Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Fav deer bullet/load in 223

My son will hunt in a couple years. He will carry the .223, and I'm working up a load for him. I've never loaded in .223 before. What do you guys think of this?

Hornady 55gr sp
Hogdon H414 at 28.5 grains

Another fan of the 70 grain Speer SMP...

My load is 28 grains of H 380...2900 fps out of a 22 inch barreled rifle..

5 or 6 deer, DRT at the shot.. distances from 60 yds to 250...

a .22 will kill a deer,but why take the chance.Stay above 243 for deer .Use the 223 on yote's and such.

Gee...seems like I've heard this someplace before....
Ingwe

Hey Mike,

Are using ADI powder in your 223 loads? What twist is your barrel?

I have been really struggling to get decent accuracy out of my Rem LVSF (1 in 12 twist) with either the 53gr TSX or the 60gr partition. Expected as much with the partition as the twist is on the slow side but don't know what the deal is with the TSX - have tried both AR2206H and AR2208 with little success. Keen to try the heavier Sierra's that you're using.

The rifle is a bug-holer with 52gr BTHP, 55gr Vmax etc.

Cheers.

Yes, ADI 2206 - can't remember the load off the top of my head. Rifle is a Tikka T3 - 1 in 8 twist. The box that the Sierra 64 grainers came in said that 1 in 8 was necessary to stabilise them. You might be out of luck with a 1 in 12.

Try changing the seating depth with the TSX's - some people like them right on the lands.

Aaah, that makes sense. I will definitely be getting a faster twist when I rebarrel. Good excuse to shoot more I guess

Geeman, +1 on this, but if you are messing with seating depth, try it in BOTH directions...had some odd non-conventional results with TSXs in some guns, but never found one that wouldn't shoot them well...
Ingwe

Thanks for that - I will definitely experiment with seating depth. My rifle likes v-maxes and BT's seated way out but could be the opposite for the TSX.

Have even considered trying the 45gr TSX which I only recently found out about - I know it's very light but figure if a 55gr soft point works then a 45gr TSX should too given the penetration and weight retention..

The 45 grainer will work...Im getting routinely complete penetration with the 53 grainer, so 45 will work. In fact a shooting buddy used one on a deer last year in his .222
"One" is the operative word there...
Ingwe

I think I will be picking up some of the 45grain TSX's to experiment with.

I know Steelhead and others have used the Win 64 gr Powerpoint to good effect on deer. None of the gunshops around here have those in stock but they do have the Federal 64 gr Hi-shok - anyone used this on medium game or is it too fragile?

I have not yet heard of the Federal 64 Grainer...and I thought I kept up with these things...gonna have to go do my homework!
Ingwe

Some of us just require bigger holes than others!

Ingwe, I have to admit I'd never heard of them either. It is in Federal's blue box budget/standard line (which I've had good results with in all calibres that I've tried).
Guess I'll pick some up and give them a try. I will be sure to post results when available.

Well, as I'm sure MikeNZ can confirm, down our way the .222 was one of the default deer rifles (along with the sporterised Lee Enfield .303) for decades so no reason the .223 won't work - just takes a bit of care.

...which is not to say that I have anything against bigger holes in animals either.

We have tried many bullets in 223 for caribou. I worked on the .223 for a few years as my wife used this caliber when we lived in the Baffin. In a fast twist RWS makes a 74 grain Cone Point that's brilliant. Very nice blend of expansion and penetration and it works well at longer ranges too. This was my my favourite game bullet in 223.

In a slower twist barrels we find the 60 grain Nosler partition makes wider wound channels than the Barnes X Bullets. It penetrates a bit less but still normally exits on side shots of 300-350 pound caribou. The 64 grain Win PP is very good as well, and cheaper. It's a good 1 bullet choice if you can get them to shoot well in your rifle. I used the 53 X on a few caribou and found the wound channels a bit narrow for my liking. They did however out penetrate all other bullets even the 74 RWS!

We started our adventure in .223 using the 60 Hornady, 63 Sierras and 70 Speers and they all work but are a bit too frangible at close range. The Hornady is likely the best of the three. Now that the 60 Nosler Partition is on the market these cup and cores are no longer what should be used IMO. 223 is marginal at the best of times and the best bullet available is what is needed.

As for killing power, up to 150 yards with good bullets the .223 is pretty good. When ranges get longer than this I found the wound channels and killing effect get marginal fast. When down to energy levels in the 22 Hornet range it's time to pass up the shot. For this reason my wife switched to a Rem 600 in 6mm and it's a lot more rifle for deer size game, especially at 200+ yards.

More on the .223. Last summer I went through several hundred pounds of wet newspaper testing from 22 Hornet to 358 Norma. One of the studies I did was .223 vs 30-30. I figured I'd compare these two as the 30-30 was considered by many to be a minimal standard for deer.

My 30-30 was a Stevens 325B and I used bullets from 125-170 grains. The .223 was my wife's micro medallion a rifle that had about 5 caribou to it's credit. My hypothesis was that these two calibers would be similar in their terminal performance

In the following picture the two center bullets are the 60 partition and 64 PP surrounded by various 30-30 bullets. The bullet with the lost core is actually from a 358 Norma.



Both the Nosler and Win PP penetrated nearly 10" and began expanding immediately on impact. After 3" of penetration the 30-30 bullets had caught up and wound channel width was similar. Past 3 ' the 30-30 left a considerably bigger hole. All told the wound volume in newsprint of the .223 was from 60-75% of the 30-30. The first half wound channel volume was similar. The second half closed to maybe half as much.

30-30 pnetartion was as low as 8" with the 125 grain Sierra Spitzer to 12" with the 170 Hornady. The 130 Speer FN penetrated the same depth as the .223.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions from this test. You could argue that 75% of good is good enough. You could also argue that we are at some sort of a threshold here. I think used carefully the .223 can be very effective. Your margin of error is small. Good bullets make it acceptable in the hands of a careful, and calm hunter.

If I was forced to use a 223 or 22-250 I would use the 62 grain TSX or partition. Lou

Tested the Federal 64 grainers the other day at the range - two 3 shot groups at 100m of about 1.2 inches - not quite what the norm is with the lighter projectiles but definitely 'minute of deer/chamois' Would have quite likely shot even better if I'd had warmer fingers and less coffee with my breakfast.

They will do until I get my reloading gear set up again to keep working on the 60grain partition and various TSX's.

Thanx for report on the Federal 64 grainers....
Ingwe