I've got the savage 12bvss also, but mine's a 22-250. It's a really sweet gun, you will not be disappointed. I like the 22-250 because I have it handloaded by a friend for really cheap. He reloads about 80 rounds for 20$. They are extremely accurate. The 22-250 is much faster than the .223, and very flat. you can get 4000 f/s out of it depending on how heavy your bullets are. I'm a little biased toward the 22-250 cartridge, but I'm sure the .223 can perform just fine once you get good with your gun.