Is a 223 a 400 yd plus deer gun

I have seen my best friend pop a deer with his AR at 100yds and it went right down. He is however a practiced deer hunter and great shooter. My opinion of your 400yd question is .. NO

Many states have limits as to the minimum size of the hunting round. I think you owe it to your prey to dispatch it as quickly and humanely as possible. I don't think that using a marginal cartridge at long distances qualifies.

Short answer is "no".

NO!!!
It's at best a 100 - 150 yard deer cartridge for body/shoulder shots using controlled expansion hunting bullets.

Or however far you can shoot them in the ear.

rc

Yeah, you can hit the deer.

No, it probably isn't going to anchor it.

And you'll get some serious exercise chasing a wounded deer halfway across the county.

Have patience, and get closer to the deer. Personally, I don't like .223 for that sort of thing.

rcmodel said:

NO!!!
It's at best a 100 - 150 yard deer cartridge for body/shoulder shots using controlled expansion hunting bullets.

Or however far you can shoot them in the ear.

rc

Click to expand...

in the ear, I like it

IMO, NO. A well placed shot at 100-150yrds will do the trick but not 400yrds. At 400yrds the .223 drops 32in & your velocity is in the 1500's. Your not gonna get a good "Kill shot" with those numbers. Hell, their making pellet rifles kicking out at 1200fps right now so one could say a .223 is no better then a pellet gun at 400yrds.

Most hunters won't even pull the trigger on a deer at 400yrds with a 30.06 let alone a .223. Not because it won't work but because it's unethical.

Is it possible to hit a deer sized target at 400yrds with a .223. Yes. I do it a lot. Should you pull the trigger on a deer hunting at 400yrds, NO but that's just my .02. Your just gonna end up wounding the deer & you pobably will never find it.

"...A well placed shot..." With the right bullet. Even with heavy bullets, there's not enough energy past 200 and it's marginal there. They drop like bricks past 300 too.
The slightest bit of wind will blow 'em off target too.

not only NO but HELL NO

AFS

At 400 yd I am assuming you have a clear line of sight across a rather large distance. At that range I don't think it would be a good idea. I would choose a caliber that I knew had enough downrange energy to ensure a clean kill.

I can and have shot deer with a .223 but all shots were in areas that had sight distances of less than 100yd. more like 50 to 75 yd. Remember SHOT PLACEMENT is the key and that doesn't always guarantee a DRT no track kill.

However,......... Excellent choice for prairie dogs !!!!!

.223

I've read (in VA .223 is illegal for deer so no personal experience) that the .223 with the heavy Nossler Partition is the best deer round ever invented. If memory serves "out to 300 yards" or so. The bullet is the limiting factor in most .223 failures ie military and such. Apparently in Texas and West VA. they have no problem killing whitetail, even big ones, with the .223. Other states that allow it may have the same success (don't know where else it's legal). I've met people at gun shows that have killed many many deer with .223 and it's their favorite caliber. Just hear-say from reading and speaking with others. In a "have to" case I'd use a .223 for deer in a heart beat, with the proper ammo.

Absolutely not

The 223 will cripple a deer at 400 yards even better than it does at 100.

Is this a serious question? Really? Shoot deer at 400 yards with a 223? The 223 is illegal for deer in many states and there is a reason.

I bet 95% of hunters couldn't hit a deer at 400 yards under hunting conditions with any rifle. Even one with enough power to reliably anchor a deer.

not only NO but HELL NO

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well said

Apparently the OP read a comment in another thread that 5.56mm was an effective infantry rifle cartridge out to 400m and from that somehow got an idea that it may be capable of hunting deer past 400yds.

I'm not really following that particular chain of logic myself, so I can't say how he arrived at this question; but no, the .223 is not a 400yd plus deer cartridge.

I've read (in VA .223 is illegal for deer so no personal experience) that the .223 with the heavy Nossler Partition is the best deer round ever invented.

Click to expand...

Are you sure you aren't thinking .270 there?

I take deer with .223 from time to time, but they are all head shots and are all right at or close than 100 yards. There's no way I would try to push a .223 out to 200 or further against a deer. We do not allow any of the paying hunters on our ranch to use .223 at all at any range.

Bartholomew Roberts got it, but I bet the OP is trying to use this to bring back the age old service rifle caliber wars, not to actually hunt deer at 400yds.

60 grain .224" Nosler Partition bullet is all they make.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=665774

rc

Even with my AR 15 in 6.8 SPC using my handloads of 29 gr of H322 and a 110gr Seirra ProHunter, I'd only go out 300 yards for maximum expansion of the bullet. But no more than 350 yards with the 6.8SPC. So "no" on the .223 out to 400 yards.

Hell, I hunted Taliban with a 5.56 and killed deer with .223. It'll work if you do your part but I would keep it under 200 yards with a heavy soft-point and expect to do a litle tracking.

J.B.

In my actual experience, .223 is just dandy for east/south Texas sized whitetails and feral pigs under 200 lbs- at 100 yds or less.

I don't think I'd use it on bigger deer ( > 180 lbs) or big feral hogs. As a matter of fact, it's not me that uses it at all, it's my wife.