Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Is the 223 AI enough for deer

Scope is a swfa SS 10 x. Had to try one just to see if they actually tracked and held 0. It does everything big stick says. And I could even shoot a deer after legal light if I wanted to.

Gunner and school, eddy bo built hammers and this is one of them. He is missed around my camp too. I get a laugh every time I shoot a deer or elk with his rifles. I know he would be excited that his gun was shooting so well

My browning x-bolt in 223 does not like 63gr win. pp which is the bullet I wanted to use so I have been using 55gr rem sp which are just about gone I like to buy in bulk and do not like to spend a lot on bullets for a rifle that I use to shoot pest and a meat deer during a doe season.I have ok luck with the 55gr rem but would like a little tougher bullet.Is there a difference Hornadys with or with out the cannelure? How about the Hornady 60sp in the slow twist barrel and on game?

For me, it's the gun that does the picking...

My .22-204, M-7 feeds longer bullets well, due to the way I have the box mag set up. It like 75 gr SSII's over Varget.

In my custom Ranch Rifle and AR, both .223's, I'm working with 64 BSB, 65 Power Point and 60 NPT. The rifles will dictate.

Other .22 centerfires like different bullets because of twist, etc.

So, I can never pick a favorite, it's the rifle's choice...

DF

For me it would be the 62 ttsx so I could break shoulders, But I'd rather shoot amax at does and yotes and if a big buck walks out he catches it in the lungs or ear. I've used the 75 BTHP and it worked but it didn't create trauma like the amax. The 223 is like a golf bag full of clubs. Pick what the situation calls for

That 62 TTSX is pretty long and you'll need some twist to make it work. It should be hard to beat on WT and hogs.

DF

10-4 MSU, we were busting rocks out at 1400 with his big 338 Allen Mag in New Mexico, a finer tuned Swiss watch was never built.

I have used plenty of TTSX in .270 and up but not in .22. Does going up in weight increase expansion or just penetration in .224 slugs? If a 55 will punch clean through I would rather have the extra speed.

I think you are exactly right. Speed is your friend with mono metals. If a heavier bullet penetrated better, you wouldn't be able to tell....


FWIW I was never able to "catch" a 50 grainer after a dozen kills with it either.

I switched to 55s simply to increase the bearing surface, and hence pressure, and hence velocity. I really wasn't getting the speed out of the 50s that I can get out of a 55...

Ingwe, what's your favorite 55 TSX load for the .223AI. I'm thinking of trying those in my fast twist .22-204.

.223AI data is usually a good starting load for the .22-204...

DF

28.5 gr. of H335

This is an easy one Sierra 63gr SMP Varminter #1370, you can thank me later...

Thanks again Dober wherever you are.

I'm going to ask a question about a hornady amax
anyone used them in the past in a 75 grn ?
My daughters rifle
have used 55 grn hornady innerlocks in the past n every animal she's touched with it has died .
but wondered what it would do on deer

I have not, but Im pretty sure a couple members here swear by them in the .223AI for deer.

saw lots of good posts on a thread dedicated to the 223ai, you might want to check it out.

would you guys pick 55gr, or 70gr TSX for hogs?

55 gr TTSX....

unobtanium, in other words

I can get the 55's and the 70's easily. The others, not so much.

Or I could just bring the 1 in 8" bull barrel gun and choot 60gr Partitions.

i dont think any .224 bullet is large enough for big game animals but plenty of people seem to like them.not for me,but if you like it go for it.

It takes a lot of twist for 70 gr. TSX and it's hard to get the speed needed for a Mono-metal to do its stuff.

I guess if one had a fast twist .22-250/.220S, but even then, those 70's don't move that fast. And that's one long bullet...

I'm not sure why Barnes even made the 70. I have a few if you want to try them. I'm not going to be using 70's, for sure. I've had them for a while, can't remember what I was thinking when I bought them.

PM me if you are serious about 70's. I can help...

DF

You probably haven't read P. O. Ackley's accounts of hunting with the .220 Swift. What a fast, light bullet can do has long been documented and authenticated.

Now, terminal performance of bullets becomes more important, IMO, as velocity is increased. I think that's the discussion on the table, more than head stamp...

DF