Best factory .223 hunting ammo

[rangerruck]

I also would go with a softpoint if you can. The absolute best hunting ammo I have tried in 223, is the blackhills, blue box, plain jane 55 grainers. Super accurate as well.
your 1/9 twist should be able to take accurately up to about 69 grainers, but this you will have to test for. Heck, it may even like 72 grainers.
also the plain jane, remmy/umc green box 55 grainer soft points, have been pretty good and accurate as well.
these are some old target pics of mine, at 100 yds, off of sandbag rests.




the winny's are 45 grain hollow points, and for anything smaller than deer, is a laser beam of a shot, and prints one hole groups at 100.
the 62 grain wolf is pretty good as well.
But the first 2 I mentioned, in soft point of fmj, will smoke a small deer...

 

[kiwihunta]

I also would go with a softpoint if you can. The absolute best hunting ammo I have tried in 223, is the blackhills, blue box, plain jane 55 grainers. Super accurate as well.
your 1/9 twist should be able to take accurately up to about 69 grainers, but this you will have to test for. Heck, it may even like 72 grainers.
also the plain jane, remmy/umc green box 55 grainer soft points, have been pretty good and accurate as well.
these are some old target pics of mine, at 100 yds, off of sandbag rests.




the winny's are 45 grain hollow points, and for anything smaller than deer, is a laser beam of a shot, and prints one hole groups at 100.
the 62 grain wolf is pretty good as well.
But the first 2 I mentioned, in soft point of fmj, will smoke a small deer...

Nice groups Rangerruck,and thanks for your input.I havnt ever seen Blackhills ammo over here in NZ,but i will definitly have a look for it.I will also do some range tests and see whats the heaviest weight i can use,your right 1-9 twist should stabilise some reasonably heavy pills 72 grn would be interesting, oh gee more time at the range......excellent LOL.

 

[rangerruck]

I know Cheaperthandirt.com sells it, so you may haveta order it; they are a small homegrown ammo place here in the states. I don't know if anything they make is distributed overseas.
The real trick is this; their blue box is REMANUFACTURED!!!! and it is totally awesome; every pill is checked as it is made, not just groups or lots of ammo, every round. The redbox line is their non used stuff; but it will cost you a pretty penny more. Believe me, the blue box is top notch stuff.
So you are in NZ huh? I was there once about 1000 years ago, on a battalion exchange, did some time in a place called Tekapo I think, unreal weather. We also did a week long Land nav course there, in the mountains, escape and evade, don't get caught by the locals- I made it through !!! best cleanest freshest water I ever tasted. Serious beer there, and every thing we ate with the boys over there was beets, lamb , eggs, and milk, and rice. lots of beet/butter sandwiches!!!! Milk was also super fresh and great.

 

[kiwihunta]

I know Cheaperthandirt.com sells it, so you may haveta order it; they are a small homegrown ammo place here in the states. I don't know if anything they make is distributed overseas.
The real trick is this; their blue box is REMANUFACTURED!!!! and it is totally awesome; every pill is checked as it is made, not just groups or lots of ammo, every round. The redbox line is their non used stuff; but it will cost you a pretty penny more. Believe me, the blue box is top notch stuff.
So you are in NZ huh? I was there once about 1000 years ago, on a battalion exchange, did some time in a place called Tekapo I think, unreal weather. We also did a week long Land nav course there, in the mountains, escape and evade, don't get caught by the locals- I made it through !!! best cleanest freshest water I ever tasted. Serious beer there, and every thing we ate with the boys over there was beets, lamb , eggs, and milk, and rice. lots of beet/butter sandwiches!!!! Milk was also super fresh and great.

I will check out cheaperthandirt.coms web site and have a look ,i dont really like my chances though as theres a lot of restrictions on ammo imports and i believe it involves licences etc plus with the exchange rate running around $1.00 NZ-to 0.70cents US it may not be a cheap option.When you say "remanufactured" do you mean somehow recycled ??excuse my ignorance but we definitely dont get that over here.
Tekapo is a beautiful spot in the McKenzie country in our central south island ,i am from the Nth island i would like to hunt down there sometime,i hunt alot just nth of Auckland and around the nth islands central plateau in the lake Taupo region,in the Kaimanawa ranges.Yes we dont have a shortage of fresh produce and dairy but we get fleeced for it considering we are a dairy producing nation it should be cheap but hey the monopolys rule, the beer heres good Steinlager Pure "rocks"although i am partial to some of your Miller lager, nice beer on a really hot day, cheers.

 

[rangerruck]

yeah, steinlager... also there was lion's head , and Brown Beer.
We never got to the north island, stayed on the south, but it was beauty.
and Christchurch was a very nice town, and some beauties for girls as well...
I will tell you though, anything wool skin or wool products was dirt cheap back then.

 

[BushyGuy]

Cant wait till they pass laws to use semi-auto rifles for deer, i dont know why it matters we never see anything and there are so many trees that can stop the bullets , i want to hunt someday with my AR15 it will feel like a "survival" hunt.

 

[kiwihunta]

yeah, steinlager... also there was lion's head , and Brown Beer.
We never got to the north island, stayed on the south, but it was beauty.
and Christchurch was a very nice town, and some beauties for girls as well...
I will tell you though, anything wool skin or wool products was dirt cheap back then.

Yes Lion red is still a popular beer here ,and Lion brown is still around to,as for girls well theres still the odd one of them about as well ...LOL.We have some pretty spectacular scenery in the Nth island as well...if your ever in town holler we can set up a hunt.

 

[kiwihunta]

Cant wait till they pass laws to use semi-auto rifles for deer, i dont know why it matters we never see anything and there are so many trees that can stop the bullets , i want to hunt someday with my AR15 it will feel like a "survival" hunt.

Do they have tags for trees where you hunt or just not many deer ??.

 

[rangerruck]

I must say, ever since I went there, I wouldn't mind living in NZ at all. A visit and a hunt could be real nice!!! I went all over the world in the military, and I have to say, few places equal what I saw in NZ. And that coming from a dude who was stationed in Hawaii...

 

[kiwihunta]

I must say, ever since I went there, I wouldn't mind living in NZ at all. A visit and a hunt could be real nice!!! I went all over the world in the military, and I have to say, few places equal what I saw in NZ. And that coming from a dude who was stationed in Hawaii...

Stationed in Hawaii ,i guess there could be worse places.LOL .Yes i guess sometimes you can take your own backyard for granted,and NZ is a beautiful place.I would love to one day hunt Alaska and other parts of the US and maybe Canada,,,the giant buffalo in Australias northern territorys would be fun,a close friend of mines just come back from a Aussie safari and had an absolute blast over there.