Whitetail round in 223? Any ideas?

[courtgreene]

Captcurt, I haven't checked in on this one in a while so I'm sorry for the late response. I was right there with the kid. I'd hope anyone taking a youngster would do the same. He wasn't shooting until I said shoot (or otherwise signaled using predetermined silent communication).

 

[d2wing]

I have used 55 gr soft points to kill bucks up to 250 lbs. lung shots work very well. Mine is 1/9 twist but at .223 ranges I don't think it makes much difference.

 

[MarshallDodge]

The accuracy of the new 75 grain Speer Gold Dot looks really promising:

That is a five shot group shot from my 24" Tikka Sporter, velocity was 2802 FPS. Out of my 16" AR it shot under an inch at 50 yards, 2643 FPS.

I was given 20 rounds and shot 10, and would donate a the rest to your son. I also would throw in a box of 64 grain Gold Dots. All I want in return are pics of your son and his deer.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

im not a big fan of 223 on deer but with the right bullet it will get it done. The right bullet is the 60 grain nos partition. My 1 in7 colt stabilizes it good enough to shoot 1 1/4 5 shot groups at a 100 yards. Plenty good enough for the 200 yards the round is effective at. If it were me and it was my kid a 243 shooting a 80-85 grain ballistic tip or sierra bullet at around 2600 fps would give similar low recoil and would probably be more effective out to 200 yards. that way too when he gets older you don't have to buy him another gun. I did the same thing with my son but with a bolt action 250-3000

 

[HighExpert]

I would assume the .223 is legal for deer in NC. We can't use it in VA.

 

[Nicky Santoro]

OP,
I've only seen one deer taken with .223 and that was a 64gr Power Point. Deer went about 10 steps then piled up. Range was about 50 yards. Shot placement was ideal.

 

[BudgetBucks1]

.223 is legal in NC. I like the idea of the new Speer Gold Dot in 15 grain as that is the same weight as most of the match ammo(might have a similar POI). I can't seem to find the 75 grains for reload anywhere on the web. I have 1,000 brass that I need to use. Anyone know where to find the 75 grain gold dot bullets?

 

[MarshallDodge]

I can't seem to find the 75 grains for reload anywhere on the web. I have 1,000 brass that I need to use. Anyone know where to find the 75 grain gold dot bullets?

To my knowledge, none of the 223 Gold Dot bullets are available for reloading.

I have heard good things about the Barnes TSX if you are looking for a good bullet to reload in 70 grain category.

 

[mittenman]

The Speer Gold Dots should work great. My son shot his first deer with 53 grain Barnes tsx out of a youth stocked hand rifle also with a 1/7 twist. At about 30 yards and slightly quarting away the little bullet blew thru both sides of the small buck and took out a rib. The blood trail was patchy but he only ran 40 yards.
I think the main thing for kids and inexperienced hunters is getting as much range time as possible and getting as close as possible for the shot. Even with a fair amount of shooting and a slam dunk close shot my son hit a bit higher and further back in the lungs than I would have liked leading in part to a patchy blood trail

 

[mac_hunter870]

65 grain Sierra game king soft point

For the same reasons as the OP states about length of pull, my niece and nephew hunt with .223 AR's. I hand load the 65 gr Sierra bullets for them. Both kids, 13 year old girl with 4 deer to her name and 11 year old boy with 3 deer to his name, can keep all rounds from a 10 round magazine inside the bottom of a soda can on the 100 yard range. Here in Missouri anything centerfire is legal for deer hunting. All the deer that have been shot by my niece and nephew have been single shots through heart/lungs broadside from 40-80 yards and have been able to watch the deer expire and fall without having to track. Proper shot placement/shot angle as others have said is critical as well as keeping the range within the shooters ability. The rifles are 1/7 and 1/9 twist. One is a 20" barrel and the other is a 16" barrel and both rifles shoot my reload equally well.

 

[Hookeye]

Killing stuff should not be taken lightly.
I think size does matter and a bad deal on a deer could be rather traumatic to a new hunter.
IMHO a .243 rule kinda makes sense......if you're too small to use one, proly shouldn't be hunting deer anyway.
Working one's way up to bigger critters and rifles........I think more should go that route (combat the immediate gratification culture).
Not concerned with trying to slap up kid/deer pics on social media ASAP.

Yeah, kids can use .223 on deer.

But should they?

I was a small kid, when less than 5 ft tall and under 100# I hunted a lot with a .243 (groundhogs). Ruger #1 B.Yeah it was a little long, but I shot it just fine.
Worked way better than my .222

 

[Hookeye]

Youth rifles, entry level.....not uncommon these days.
Even with a crappy economy I think quite a few could afford to equip their kid with something bigger.

Can vs won't

 

[T.R.]

My daughter was 13 at the time this older photo was taken. She hunted with my Savage 112V featuring heavy target barrel and shooting 64 grain Winchester Power Point ammo. One shot through the chest at approx. 75 yards did the job. She currently hunts with a 30-30 carbine.

TR

 

[Eb1]

Seriously. Any 55 grain soft point will work just fine for the .223 Rem. I don't understand why so many people, mostly with zero experience, chime in on this subject.

If you don't want to use a 55 grain, and thing 9 grains makes a difference use the 64 grain Power Point from Winchester.

Teach the kid to shoot straight and confident. Teach them to wait for a closer shot, and there will be meat in the freezer.

I am speaking from experience.

 

[Hookeye]

And what happens when a .223 bullet isn't placed perfectly?

Or do all kids shooting with dad/gramps make perfect shots?

 

[LRShooting]

I have killed more deer with a 223 rem 700 sps varmint then any other gun. I originally started with the Wal-Mart rounds like Winchester and Remington, but went to black hills 62 grain ballistic tip 50 rd reman boxes. They are accurate, and do plenty of damage. Never lost a deer even with some of my bad shots. Ive taken deer out past 400 yards altho I don't recommend it, experience taught me too know better. But you Won't have a problem killing deer with it. You won't knock them down consistently, but good shot placement keeps them from going far

 

[Eb1]

What happens when a guy with a 300 Winchester or 7mm Magnum who shoots once a year, and hunts on his friends farm makes a bad shot?

Please don't turn this into your own personal issue of what you think everyone should do, and if they don't do it your way it's the wrong way.

 

[Whacked]

And what happens when a .223 bullet isn't placed perfectly?

Same thing that will happen with any other caliber or weight bullet that isn't placed correctly. Saying a perfectly placed shot is needed for hunting is like saying "the sky is blue" or "water is wet".

in some states it is perfectly legal to take deer with a .223
You don't like it, don't do it. simple.

Whatever you do, do not google 'big game hunting air rifle', and this is with a tool that has nowhere near the fpe a centerfire has.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

My daughter killed her first deer, a small doe a couple years ago with a .223.
I had been using Seirra GK BTHP bullets in my .30-06 and .243 with excellent results so I just bought some for the .223 for her.

It was a mistake. In a .223 that is a varmint bullet and came apart too fast for deer.

She killed the deer and it didn't run far luckily. However there was no exit and no blood trail. Had she been a little off, we likely wouldn't have found the deer.

For next season, I will load her some Nosler Partitions for it. I think it will be just fine then.