.223 for small game

[tranders]

A 20 gauge with 7/8 ounce of #6 shot is about all I ever use for squirrels and rabbits.

 

[303tom]

I use a .410 with #2`s on Squirrel & Rabbit, I don`t shoot Coyotes or Fox. I use .223 on White-tail & paper...........

 

[blindhari]

As I no longer live in pheasant country, I have created a short barrel,20", single shot, 20 guage into a jeep gun. I have a 6 chill in the barrel, two 4 chill, 2 #2 buck, and a buck hammer slug in the stock shell holder. So far it has covered every situation out to 75 yds. Beyond 75 yds I have other things to use, within 75 yds though this set up will take anything and provide defense with a total weight under 5lbs.

blindhari

 

[tranders]

What the heck is 6 chill or 4 chill?

Am I missing something?

 

[Jeff F]

What the heck is 6 chill or 4 chill?

Am I missing something?

Hes talking about cold chilled shot, when shot is made its done by dropping drips of molten lead, I believe cold chilled means they dropped it into ice water. It makes for harder shot.

 

[blindhari]

Oops, sorry trandor.
I grew up hunting pheasant in Calif. delta country. Shot is generally sized from 00 buck out to about 10 shot (think size of pellet, bigger the pellet smaller the #). Chilled shot has antimony added to lead giving the pellets a harder consistency and slightly lighter weight per volume. I grew up using chilled shot, #8 for quail, #6 for pheasant, #4 for duck/geese, #2 buck for coyote and feral dog. I have always liked this shot and bought a bunch of each when there started to be pressure to shift away from lead shot.

blindhari

 

[Lee D]

the only critter on that list id hunt with a .223 IS the 'yote. i dont hunt fox, so the rest would be hunted with the 10/22.

 

[Sniper66]

Wow!!! I have hunted for about 60 years and have never heard of anyone hunting rabbits and squirrels with a .223. I have killed 1,000s of p-dogs with a .223 and certainly wouldn't want to try to salvage the meat from one after a center hit with a V-max bullet, though the buzzards like 'em. And why would you want to shoot rabbits and squirrels with an expensive and noisy cartridge when a cheap quiet one (.22) does the job. Back when you could buy them, I used to shoot squirrels and rabbits with .22 shorts because they were the cheapest cartridge i could find. After a snow, I would climb to the top of huge brush piles made by a tree trimming company and wait for the rabbits below to get nervous, then shoot them in the top of the head with the .22 short. Killed them dead without a wiggle. I have seen deer killed easily with a .223, but many states outlaw shooting deer with anything under .243 cal. The .223 is a varmint round and I would not recommend it for anything else.

 

[Art Eatman]

Yeah, the .22 rimfire for squirrels and rabbits, or a shotgun. With a shotgun, a .410 is plenty good.

Or, for a handloader, an '06 with about five grains weight of pistol powder and a double-ought ball is a good squirrel load.

A .223 is a fine coyote cartridge. For all that modern bullets make it okay for deer hunting, I still feel that it's sorta marginal. Okay for neck shots or cross-body heart/lung shots, but not the thing for an angling shot on larger deer.

 

[tranders]

I grew up hunting pheasant in Calif. delta country. Shot is generally sized from 00 buck out to about 10 shot (think size of pellet, bigger the pellet smaller the #). Chilled shot has antimony added to lead giving the pellets a harder consistency and slightly lighter weight per volume. I grew up using chilled shot, #8 for quail, #6 for pheasant, #4 for duck/geese, #2 buck for coyote and feral dog. I have always liked this shot and bought a bunch of each when there started to be pressure to shift away from lead shot.

blindhari

Ok... gotcha.

Thanks