# a bolt action .223 and an AR15



## rdsii64 (Oct 19, 2003)

Here is an interesting question for you. I really just looking for opinions.
What do you think about the recoil of a bolt action .223 compared to 
a military semiauto.(think AR15 or M16).

and since I am on the subject who would like to see an AR15 in 22-250


----------



## Austin Bachmeier (Feb 27, 2002)

I love my Colt AR, no recoil at all. 1/2" Groups at 100 yards. Nailin' baloons at 200 with open sights is the coolest thing ever...


----------



## akuwdiver (Mar 28, 2004)

The recoil should be about the same. No brass god to suck up the brass with the bolt gun. I hope that you reload.


----------



## tasplin (Jun 22, 2004)

As with most questions like this there are a ton of variables. Just this past weekend I did a little target shooting with my Savage 110 Tactical .223 and a friend's Oly Arms AR-15 .223. The Oly Arms .223 ker-chunked way more than I thought it would. I shot an M-16 plenty in the Army and it had almost no recoil. My Savage has a bull barrel and almost no recoil by comparison to the Oly Arms weapon. Now if you were to pick up a different bolt action with a lighter barrel and a Colt AR, the results might be completely different.


----------



## Aussie shooter (Dec 6, 2003)

Correct me if I'm wrong here, maybe I am

I heard that in AR rifles some of the gases that should go into recoil is used to cycle the next round into the chamber, thus reducing some recoil. Living in Australia I've never fired a semi-automatic rifle so it's only from what I've read. I own a bolt action .223. Am I way off there? Cheers


----------



## tasplin (Jun 22, 2004)

> I heard that in AR rifles some of the gases that should go into recoil is used to cycle the next round into the chamber, thus reducing some recoil.


You are correct. In theory this should reduce recoil and in high-quality AR-style rifles it does. As I mentioned, I shot the M-16 quite a bit in the Army and it was virtually recoil-less. However, the particular Olympic Arms that I shot seemed to move around more from the parts moving inside the weapon to chamber the next round that it did from actual recoil.

Moreover, when compared to a .223 with a bull barrel, a weapon with a lighter barrel will tend to move around more - all things being equal.


----------



## sdeprie (May 1, 2004)

tasplin, I agree with you mostly, but if a gun doesn't fit well, anything can produce an abnormal amount of felt recoil. I have 2 308's and don't think of them as having any particularly heavy recoil, but when I fired an M-14 (also in 308), I got slammed in the cheek every time. Didn't fire it enough to really learn how to shoot it, but it was still uncomfortable. (Hey, I was a Navy Corpsman, we're not supposed to know how to shoot.)


----------

