I've been reading lots of literature lately about hunting whitetailed deer with the 223 Rem cartridge and I am wondering if any of you folks here have any experience using this cartridge for deer hunting?
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I've been reading lots of literature lately about hunting whitetailed deer with the 223 Rem cartridge and I am wondering if any of you folks here have any experience using this cartridge for deer hunting?
Welcome to the Guide. This question often comes up in the fall.
Nosler makes a 60gr PAR bullet for it, and there are several other premium bullets specifically designed, but it is no cartridge for a novice hunter to be thinking about using. (Neither do I recommend the .22-250 for the same reasons.) Bullet selection is critical and 99% of available .224 bullets are designed either for target or varmint shooting and can never be relied upon to kill a large animal cleanly. With the right bullet, one must still pick his(her) shots very carefully, and that takes a degree of patience and maturity that usually only comes from many years of experience in the field. I hear the question often in my Hunter Ed classes, and I cannot and do not recommend it to anyone when there are so many proven rounds that are specifically designed for large game and proven by many years of use.
A lot of people do use it for deer, clueless about bullet selection, often with the result of a wounded animal that dies a lingering death from infection. A lot of hunters also use it successfully, but that does not make it the wisest choice.
After years of listening to the horror stories told be our Game Wardens, to me, the issue is not one of possibility, but rather one of ethics and responsibility. I want to use a cartridge and bullet that I feel will reliably insure a quick clean kill. We owe that to the animals we hunt. If I choose to hunt with a marginal combination (like a .357mag or a .22 centerfire), then I know that I have to work within the limits of my choice, and that means short ranges and broadside shots that can be precisely placed - no quartering or end-on shots that would be no problem with a larger and heavier bullet.
Just as I thought... Thank you for your reply Sir!
We have found the .223 works well within its limitations.
The 64gr Win Power Point bullet is just as effective as the pricey Nosler partition.
As Clint Eastwood said "A man has to know his limitations."
I understand the limitations Mule. I do have some of the 60gr. Nosler Partitions on order and they should be here on Tuesday.
The 64gr. Winchester PP was actually a bullet I was recommended by a friend, but my Ruger Model 77 MK II is an older model with the 1 in 12 twist and I didn't think it would stabilize the longer heavier Winchester bullets with that twist rate.
Thanks for the information though cause I really appreciate it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by clubkey
You can't go wrong with the Nosler.
If you get the opportunity, give the Winchester a try.
Happy Hunting!
Thank you Mule and if I can find some of those Win PP I will be sure to give them a try.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln1qLy3xSf0
I would use somthing bigger, but it will work. What kind of 223 do you have?
Hey Bullshop,Quote:
Originally Posted by Bullshop Junior
I have a Ruger Model 77 Mk II.
You live in Alaska?
I've read many stories from the 40's and 50's of Eskimo life in Alaska and the native people using 22 Hornets and 222 Rem as their primary game getter's. The reason they did so, I have read is because of the high cost of shipping anything into your state at that time. I actually was in Anchorage in 1969 as a refueling lay over on our way to Vietnam and I know the price of a meal at that time was about double what we would have paid here back then.
They used alot of things! :lol: About two years ago some natives killed a poler bear with a AR-15 around FT Yukon. they used and still use alot of 30/30s also.
Do you know what twist your 223 has?
I sure do.Quote:
Originally Posted by clubkey
When I was a kid in Maine, I went on my first deer hunt carrying an old lever action 22 MAG, the smallest legal caliber in Maine at the time. Looking back I'm glad that all I was was rabbits. Even in the close brush we were in, where the deer would have been no more than about 25 yards away, the 22 mag wasn't enough gun.
Any legal gun CAN be used on whitetails, but as was said before just because you can doesn't mean you should.
A few years a go a friend of mine bagged a big mule deer (scored 6th in the state that year) When he got to skinning it, he found 7 or 8 .224 diameter bullets, and three .270 caliber bullets lodged under the skin. They were all several years old, and the scarring showed they had hit in the "Kill zone" but had in fact deflected off ribs.
Most anyone will say that a 270 is more than adequate for mule deer, and they would be right. It all depends on placement, range and a little bit of luck.
Stack the odds in your favor.
Well any gun will do that. We found a 50 BMG armor piercing and a 30 cal jacketed in a buffalo we got.
Holy Mackerel that's like 11 - 12 bullets inside that deer and it didn't die from infections or lead poisoning and even lived for several years after until your friend finally was lucky enough to bag him and then find the bullets just under the skin.Quote:
Originally Posted by rtracy2001
One of us is pretty gullible, you figure out which, but just because you can doesn't mean you should.
I can only relate what was told to me. I have no reason to doubt my source as the mount, certificate and photos of the beast all seem to corroborate the story. I have friends that are walking around with lead in them from various sources (mostly their own stupidity) and it seem to me that lead poisoning is more of a problem if you ingest, or inhale it. (I'm no expert by any means) As I recall, that was one of the driving forces when we had to switch to steel shot. It wasn't the wounded animals that were dying of lead poisoning, it was the one who picked up the shot while feeding. Or supposedly so anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by clubkey
Every animal that I have ever shot has died of lead poisoning.........Fast!
Well, that type of lead poisoning is the way it really should be.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bullshop Junior
Checked with my friend today, and under pressure he cracked.
Looks like there were only two 22 call bullets, and one 270 slug in the beast.
Looks like one of these deals. . .
Hunter says "It was a 300 yard running shot"
Hunter means "I don't know how those powder burns got on the hide.[smilie=1:"
Mr. Tracy,
Being an Internet ballistics expert is a large responsibility, as you are finding out and saving face can become even more difficult. It's your story so tell it however you want, but you lost all credibility with me on your first reply in this thread.
I have used my savage 223/20 guage for our small white tail for years. A 55 gr Sierra hp is very effective.
PS; The weapon started life as a 222/20 guage.
Hey Koperll,
Thank you for your reply and relating your own personal experience with the 223.
Would you care to tell us the story of how your Savage 223/20ga came to be rechambered from a 222/20ga? I think that would make for some interesting reading. One more question, did you ever take any deer with it in it's original 222 chambering?
Have a great weekend sir!
V said it all. For an experienced hunter, and preferably reloader, the 223 will do the job well.
I shot a buck in the head at about ten yards with a 223 using fmj ammo and a doe at about seventy yards through the boiler room with Sierra 52 grain hp bullets. The buck dropped instantly and the doe ran about forty yards before dropping.