Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 60 grain Partition or 50 grain TTSX in .223 for deer?

Somebody is channeling Don.

Zip, zero, zilch. Nada. Goose eggs.

I would never attempt to kill any big game animal with any .22 center fire just because it can be done. Ya see, I am an ethical hunter. My concern is for a quick, humane kill. It's kinda like game snipers who shoot at big game 1000 yards distant or more because they think they can. How many head of big game do they cripple before the actually recover one?

Ethical hunters know what can be done and what should be done.

Where do you fit in?

I don't accept your premise. You may be ethical, but that doesn't mean you're informed.

Let's not even go as small as a 223. Since you said any 22 center fire let us consider a fast twist 22-250 shooting a 62 grain Barnes TTSX. Do you really believe that's not enough to "ethically" dispatch deer?

You don't have to accept anything. If fact, you must not accept anything in order to justify hunting big game with a .22 center fire.

Do you no believe that a .22LR will ethically dispatch deer? Lots of poachers use .22LR to heads of deer. Silent and, with precise shots, very deadly.

Just because it can be done does not mean it should be done.

I have no clue of where you hunt. I'm guessing where deer are small, killed at close distance, and at low altitude. I hunt the Rockies exclusively. Nothing is ever ideal when elevation is above 7000' and all you can see are towering peaks. Wind gusts, sage brush, off-the-charts blood pressure, sucking air for oxygen, and you think you're going to make a very marginal cartridge work? I have never, ever, ever and never seen any hunter hunting any big game in the Rockies with a .22 center fire. In fact, I'd go with every Rocky Mountain state having laws proscribing use of .22 center fire cartridges for big game hunting.

You do what's right for you. But expect fish and game laws to target hunters like you, for wounded big game that dies days later will destroy our sport. I also expect to see laws proscribing big game sniping.

WTH does a 22LR have to do with what I asked? In fact, what does all the other blather have to do with it?

battue,

Yep, and my implication was suitable big game cartridges as any ethical hunter would have recognized.

Would the fact that a .22 center fire cartridge can kill deer counterbalance the likelihood of a .22 center fire wounding deer?

Do you wave at the SR-71 passers by?

mathman,

You do what's right for you.

Best of luck.

Send member scenarshooter a question. If he's not busy loading and shooting, which he does exceedingly well, maybe he'll take a minute to educate you about 22 centerfires.

I never once mentioned what I do or don't do.

There is no counterbalance when used within their limits. Does a .30-06 stretch the limits? Of course. Soooo, there will be no increase in wounding if the .22CF's are used within their limits. Which is pretty much approximately 300 yards. Thousands of Deer cleanly taken with them by members here alone are more than adequate to prove same.

Your "ethics" are trumped by the experience of those who are not guessing

I laughed out loud, reading that one...

DF

To me, the 60 NPT groups better than the Nosler 64 gr. Bonded Solid Base (BSB). The BSB reportedly has great terminal performance, but I like bullets that group AND perform well on critters. I guess if you're not shooting them that far, the BSB should work OK.

My 8 twist .22-250 really likes 80 gr. VLD's and that's what I'm feeding it, getting around 3K fps. No critter report yet, it's a recent build.

I'm going to try Poobah's 55 gr. TTSX. Stunt shooters can't always be wrong...

DF

Well put.

I was a skeptic about the .223 was well.



He went 30 yards. I've seen deer well hit by .30-06's go farther.

With BLUE TAPE!!! You are a stunt hooter extraordinaire!!!

If you can put 'em where they need to go, 62X's flatten cloven-hoofed critters....

I will admit when I'm wrong. I was going on the assumption the .224 caliber were still designed for small game. It looks as though Nosler has designed Partitions for larger game.

With heart shots, they ougha work. I'm still concerned, though, about a .224 bullet penetrating after hitting a rib or breast plate.

And I'm still of the opinion that .243 Win & up are best for mule deer, especially where rages extend beyond 200 yards.

My opinion is the .270 Win is the best mule deer rifle going.

Ribs? A load with Barnes will bust shoulders. Plenty of pics showing complete penetration have been posted on this site by guys using 223, 223AI, and 22-250 with Barnes bullets.