hunting with what you have

Status
Not open for further replies.
The money you spend on trying to get an M1 scoped with a decent mount could be better put to buying a rifle better suited (Mossberg and Savage make decently priced bolt actions that are accurate and ready for scoping) for hunting.

I'd borrow a buddy's rifle, if I could. After all, it might turn out that you don't like hunting very much. If you have a friend who is a hunter, ask him to go with you and help you.
 
My 12 year old daughter dropped 3 does where they stood last year with a 223. Her first time hunting. She walked up to the first one, and when I expected tears, looked up and said "perfect shot placement". She was right too. But like the others have said, our Texas deer, unless you spend some major cash, aren't very big.
 
I voted Garand but agree with #26. A Savage/Stevens, Mossberg ATR, or Howa package rifle might be the perfect solution. Yes I know this thread is "hunting with what you've got" but I'm taking the liberty to use a little more common sence than shooting deer with a mediocre rifle vs one that you may end up missing with.
 
I took my AR-15 deer hunting last year. The first obvious thing to look at is if the .223 is leagal in you’re area for deer. Also some areas have rules on semi autos and magazine capacity. I think that the .223 is adequate if a premium bullet is placed in the correct area, but the M1 would give you a much bigger margin for error. I used 60 grain nosler partitions by federal. They are hard to find in the store, so you may have to resort to the internet to order these. I unfortunately didn’t shoot a deer last year, but based off the “wet phone book test”, this was the bullet that seemed to perform the best based on penetration and weight retention. Keep in mind most .223 rounds are designed for varmint hunting and will not penetrate well. I also wouldn’t plan to shoot past 150 yards or so.

In the long run, you would probably benefit from a dedicated deer gun though.
 
+1 on putting a scope on the M1. There's a not terribly expensive "scout mount" which replaces the rear handguard. No drilling, no mods to Garrand. Channel down center lets you continue to use iron sights. You can mount either a long eye relief scout type scope or a red dot holographic sight. For the 100 yd brushy area you're describing, the red dot would be good.

My experience with an Eotech and this scout mount was eye-opening (if you'll excuse the pun...) Cheek weld wasn't critical, and rapidly acquiring and hitting a target at 50 to 100 yds was easy, compared to iron sights. I don't think accuracy was any better with red dot, just a heck of a lot faster.

As scout mount and red dot are forward of action, there isn't any problem with clip loading / ejection. I preferred this to some kind of offset mount L of the action, which is what was done with the M1C's and D's.
 
I'd scope the M1. But I'm going to do mine that way so I’m biased. You could look at the S&K insta mounts: http://www.scopemounts.com/. It sits off to the side and is not inline with the gun. I know that turns some of, but I didn't like the scout style mounts on my Garand. It’s already too front heavy for my tastes.

Let me throw another wrinkle in though. I may be wrong, but I don't think the M1 likes hot commercial hunting loads, so choose carefully.

But as someone else said, for the cost of the mount and a good scope, you could get a new (well... new to you anyway) gun with some OK glass.

However, for the cost of a mount and a low price scope (If your Garand is like mine, it’s probably not a tack driver and not worth priceless glass), you could have a really cool looking Garand that will put your sad eyes on target.

I understand about the bad eyesight. :(

And don’t forget the hunting clip with they 5 round limit if you go with the Garand.

If you have no $$$ for either and IF your state is ok with .223, then get some good rounds and take only sure shots.
 
Texas white tail deer are pretty small. .223 and other varmint chamberings is not uncommon. Mini-14 gets used.

Centerfire cartridges are mandatory in Texas, caliber isn't.

I think my Remington 7mm mag is too big for most Texas hunting, but it is the rifle I have. I'd prefer a .24 or .25 caliber with shorter barrel. The magnum is a no brainer for me as I don't have to adjust my shot from 50-300 yards. The drop is about 3-4 inches.

IMHO: Shot placement is more important than cartridge choice.

I'm setting up a Ruger .41 Blackhawk with scope for the short range shots.
 
The M1 IS a hunting rifle. If it could reach out and knock off the most dangerous game on the planet I'm sure it will do for deer. Thee 223 is up to your Fish and Game.
 
Another fairly inexpensive route would be look at a Stevens in .243 or .270 - either are a good choice for deer. Probably more accurate than a milsurp (other than a K31) and easier to scope.

I'm not sure of the better choice between .223 AR and an M1. M1 is heavy, good caliber for deer. AR is a great rifle, but possibly light for deer and state law may not let you use it.

A Yugo M48 is good condition will run you about $125, add a scope and you have a heavy hitting round in an inexpensive package.
 
Point Blank Range on a 30-30 for deer is about 8-10 inches at 100 yards.

6 inches is fine enough to get it in the boiler room and with a 30-06 will have more than enough umph to get the job done.

Please don't hunt deer with a .223. Its just not a sufficiently powerful cartridge to bring the animal down humanly. Especially if its only your first time hunting. go with the 30-06

But it might be heavy, and noisy, depending on where you are hunting. Might be best to consider borrowing something else. Also, might want to post/move this post over at the Hunting forum.
 
I would first do a couple of things before using either for hunting.
Is the .223 legal for deer hunting in your state and county?
Is there a round limit for hunting rifles?
A well placed .223 will take down a deer but it is far from ideal. Some folks like it and some hate it for deer. I have seen several deer taken with .223 over the years.
The 30-06 has taken all north american game.
Buy some deer vitals targets (most better sporting goods stores have em) If you can keep em in the kill zone at a given distance then it is accurate enough.
 
Well, I've shot deer with 55gr .223, but then they are West Texas whitetails. Kind of like shooting a puppy dog.

This whole business of humane/caliber makes me laugh. I've seen folks wound deer with superdupermagnums. The caliber is enough, but was the result humane?

If you are a crack shot with your AR and can put your round in the kill zone with confidence, then use the AR.
 
I've seen many white tail taken here in Montana with nothing more than the 223. Good bullet and good shot placement is always better than more power.

Depending on your twist, I'd look at Barnes TSX in either 53gn, 62gn or 70gn. Keep you shots short and only shoot at a good target and you'll be fine.
 
This whole business of humane/caliber makes me laugh. I've seen folks wound deer with superdupermagnums. The caliber is enough, but was the result humane?
Click to expand...

It does not follow that, because someone can wound a deer with a stupidmagnum rifle, using a .223 on the same animal is humane.

Generally, ethical hunting would suggest that you use a sufficient caliber AND you shoot it with sufficient accuracy, not one or the other.

If a .223 is enough for deer in your area (i.e. you have to look twice to see whether it's a deer or a coyote), then I won't say it's insufficient. However, in general, for average-sized deer in the US, it's not considered to be the pinnacle of hunting ethics to use .223 on deer, unless you really know what you're doing.

Keep you shots short and only shoot at a good target and you'll be fine.
Click to expand...

True enough, if deer hunting in your area allows for this. In some places, due to cover and topgraphy, this would mean that most of the shots you might have with a "deer caliber", you should not take at all. Are you willing to live with that? If so, no problem. In other areas, you can't see past 50 yards and it's a non-issue (but neither is 6 MOA offhand accuracy).
 
Last edited:
If the .223 is inhumane, why is it that the most popular gun for "putting animals down/out of misery" is the .22 LR out of a pistol?

Shot placement trumps ballistics.
 
I live in east Texas, and we fall into the "is it a coyote or is it a deer" category (hint: coyotes don't have antlers.... :neener:) I was just up in the Sam Houston National Forest today scouting and in most of the terrain I covered, the maximum shot would have been 100 yards and that is rare. More of it was in the 40-60 yard range. For that range I might use the .44mag handcannon, or Archerandshooter's .44 mag Henry. Or I might just take my AR out with the appropriate ammunition.

I myself would hesitate to take the Garand because of the issue of weight. My AR weighs NOTHING in comparison to one of those; and if I'm going walk half the day through brush, the last thing I want is a too-heavy rifle to tote around. But that's me.

Springmom
 
ArmedBear: My point was simply that if the deer aren't overly large and the shooter is very good with an AR, then it is not at all unethical.

Of course the folks that wound deer with the UberMag probably can't hit with an AR either.

It comes down to using what you are comfortable with. If I was in Iowa hunting those elephant sized deer, I wouldn't even look at a .223. It would probably just bounce off the kevlar hide. :D .460 Weatherby Mag baby! J/K. I think I'd have to look in New Mexico for my arm after I fired one of those.

In West Texas, a nice 8 point might weigh 130 or 140 where I hunt. A big 12 point might weigh 170ish. .223 is fine. Now, we do have some nice mule deer, and we have a 2 week season for them. My friend got one that field dressed at 280 a couple of years ago. Lard-assed deer, but still a nice rack. He used a .30-06 with 165gr SBT. I probably would use something in that range myself.
 
From most reports where state laws make the AR legal
the bullet of choice is the win 64gr powerpoint.
The sutaibility of 223 on deer has been one of the standard aguments we gun guys keep going to, I am not real strong either way but if you are confident with your ability with the AR I would expect you are way ahead of some of the nuts I have seen at the range .
I am surprised at the general lack of shooting ability that I see demonstrated every year at my range.
Seems a shame to drag a nice old Garand around out in the weather. Ask around at work or with other friends,you might be surprised who has something tucked away that would well for you.
 
I don't get a lot of the .223 deer hunting hate. I have shot A LOT of decent sized Eastern MT mule deer with a .222 that with only 1 exception dropped where they stood and I'm a marginal shot at best. The one that did not drop where it stood made it 50'. All of these were torso shots that hit the heart, lungs, or both. It is all about placement, not caliber. Anything larger than a deer? Not so much.

If you are a good shot with the AR15 I'd say go for it.

That said... It would "cooler" to say you got the deer with the Garand!
 
6 minutes kills a deer at 150 yards here in NH. Since when is a 1 minute rifle needed to kill a deer?
 
A few people have suggested that a Garand is in general a poor choice for hunting. Why? It's got fine iron sights (which still present a problem for the Original Poster but not for everyone) and is chambered for an acceptable game cartridge, i.e. .30-06.

Assuming an eight-shot autoloader is legal in your state (some states require no more than five round capacity), what's the problem? Is it the weight?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

M
  • Locked
Hunting Rifle Accuracy?
2 3 4
Replies
79
Views
9K
BrocLuno
BrocLuno
B
  • Locked
Build me the perfect AR for whitetail hunting
2 3
Replies
67
Views
4K
1stmarine
1stmarine
6
  • Locked
Real effective range.
2
Replies
33
Views
2K
Mr_Rogers
M
jmr40
  • Locked
6.5 Grendel for hunting
Replies
16
Views
5K
js8588
J
B
  • Locked
Do you ever wonder if you have too many different types of rifles?
2
Replies
49
Views
1K
rklessdriver
R
Back
Top