223 for Deer

[oeschampion]

I only shot a deer with a 223 one time. It was a 1/4 angle front shot at about 75 yards. HUGE DOE. Ran about 30 yards and went belly up...


I suppose it's much like archery hunting. As long as the shot placement is correct then you'll do just fine...

 

[Ridge Runner]

I'm shooting it out of the 700 SPS Tac which has a twist of 1:9. If I understand correctly, that's a slower twist than a 1:8. I've been looking at the TTSX but anything over 55gr recommends a 1:8 or faster. I guess I would need to stick with the 55gr TTSX, correct?

no, the 9 will work with bullets to 64 gr or more heck I shoot 64's in a 10 twist, 12's do best with 55 gr, 10's with 64's, 9's will stabilize 68's-75's, 8's to 90, and 7's to 100 depending on velocity.
RR

 

[SpencerSS]

I can't help but notice that the people in favor have mostly cited personal experience, and the people against have cited only theory. Just an observation.

P.S. "energy", AKA "Kinetic Energy", is a horrible way to measure killing power.

 

[SpencerSS]

If you want to maximize killing power, and minimize recoil/precution/noise, try slow and big/heavy. Some of my favorite deer cart. for kids are 300Whisper w/ 125NBT or 110TTSX; 44Mag w/ any projectile; even my 357mag rifle w/ the 125XPBs. They produce little recoil, aren't very loud, have little precusive force, and will knock a deer on it's ***.

 

[D E Anderson]

If they are so great on deer, why is Texas one of just a very few states that allow anything less than a .243?

I've seen this argument used many times, so I decided to find out if it was true. I looked up the hunting regulations for each of the 50 states, one by one. The info is available online. Here's what I found.

It is legal to hunt deer with a .223 Rem in these states:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, N. Carolina, N. Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, S. Carolina, S. Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, W. Virginia, Wisconsin.

It is not legal to hunt deer with a .223 Rem in these states:

Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming.

That's 36 legal, 14 illegal. Moreover, of the 14 states where it is illegal, exactly half of them (7) don't allow the use of any modern rifles. Those states are:

Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island.

So, there are only 7 states that allow the use of modern "deer rifles", but don't allow the .223 Remington for deer, while 36 states allow the .223. This is exactly the opposite of what most people believe.

If you think that I have gotten one or more of the state regs wrong, please feel free to look them up yourself and correct me. In a few cases, the rules were a bit vague, but most of them were quite clear. I did this research about four months ago, so it should be current as of this year.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Use your popguns or whatever else you feel like!

 

[scenarshooter]

I will......

 

[Topgun 30-06]

That's an absolutely gorgeous buck and nobody else has to post their animals as I'm not arguing it won't kill deer. There are just better options, especially in big country where you shot that deer.

 

[Ridge Runner]

not the best choice but the 223 is adequate, I've taken a bunch with the 223, mostly with 64 gr win powerpoints or 60 gr partitions, but a bunch with plain old vanilla 55 gr softpoints.
RR

 

[Dom]

Good points from both sides, however I am generally on the 243 minimum side for deer. It is one thing to hunt all season in your backyard and pick your shots, in the hands of a someone who has patience and experience this is deadly with cf 22s and good bullets.

Or should we ask the question, how many of those who are so in favor of the 22s would take a cf 22 on a 5 day out of state or out of country hunt for say a Muley, where expenses would be 2 or 3k? And take a Hornet? Is it just to say they can do it?

No need to answer, I think it would be a very short list. Na, I'd rather use enough gun no matter the angle. I also think 5 or 10 year olds should start out with a BB gun and birds, then 22 for small game, before stepping up to deer. First learn how to hunt and not just how to sit in a blind and pull a trigger . JMHO, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

 

[MHO]

There are some states you can hunt deer with a 223.

 

[ninnamyuk]

Dom, I could come up with a very extensive list of hunters names in my region who use 223 for caribou many of whom travel hundreds of miles by snowmachine and always come home with sledloads of meat. They do not do it as a stunt, they do it as an efficient means of harvesting meat. To many people in this region using large caliber rifles for caribou is seen as ridiculously and obscenely wasteful of both meat and money. 223 ammo can be obtained very cheaply, ruins less meat and is easy for most people to shoot well.

 

[SpencerSS]

Or should we ask the question, how many of those who are so in favor of the 22s would take a cf 22 on a 5 day out of state or out of country hunt for say a Muley, where expenses would be 2 or 3k? And take a Hornet? Is it just to say they can do it?

.

Can't answer definatively, situation dictates my choices, but I can say I've seen the Hornet and K-Hornet do some work in Africa. It's suprising what that 45TSX will do to a Kudu, and it's a certified Impala Killer.

 

[Narceleb]

I know someone that uses a .204 Ruger.