.223 Bullet

[Appleseed]

The smaller 60+ grain and fast powder should work, always a neck/head shot close range, (never over 100yrds open ground), maybe just carry the 20ga and single ought. If it weren't for loading wildcat ammo, there would be a 6mm/45 on the striker now. Tried the blkout, it was a lot of work to load. A 150lb deer is big for this area until you get up towards VA mtns.

[coyote wacker]

The Federal Fusion 62 gr. is a great bullet it will exit on all behind the shoulder shots....put it high close to the spine they will drop in there tracks....put it on the synovial joint a bigger caliber would be better....

[DDinMN]

.223 Rem was designed to allow a soldier to carry a $hitload of ammo because no one could shoot worth a $hit that was coming into the service at that time.

Oop. Sorry. Was that out loud?


Correct you are sir !!
Cheers!

DD

[hamiltonkiler]

Well.. one time long ago I had this conversation with a buddy. I asked him to go stand anywhere from 500yds to 800yds. I would shoot at him with my .223 and at the time my .270. Then report to me which one hurt more [emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji16]


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[charlie b]

Considering that the .223 has a greater chance of wounding me instead of killing me, then I would pick the .223 :)

[Appleseed]

I had a very good friend that loved to shoot and deer/turkey hunt, he's dead 5 years now. He wasn't an aficionado or reloader. Off the bench, he held his index finger on the barrel top lightly of an old savage 243..and he shot that ragged rifle as good as my 12fv. He said he'd learned that savage rifles liked Federal Powershok ammo. I see there is a SP 64gr in Powershok I'll try.

[DDinMN]

One of the guys at the range is a cull hunter for the state. He uses 62gr WIN PP's out of a very nice Rem 700SA with a 20" tube and a can.
Said for the most part the die mid step base of neck/spine shots is what they prefer it sounds.
It would not be my Whitetail round of choice.
Now a .223 + .020 that has been my favorite deer caliber for a long time.

[Stumpkiller]

This is about the point where in years past the discussion splits to the "Inuit kill 2,200 lb walruses with .22 Magnums" vs. the "You have to have 2,000 ft pounds and an expanding bullet to kill even 60 lb Sika deer" factions.

We all hunt in different regions, different cover, different terrain, different size prey. When I hunted on state land in NY State if the deer ran 100 yards it would have been fired on by two other hunters; so 12 gauge slugs or two or three were the norm. Happily where I hunt now in seven days out I have seen one other hunter (I doubt he saw me).


I'm working on my 48th deer (5 yards to 160 yards in thick cover to woodlots), have seen another 150 +/- killed and poked over another 200 carcasses at butchers or neighbor barns/garages and I have a few observations. And these are just my personal thoughts:

1. Neck shots are iffy on whitetail because they move their heads and necks suddenly, swiftly and frequently
2. If you perforate both lungs they will suffocate or bleed out as long as the holes remain open (no fat, clots, tissue plugs) so bigger holes are better statistically
3. A well placed "weak" projectile is much better than a poorly placed "strong" projectile
4. A deer "zinged" in the spine that does not actually damage nerves can get up and run off minutes after it collapses
5. Too much in the right place is always enough

Yes, a .223/5.56mm will do the job. Especially a well designed long and "heavy" bullet. But there may be the twig, twitch, jerk, wrong distance estimation, wind or wobble that puts not quite where you were aiming. That's when some excess is helpful.

I had a neighbor (lived to age 104) who hunted from his back hill, then backyard, eventually back porch, with a .25-20 Marlin. Usually took his deer during deer season . . . sometimes not quite. But they never went far and were always headshot. He just waited for the right shot . . . and didn't have a fence around his kitchen garden and waited for them to chomp on a turnip or parsnip. Can't argue with success.

[PhilC]

I enjoy reading these discussions on 22 caliber for deer although some places, like my home state for instance, mandate minimum 24 caliber centerfire rifle (except for cougar).

The idiocy here, however, is one can legally hunt big game using


handguns with a minimum barrel length of 4 inches per manufacturers specification, and fire a minimum .24 caliber centerfire cartridge.
Can you imagine deer hunting with a 4" barreled 25ACP or 9mm? Perfectly legal here but you better not use a 22 centerfire rifle!!

[Ted_Feasel]

I prefer hunting steel targets and paper lol

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[Stumpkiller]

Any good recipes?

[Ted_Feasel]

Any good recipes?I've had good luck with 25 gr of accurate 2520 with hornady 62gr ss109, and 23.5 gr imr 8208 xbr same 62gr ss109

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[Ted_Feasel]

I've had good luck with 25 gr of accurate 2520 with hornady 62gr ss109, and 23.5 gr imr 8208 xbr same 62gr ss109

Sent from my SM-N975U using TapatalkI use exclusively LE Wilson chamber seating dies on all my rifle loads bolt or ar.. in my opinion, there is no more accurate seater die than it... just my opinion I reckon https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191204/e006d8b960b7066522f722b9fbe7c9c6.jpg

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[Stumpkiller]

I've had good luck with 25 gr of accurate 2520 with hornady 62gr ss109, and 23.5 gr imr 8208 xbr same 62gr ss109



I meant for the steel and paper you hunt. ;-)

I've been rocking a RCBS Jr. since Jimmy Carter was president. ;-)

6547

[Ted_Feasel]

I meant for the steel and paper you hunt. ;-)

I've been rocking a RCBS Jr. since Jimmy Carter was president. ;-)

6547Oh lmbo, nothing really tastes good with lead and copper [emoji38]

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[Appleseed]

I replaced the striker .243 barrel with the .223, the blast and recoil from the first was too much for me unless on the bench. Of course the bolt head was changed. I think the 6mm/45 would be just right, but, no factory ammo, even though I reload. Another neighbor nearby hunts a 30/30 TC.

[DDinMN]

Oh lmbo, nothing really tastes good with lead and copper [emoji38]

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No flies on a 6mmx45 they work well, make a 40 degree shoulder they work better.