bkay

I know nothing about a 223. I don't think it's real common, though.

My personal experience has been great with the 400 and 500 series machines. I would look for a 401, a 403, a 501 or 503. They are pretty common, the cams are easy to find, they are easy to work on, the parts are easy to find and the feet and accessories are common as well. They are all slant shank machines. There are usually one or two on craigslist most days here in DFW.

A downside to the 500 series (called the Rocketeer) is that the nose plate is often missing or broken, as is the flip up lid. They are not replaceable. So, if appearance is important, don't buy it. If it's not important, you can get them real cheap.

The 403 and 503 do not have built in cams, so you have to insert a cam to get it to zigzag. They are usually easy to get going, though. The 401 and 501 have the built in cam stack and often take a lot of cleaning and oiling to get them working properly. There are tutorials on this site should you run into that problem.

A word of caution - always sew on the machine before you make an offer. The first vintage machine I purchased was a touch and sew. It was all set up with a piece of fabric with stitching on it was under the presser foot. When I got it home, it didn't work. The fix was simple. It could not have worked at all and I wouldn't have know it, though.

bkay