What are y'alls opinion on this? I know of two guys who have told me the .222 Remington factory 50 grain is the best deer load they ever used. And one of those guys I know has killed a lot of deer. I've heard from some others that the regular 55 grain 22-250 load is a deer killer. Do you really need premiums to hunt deer with .22's?

No you don't. The basic 55 grain Hornady is a proven performer, as is the 60 Grain Hornady, the 63 gr. Sierra SMP, and the 64 Grain Win. Power point.

I'd stay away from the frangible bullets though...Vmaxes, blitz kings, Ballistic Tips, TNTs.....

55 grain Horn...




60 Grain Horn...

Oh hell, here we go:

The 50 grain Sierra SP and a 222 at 3000 fps =






oops:

If you shoot them in the head, you can use anything...


Im gonna fling a couple 60 grain NBTs at pig heads in a couple months....

Benn mostly neck & spine

how about the twofer.

neck on one, head in the other?

I knew that would come up...I can't top that one


I am also gonna fling a 55 grain horn out of a deuce at a pig's face too....

Your chance will come, poobs.

My deuce days are numbered, chief.

The old mauser gets a remake to a 6x45 for the daughter.

I'll be slumming a RAR in 223 from now on.

It's what I used to drop she-ra, the doe of plenty with the other day. 55 gr Hornady SP, factory load.

.223s work...but the deuce has panache!

True.

But I've got nothing to continue proving on the deuce.

Put a couple thousand rounds through a gun, get comfortable with a cheap cup and core - shoot deer in the CNS. Make meat.

Besides, I'm holding out for a #1 in 222

No.




Travis

why stop there...........


whitetail cull, +/- 80 yds.

Tac 20, 40 gr. V-Max.



May try my Red Ryder soon.

JAPPFT,


GWB

surgical:

I know where there is one, but its not for sale!


It has a 1 in 9 twist sand shoots anything you can cram into it.


It will be the messenger that sends the 55 grainers into pig faces.

moose, I agree with ingwe on bullet wts.. But the conditions under which you are hunting are very important also.. We have shot alot of game with .22's from the Hornet to the Cheetah.. As you know bullet placement is more critical with smaller calibers.. I have also shot some game with the Vmax and Blitzking.. poked in the lungs they are deadly at close ranges.. Conditions I used my .22's on game were lots of game, lots of time and I could pick my shots..

I figure most of the elk I've taken over the years would have fallen to a 40g V0MAX or BT from my .22-250.

Maybe I'll try a zombie bullet this weekend. 0ne of my 308's has a SS 6x42MQ zeroed for an easy going target load with a 168 Zmax.

I shot my first 20 deer with a 222 and either Speer 50 gr soft points or Hornady 50 grain v max. No lost critters.

When I started hunting mule deer I REALLY stepped up my game. I shoot a 6mm WOA with..... Wait for it..... A 65 grain vmax, lol

Shoot them with varmint bullets, it won't hurt a thing.

Come to think of it, the only deer I ever had to track more than 25 yards was shot with a 300 win and 165 SST.

Sometimes I shoot a 7mm-08, but not because I think it's necessary. I just try to stay sharp with it because it's my big game rifle.

Most deer in Tx. are pretty small.. I shot a couple in S. Tx. Thought I had shot a fawn.. Guys heck no that's a big doe....I doubt it was as big as my dog..

I agree many south Texas deer are tiny. Never hunted down there. Whitetail Here stand pretty large on the hoof, and mule deer can get enormous. If you don't believe that, I'll snap a picture of a deer on my wall and he'll pretty much end the debate.

As I let on above, I don't shoot mule deer with a 222, but I don't consider a 65 vmax at 3300 to be big medicine either.

.204 Ruger with 45 grain SP. 50 or so yards broadside. He ran probably 50 yards without so much as a drop of blood found.


Then he puked up a lung where he fell


I'm a BIG 22 CF fan on deer/antelope, but don't think I will go with the .204 again, unless we're talking about does or smaller bucks. The varmint bullets work just fine, but I would avoid bone. They'll straight up knock a deer's dick in the dirt when they explode lungs after a solid behind the leg shot.

This seems like pretty good advice to me from Ingwe. Or you could ignore it neck shoot one with a 40gr V Max and post a picture of the gruesome aftermath to show your hunting prowess.

ClancyFromTexas,

Dunno what you call a big deer, or whether you judge by body size or antlers, but have hunted both whitetails and mule deer in a few places. Have yet to encounter a southern whitetail as big in the body as a big one from Canada, or the mountains of Montana, Midwestern farm country, whether a buck or doe.

In fact have seen whitetail does from central and western Canada bigger in the body than any Texas whitetail buck. And have killed mule deer bucks in Montana and Alberta as big as a cow elk.

70gr Varmagedon, 6x45, 3100fps, 25yds.

Adam

55 grain TSX out of my 223 put a thump on a large doe 125 yards. Perfect exit hole on a broad side shot.

LMAO you found one that weighed the same as your bullet

Mule Deer,

I refer to a big bodied deer as a big deer, and a big set of antlers as well, a big set of antlers.

When I mounted the mule deer I mentioned earlier, he measured 29 7/8" at the smallest neck measurement just behind the ears and bottom jaw. The biggest form available anywhere at the time was a Candaian Whitetail mount that measured 27" at that location. I bought it, spliced it, drove a wedge in it and reshaped the foam form. I still don't think it quite portrays his original stature.

I wish I had been able to weigh that deer whole. I was certain that he would weigh as much as most any cow elk I had ever shot. While that is the largest deer I have taken or mounted, I have seen many others that wore a lot of weight.

Not sure how we got off on this tangent. Let's get back to the original topic.

Try the Speer 130 gn. HP loaded fast out of a 30-06. Broadside shots will not exit, and the entrance hole will accept a softball. They don't go far, but, no room for error.

If a 222 was enough you would not have to ask!

When I was a kid in 1953 I shot my first deer with my 222 I loaded with the 55 gr Sierra. It hit the buck in the neck and broke his spine at about 175 yds.

Later that week I shot another buck in the ribs at about 50 yds with that 222 and it ran off. We never found it.

Hornady 60SP for cheap.

Though the Nosler 64BSB works more better IME.

There was once a wildcat called the .17 Flintstone Super Eyebunger. Some of these deer look like they were shot by it.

220 swift loaded with a Speer 70 kills like a lightning bolt

Vmaxs have worked quite well for me out of 22 CFs, and normally kill critters way quicker than soft points, though even the wally world soft point bullets have killed well.

Just don't try to break shoulder bones, especially with VMaxs or the like. Shoot tight behind the shoulder if possible, and deer/antelope often drop as quickly as they would with a CNS or high shoulder shot, with way less meat damage.

I have seen failures to kill deer with 40 grn B-Tips out of a .223 on body shots, but I've seen many many deer killed outright with standard 50 and 55 grn softpoints, .223 and 22-250.

For me I'd stay away from light plastic tipped bullets under 50 grains for body shots. If I was using sub 50 grain bullets, it would be high neck or head shots only.

Use enough brain.

He's out matched at any caliber then.

Right on. Since we already know .22 centerfires are adequate for deer there is no issue. We're merely discussing bullets.

I did on my doe. Shot with a 223 from my "weapon of war". According to the media the 223 "is just a killer". Yep, all the EXPERTS agree. They settled it for us.

That's awesome, I don't know how you find these things......

Not to mention, its "cool factor" is off the charts....

don't know why, but I think the 220 Swift with a 70 grain Speer, and a 300 H & H with a 220 grain Round Nose are about the two coolest looking rounds going...

and both of them also prove it, where "the rubber meets the road..."

Talking about using the 22 cal for deer, etc ,my wild pig guide told me that Kevin Costner, the actor, is a real good hunter and shot, and he shoots his wild pigs with a 223 Remington.

Dang, you mean I gotta quit shooting wild pigs with my 22 subsonics...... the idiocy abounds...

You need to learn how to trail....but you'll never learn...

I had no idea he hunted.

If you never recovered it, you don't really know that you hit it in the ribs.

If brains was gunpowder, Don couldn't blow his nose.

I didnt either, Jim Belousi hunts wild pigs with a 308 winchester, and is a very good shot also. So I hear........

That's awesome!!!

This is always hilarious schit,as it gives the absolute fhuqking CLUELESS an opportunity,to obliviously prove same.

Did someone actually get giddy about .214 BC 70's in a fhuqking Swift?!? Holy schit...THAT is fhuqking funny! Laughing!

Never been tough to cypher who shoots and who don't.

35gr V-Max 3030fps caseforming smooch launch in a K-Hornet...as I only shoot the 32gr version in formed cases.




75 Hornie HPBT at 2800fps ala 18" BHW Middie in the south end,of a Northbound train.



Press trigger and punch tag...not much to it.

Hint...............