Hunting & Fishing .223 For Deer Hunting

[Ndbowhunter]

5 more mule deer for me this season With the 223.

Got 3 more tags to fill this weekend. Not sure what will happen. Life might cut my season short.

1 with 77gr tmk

4 with the 75gr eld-m

For my money the 77gr tmk is better up close... it definitely penetrates more..

But the 75’s shorter bearing surface and superior BC make it a better longer distance bullet.

 

[223hp]

Sweet!!!!!! are whitetail season opens up Nov 21 will b using my mini 14 ranch 223 55gr hp's

 

[Ndbowhunter]

I’d be a bit cautious with Hp that light on any shot that’s more then perfect broadside into the lungs.

 

[HousePlant]

I'll be using a 300 Weatherby Magnum...

 

[Ndbowhunter]

Way undergunned.

375 h&h

More oomph in case ya hit just a bit back.

Lol

 

[thejeep]

lungs at 30yards by my 9yo
.223 62 or 64gr rem htp copper hp

 

[223hp]

I’d be a bit cautious with Hp that light on any shot that’s more then perfect broadside into the lungs.

what about a 55gr soft point ?

 

[Ndbowhunter]

plenty of freezers full in New Zealand and bush Alaska from a mini 14 and 55gr sp in the owner’s hands.Heaps.

 

[223hp]

ok thanks

 

[223hp]

View attachment 7475095
lungs at 30yards by my 9yo
.223 62 or 64gr rem htp copper hp

good job!!!!!!! did it drop if not about how far before it fell

 

[thejeep]

It ran about 50’

 

[EZ-Bee]

Took this one Saturday (opening day here for MG).
55gr Barnes TSX. Lungs were soup, got the heart. In the left ribcage, exited right and ruined a lot of meat on the front right leg (he was stepping out from behind a downed tree). Ran hard 10 or 15 steps and laid down.

 

[223hp]

nice heard alot Barnes ammo all good is the TSX hp or sp

 

[EZ-Bee]

HP. I don't think there's any such thing as a tsx SP. They're solid copper. Unless you're talking about the ones with the rubber insert.
My hunting partner has used Hornady green tip for years. Same story-chest cavity is always wrecked. He likes to eat the heart, but often theres no heart left to take home.

 

[gunjunkie45]

nice heard alot Barnes ammo all good is the TSX hp or sp

TSX is solid copper. I've had great experience with them on whitetail.

 

[223hp]

are opening day is Nov 21st i have both hollow points and soft points deciding which ones to use i have heard that the hollow point wont pernitrate all the way through like the soft point but after talking to you guys i think that there wrong

 

[EZ-Bee]

Depends on the hollowpoint.
What are you planning to use?

 

[223hp]

don't laugh but i have wolf 55gr hp's in my area 223 are off the selves once there in there gone

 

[gunjunkie45]

*They're. 5.56/223 is really a round where the bullet fucking matters. A 55 grn hollow point aint great.

 

[gunjunkie45]

Maybe you should have figured this shit out sooner than 3 days from season Fudd.

 

[hlee]

My son's first deer was a South Texas white tail 10 point (5x5) that he shot with a 16" AR15, shooting Barnes 62 grain TSX bullets- handholds. Shot at 100 yards, the bullet entered in front of the near shoulder and exited behind the far shoulder. The deer ran about 20 yards and keeled over. I've got enough of those for a lifetime of deer hunting.

 

[Cookie1125]

This is a small deer by Kansas standards but it made one hop and about two stiff legged side steps and fell over. A couple years before I shot a 145lb doe that did the exact same thing. Both were with the Hornady 75gr BTHP superformance match ammo. On both deer the chest cavity was mush. The deer in the picture i hit just infront of the diaphram angled towards the opposite leg and there were bullet fragments in that off side leg.

 

[AZshooterz]

I actually killed my first deer with a .223.

 

[John_in_WYO]

I have successfully hunted whitetail with .223 for the past 5 years. All the deer I have taken have been with a 70gr Barnes tsx bullet out of an 11.5” BCM AR Pistol. I have no reason to doubt the round I’m using, however thought I would shoot a few different weighted bullets to see what kind of expansion I’m getting. The results are as followed..

From left to right: 70gr Barnes tsx out of a 20” Noveske, 70gr tsx out of a 11.5” BCM, 62gr ttsx 20”, 62gr ttsx 11.5”, 55gr federal law enforcement soft point 20”, 55gr 11.5”






All bullets were shot through a 1 gallon jug into wet newspaper, at 40 yards.

Barnes 70gr tsx with 24gr Varget
Barnes 62gr ttsx with 25.1gr Varget

Overall I’m not disappointed with the expansion from the little 11.5” BCM. I also think I can load those 62gr a little hotter for more expansion.

Hope you all found this interesting!

Very interesting for sure.


Waaaaay late to the party but the first question to the OP was what does your state require as minimum bullet weight, and go from there....

A few years ago Wyoming finally authorized 60 grain .224 as legal for deer, antelope, wolf and lion.

 

[EZ-Bee]

don't laugh but i have wolf 55gr hp's in my area 223 are off the selves once there in there gone

I wouldn't use that. Those rounds aren't designed for game. If they perform as intended, they stand a high chance of not penetrating to the animal's vitals. If they don't (and wolf has a tendancy to do just that), you basically shot a deer with an FMJ.
Find some quality hunting ammo and verify POA or don't use the 223. You owe it to the deer to do your part.

 

[Brownguy005]

I’ve used the mk 262 mod 1 round on deer with great success. Furthest mule buck taken was 370 yards. I’ve killed around 14 deer with this round and it’s performed very well. The gun used is always an FNH DMR .

 

[223hp]

I wouldn't use that. Those rounds aren't designed for game. If they perform as intended, they stand a high chance of not penetrating to the animal's vitals. If they don't (and wolf has a tendancy to do just that), you basically shot a deer with an FMJ.
Find some quality hunting ammo and verify POA or don't use the 223. You owe it to the deer to do your part.

thanks for the info i bought a box of 62gr soft points

 

[223hp]

I just watch a video on the ballistics for wolf 55gr HP and wolf 55gr SP shot out of a AR 15 at 50 yards the 55gr hollow point entered the jell at 3,064 ft. per second at 1,146 t ft. lbs. went in 10inches and made a 6x2 inch wound cavity The wolf SP came out at 2,864ft. per second and had 1,250 ft. lbs. went in the jell 13 inches with a 7x2.5 inch wound cavity !!!!!!!!!!!! and the guy doing the test for VH GUN CHANNEL says that people who think wolf ammo is bad are full of shit................................................

 

[HousePlant]

Won’t most non-target ammo do that at 50 yards? And accuracy and consistency aren’t a common feature of a lot of Wolf stuff. From my experience anyway. Which ain’t the book.

 

[EZ-Bee]

I found 55gr TSX and 62gr Scirocco in 2 minutes online. In stock and admittedly overpriced. Both far better options than wolf anything.

 

[smacha538]

62 grain Federal Fusion. I’ve shot several deer with this load, and all were stone dead. I think one may have taken about 5 wobbly steps and collapsed. All others just dropped. All were behind the shoulder vital shots. Bullet would pass through the vitals, and could be recovered on the off side hide. Here is a pic of the bullet, and the deer it came out of.

 

[thejeep]

55gr game king just before the shoulder 1 lung and heart. No blood.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

First ever whitetail hunt. Got a late morning start

Got this little guy at 275 Friday night with the 75gr eld-m

Then found a pocket of public and glassed up this guy at a mile in the spotter. made a wide open stalk and dropped this guy at 500 again with the 75gr eld-m. Didn’t get 4 steps in before it was hooves up. Chuffed with the trip.

No threat of going back to larger cartridges unless forced to by law.

 

[S3th]

Shot my first deer/buck with a 64gr Winchester Deer Season XP (out of a 16" AR15) at roughly 35 yards last year. Turned the heart and lungs into mush. Ran 25 yards.

He was slightly quartering away from me; aimed here (as shown in photo). Let me know your thoughts on that spot.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

Front shoulder is my favorite.. aim a bit back further and you’ll save the meat and still get bang flops.