Best .223 bullet for whitetail

[Nature Boy]

Wouldn't .223 and 22-250 be comparing apples and oranges?

I know it's the same bullet, but there's a lot more kinetic energy in that 22-250.

A friend that I hunt with uses his 22-250 exclusively and it's a deer slayer. The exit wounds it makes are impressive, I'm afraid if I tried to hunt with my .223 and didn't make the perfect shot they would stop bleeding before I could track them down

 

[balderclev]

I've killed several deer with a 223 using 50gr vmax bullets. But I always shot them in the neck (up to 100 yds) and they dropped.

I would hesitate to use any 223 rifle for deer hunting unless I knew I would be having a neck shot.

 

[Grumulkin]

Wouldn't .223 and 22-250 be comparing apples and oranges?

I know it's the same bullet, but there's a lot more kinetic energy in that 22-250.

There is some difference but look at the ballistics and you'll find that the difference isn't as much as you might think. The deer I took with the 70 grain Semi Spitzer out of a 22-250 was 360 yards down range and the bullet went clear through it. The deer I took with that bullet using a 222 was about 80 yards away and again a complete pass through. So, if you're using a 223 at a somewhat closer range than a 22-250 the velocities of the bullets at the impact point will likely be similar. Just like always, in determining how far you will shoot and what game you'll use a bullet for will depend on the ballistics of the particular cartridge you're using.

 

[RugerOldArmy]

1-12"?

That might limit options to 55-60 Gr.

I don't shoot bullets bigger than 60Gr out of my 1-12" .22-250, and that can push them a lot harder.

A 60 Gr bullet might not stabilize.

 

[GooseGestapo]

My .22-250 has a 1/14" twist, shoots up to 63grfb accurate. (1/2" w/63gr Sierra), I've killed over 100 deer with .22cf. Decent bullet and, shot placement 3x!
Decent bullet depends on twist !
.22Hornet, 1/16", 40gr Sierra Varminter
.223 1/12", 55-60g Hornady , possibly 63-65gr., Mine does!
.223 1/9" Sierra 65grSptBt or 63gr SemiPt; 70grBerger superlative!
Shot placement x3!!!
I've lost more deer with .30/30, .30/06, .257Robt, and .35Rem each! than .22cf total.
Did I mention shot placement???

 

[HankB]

I've hunted deer with handgun and rifle, but never .223 . . . but if I were to do so, I'd load the 60 grain Nosler Partition.

Deer are not armor plated! Since humans have been successfully hunting them with pointy sticks (arrows) for many thousands of years, I'm confident good shot placement with a modern controlled expansion .223 bullet would not only work, but would work very well.

 

[Garrobo]

I ran across some old

70 grain bullets some years ago which (I think) were meant for a .220 Swift. I loaded them up for a .22-250 and they were devastating to whitetails. If you could run across some of these at a gun show or swapper's meet I'd grab them up.

 

[bantam9]

Only paper so far

No kills yet, but the speer 70gr semi-soft point shot just fine out of a 1:14 savage 225win on paper. Plan on using it this coming deer season.
I would note, I only would take a decent standing shot on an animal, no running or quartering shots for me.

On same note---family member dusted a big doe with .223 savage with 55gr pointed soft point. Made the front end of that animal into jelly. try to stick to neck shots.

 

[Mad Dawg]

As far as

The 22's are not even legal in many states.

, well, it's getting to be more legal in more states than it is not... From another site, after googling it, well, I stopped counting when I reached a number greater than 25.. In other words, it's legal in more states than the number of states that don't allow it.. With the popularity of .223/5.56 rifles growing, the number of states in which it's legal is also likely to grow. The .223 is certainly capable of killing deer quickly and humanely.

 

[gamestalker]

Speer makes a decent Spitzer SP in 55 gr. and a 70 gr.. I haven't tried them on deer sized game, but I imagine they would do about as good as any SP would for this application. Speer recommends using a 1-14 or faster twist barrel for the 70 gr. SP.

I can't imagine why the .223 wouldn't drop a deer, shot placement would be important, but that's true with any projectile really.

GS

 

[jcwit]

As far as
Quote:
The 22's are not even legal in many states.

, well, it's getting to be more legal in more states than it is not... From another site, after googling it, well, I stopped counting when I reached a number greater than 25.. In other words, it's legal in more states than the number of states that don't allow it.. With the popularity of .223/5.56 rifles growing, the number of states in which it's legal is also likely to grow. The .223 is certainly capable of killing deer quickly and humanely.

This is like saying the government knows what they are doing. LOL

 

[Davek1977]

I've used the 62 gr Federal Fusion with siuccess on both whitetail and mule deer bucks.

 

[Will-j]

There is no good 223 bullet for deer. The bullets are too small.

The 22's are not even legal in many states.

If the public only knew the number of deer taken with the lowly .22 RF, the opinion of the .223 cal. being too small/weak/inefficient (take your pick)... would surely quickly change.

Mantan; 55-70gr, bullets @ 2900fps or better will take any whitetail within reasonable distance if hit in the boiler room. The aforementioned weights from my Mini-14 have never failed to take any WT hit from 20 to 125yds.in the past 15 yrs.

WILL.

 

[jlove1974]

Federal fusion makes a deer round in both short and long barrel versions. From what I have seen these are excellent options in 16" barrels out to 100 yds on deer

 

[entropy]

My son used Hornady 55 gr. V-Max factory ammo at ranges from 10 yds. to 225 last fall. He got 10 with them, and 1 with his .357 and 125 gr. Golden Sabers.

 

[KansasSasquatch]

For everyone questioning the use of .223 Rem on deer; Have you ever seen how small Carolina deer are? Maybe further inland in the Carolinas the deer may get bigger, but I know close to the coast the deer are TINY!! We have coyotes in Kansas that have bigger bodies. And I've NEVER heard anyone say a .223 is too small for coyotes.

Hmmm... ALL centerfire calibers are now legal for whitetail in Kansas. I'm thinking about taking a .25ACP hunting this fall. Or would I be better off with a .223?

 

[matrem]

@ poster # 39.
Yep.
Haven't killed a deer with a .224 TBBC, but even the 55gr did perform better in "my" testing than the .224 60gr Partitions that I have killed deer with did.

Can't say they'd work better as fact, but I'd bet on em at least as much as 60gr Partitions.

That is, at least if I made a habit of trying to kill deer with a 16" .223.

 

[Bexar]

My son used Hornady 55 gr. V-Max factory ammo at ranges from 10 yds. to 225 last fall. He got 10 with them, and 1 with his .357 and 125 gr. Golden Sabers.

Can we get more specifics on that Golden Saber .357 magnum use...please?

I was asking about those in the Handloading forum the other day.

Thanks...Bexar

 

[Bexar]

Bullet construction and shot placement are the key. I wouldn't try to shoot a north facing deer from his southern side with a .223 but with a proper bullet a .223 would turn a deer's boiler room into mush and provide a very humane harvest.

As mentioned by the OP he/she is not going to be shooting anything larger than a Great Dane sized animal and not those upstate New York horse sized monsters. Those deer are huge.

Anyway...The deer size the OP posted about are in the millions here in Texas and the larger East Texas deer were almost wiped out by Pineywoods poachers with .22LR feeding their families in the 30's and 40s.

 

[entropy]

Can we get more specifics on that Golden Saber .357 magnum use...please?

I was asking about those in the Handloading forum the other day.

Thanks...Bexar

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