If I'm shooting my .308 in a 1.5moa condition with pick ups and drop offs and then I shoot his .223, its the same holds. This applies to the shorts and mids.
At 800y onwards my .223 lacks the ability to hold great vert and it gets blown around more. My experience is that ES/SD is difficult to get below 25/9 ish on ar2206h and ar2208. I think possibly because of the kernel size V's small case volume. I'm about to try some BM8208 as its a much finer powder. Hoping for better ES/SD and then keen to see how it goes at the longs.