best 55GR hunting bullet for 223

[tahunua001]

hello all,
I had intended to use my 223 for deer last fall but was unable to find a decent load using 62gr hornady HPBTs so I had to scrap that idea due to poor accuracy. Now I'm looking to get an early start on my load development and have been thinking to try out some 55gr loads instead.

I have been looking at some berger FBs anyone have experience with them or have suggestions for other bullets of that weight?

 

[jwrowland77]

A good deer load from a .223 is with the Nosler Partition 60gr. My daughter harvested her first deer this year using that bullet. She shot it out of a Rossi Single Shot.

 

[heavydluxe]

I don't know about 55gr bullets... All I shoot in that range are Hornady's 55gr FMJBTs.

I've heard excellent things from hunters using the Nosler 60+gr Partitions and 62+gr Barnes TSXs.

I'm going to be hunting whitetail with a .223 this fall, so I'll be watching this thread for other ideas.

 

[spitballer]

Berger seems to have two lines of HP bullets in .224, one with a small hole and one with a bigger hole. Not sure which is which, but the smaller hole seemed to be more accurate (been a while) and might be better for your app anyway because it would have better penetration. The 64 gr varmint (small hole) is the most accurate bullet I've ever thrown downrange but I shoot 55's these days. You gotta try that 64 before making a decision on Berger - phenomenal! Be sure to jam it into the lands.

 

[gamestalker]

This topic has come up recently, and specifically for .223. But for the sake of hunting success we'll go over it one more time.

If you want to hunt deer sized game with any rifle, a HP is the worst possible bullet you could use. Hollow points expand to quickly, so penetration will be extremely shallow, they'll basically explode on the surface. The right bullet will be a PSP, and, best yet would be a bonded core design. A good example of such would be the Speer 64 gr. Gold Dot.

HP are intended to expand rapidly, which makes them good for varmint hunting coyotes and such, but a poor choice for deer sized game.

FMJ are intended to remain intact while producing good penetration, but without the essential controlled expansion necessary to create large wound channels. Also a poor choice for hunting deer sized game with.

PSP are the correct bullet for deer sized game. They produce a much more controlled expansion, while penetrating through flesh and bone. There are several variations of these type bullets, bonded core, interlock lead core, solid copper such as the Barnes, and even a standard jacket and lead core design would be a better option than HP's or FMJ's.

GS

 

[tahunua001]

speer is not listing a gold dot in any rifle caliber. I rather prefer speer bonded ammo so anything they make that's bonded would be top of my list but so far I can't find anything.

 

[GooseGestapo]

I've shot a LOTof deer with .22cf's.
Most have been on culling/depredation hunts.
I've used a .22Hornet to take over 50.
I've taken close to 100 with the .223, and a half-dozen with the .22-250.

With a .223, Any decent 55gr Soft-Point is going to work well.
Most of the deer that I've shot have been with the Hornady bulk-packed 55gr Soft Points with the cannulure. These aren't typically as accurate as the non-cannulure bullets and as such as shot placement is important, I prefer the non-cannulure.

I've had better performance from the Hornady 60gr PtSpt. This is what I've got now. I bought 1,000 "Blems" that MidwayUSA had several years ago. They have cannulures that were put in the "wrong" place and some only a rudimentary cannulure at that. (They were "blems" after all). They shoot well (about 1moa) from either of my .223's and .22-250 that has a 1/14" twist bbl.

I've also used 63gr Sierra SemiPtSpt and 65gr GameKings. I consider the 65gr GameKing to be the best deer bullet I've used in the .223 followed closely by the 63gr. These give performance similar to the .243 with a 100gr bullet...

I've not been tempted to try the Barnes, Bergers, or Nosler 60gr Partition as I don't feel this level of expense or performance is needed for our "smallish" deer. If I was hunting larger deer such as muley's or Canadian whitetails that run upward of 300lbs, I wouldn't even consider using a .22cf. But, for 100-150lb deer, the 55gr SoftPt's work just fine.

Just put them where you'd shoot a deer with a .243 or .25/06 and expect to find a dead deer.
Shoot them in the guts or blow off an antler, and they'll run just as far as if you'd hit them the same place with a .30/30....
With a .22cf or a 12ga or 45/70; the name of the game is shot placement, shot placement, shot placement.
I once shot a smallish 8pt buck with a 60gr Hornady Spt over 26.5gr of BLC2 from a 14.5"bbl Bushmaster AR-15. Range was ~25yds and deer was facing me in an "alert" posture with head turned slightly. I hit him in the neck and bullet broke the spine and exited. The bullet re-entered the deer through the hip and broke the femur and exited the ham near the base of the tail. Impact velocity was estimated at ~2,650fps. Total penetration was ~20" of deer.
Adequate performance....
Avoid the TNT's, Blitz, SX and such, likewise any HP. Also, FMJ's as they besides likely being illegal, also probably won't expand at long range.

 

[ngnrd]

I know these aren't the 55gr bullet recommendations you were asking for, but to be honest, 55gr hunting bullets are few and far between... Most are of the varmint or target variety.

In addition to the aforementioned 60gr Partition, Nosler also makes a 64gr bonded bullet. A friend of mine has taken a caribou or two with them. He said they performed great.

And, Swift makes 62gr and 75gr Scirocco's that are bonded. The 75's are too long to stabilize in my 1-9 twist barrel, but I got the 62's to shoot pretty well. I'm gonna try the 75's with a 1-8 twist when I get a chance.

Also, Barnes has a few copper solids in the 55-62gr range that would probably work pretty good for deer, but I haven't tried any.

Finally, Sierra has a 55gr Gameking boat-tail spitzer that I bought to use on furbearers/predators from fox to wolves. I haven't done any load workup on these yet, so I don't know how they perform ballistically. And, I'm not convinced they're constructed heavy enough to make me comfortable using them on deer, but it may be an option.