This has been discussed here a bunch, search function sends me to google. I'm going to swap out a .221 fireball barrel to a 16" .223 savage barrel on the striker to deer hunt this season. I have some barnes 69 gr and maybe a few 75 gr fiber tipped hornady bullets.
Any need to shop for something better? 100+ yrds is most common, open shooting lanes or field shooting.
What twist ratio?Originally Posted by Appleseed
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I'm a dinosaur because I mostly shoot the Sierra #1400 53 gr MatchKing bullet. I'm going on 40 years with that bullet! Did in my .222 Rem and do in my .223 Rem. Great for targets and grim death on varmints.
But both with 1:12" twist barrels.
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." Last words of Gen. Sedgwik
In a stock 20” savage 1-9 barrel will shoot a 77gn smk just fine. Let’s not look at O “77gns” it’s Serrias shape or ogive. A 75gn bullet of a different manufacture wont always work. Or shoot well.
I deer hunt with the 62gn TSX and the 77gn smk.
Let us know more information and maybe I can suggest a bullet.
I don’t know of a .223 barrel that won’t shoot a 55gn blitzking / gameking a serria bullet.
Works on small deer also. Very accurate
The 60gn partitions and federal 62gn fusions work also. Winchester makes a 60gn soft point that works.
Speed kills so under 150yds shoot on!
This is supposed to be the best. Pretty new and I haven’t tried them.
Hornady GMX sounds promising also.
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yes i think you want some hunting bullets for the 22, not target bullets.
your s sound like typical 223 target bullets
Imho
1-12 40-55 gr, 1-9 55-62gr, 1-7 62-77gr.. just been my experiences that those twist ratios work best with those grains.. alot of things can make that not the case like size of driving band but I definitely wouldnt expect an1-12 to stabilize a 68-77gr bullet
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Stock savage barrels are 1/9 twist, more interested with how 16" barrel length might preform with knock-down power in a heavier bullet range. Yes the barnes is a hollow point target bullet, that's why there may be a better choice, and the hornady is somewhat the same.
Guess I should post comments before inserting the link, ANYWAY, it's the length of a bullet, not the weight. When a few shooters tried using the Rem. 221 Fireballs with their 1-14 twists for pistol silhouette shooting they were limited to 52/53 match bullets, FB 55 gn and the Speer 70 gn semi spire point bullets.
I will add that the 77gn SMK's, at the higher end of book loads, are stable out to long range (>600yd) with my Axis (1-9, 22" barrel). But, I would not hunt larger game with them. Hornady 75gn ELD's are also stable, but, are also target bullets. Not sure if Hornady designed them to penetrate deer size game.
^^ That.
Yeah. I got into a real pissing match in another forum with a shooter (using a .223/5.56 NATO, by coincidence) for hunting, and he was going on about the benefits of "match" ammo for hunting.
We had some differences of opinion on what constitutes match ammo as regards to the qualities of ammunition loaded with a non-expanding match style bullet vs. very carefully handloaded ammunition with bullets designed to expand in the size of the animal you are hunting and the velocity it will strike that animal at.
Anyway, he is convinced Mk262 is God's gift to hunters and my point was that Black Hills and the SOCOM & AMU could care less about shooting a deer and that ammo was designed for a whole different scenario. Push come to shove it is just a Sierra MatchKing bullet. And even Sierra states: "While they are recognized around the world for record-setting accuracy, MatchKing® and Tipped MatchKing® bullets are not recommended for most hunting applications." What the military wants at 700 meters/yards is not a cleanly killed whitetail or mule deer.
That's why I shoot a GameKing bullet, but loaded with all the care I put into reloading as when I shot bencdrest in a league.
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." Last words of Gen. Sedgwik
Nicely stated lol^^ That.
Yeah. I got into a real pissing match in another forum with a shooter (using a .223/5.56 NATO, by coincidence) for hunting, and he was going on about the benefits of "match" ammo for hunting.
We had some differences of opinion on what constitutes match ammo as regards to the qualities of ammunition loaded with a non-expanding match style bullet vs. very carefully handloaded ammunition with bullets designed to expand in the size of the animal you are hunting and the velocity it will strike that animal at.
Anyway, he is convinced Mk262 is God's gift to hunters and my point was that Black Hills and the SOCOM could care less about shooting a deer and that ammo was designed for a whole different scenario. Push come to shove it is just a Sierra MatchKing bullet. And even Sierra states: "While they are recognized around the world for record-setting accuracy, MatchKingand Tipped MatchKing
That's why I shoot a GameKing bullet, but loaded with all the care I put into reloading as when I shot bencdrest in a league.
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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
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Considering that the .223 has a greater chance of wounding me instead of killing me, then I would pick the .223 :)
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.
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.
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.
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." Last words of Gen. Sedgwik
I prefer hunting steel targets and paper lol
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Any good recipes?
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." Last words of Gen. Sedgwik
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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I 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
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I meant for the steel and paper you hunt. ;-)
I've been rocking a RCBS Jr. since Jimmy Carter was president. ;-)
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." Last words of Gen. Sedgwik
Oh lmbo, nothing really tastes good with lead and copperI meant for the steel and paper you hunt. ;-)
I've been rocking a RCBS Jr. since Jimmy Carter was president. ;-)
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