I started reloading this year and have gained some good knowledge on here and other places on the web. One of the reasons I was getting into it was to make lighter recoil loads for my son who wanted to shoot a deer this year. He is 8 years old and weighs about 60lbs. Originally I was going to tone down some 260 remington but he didn't go for that. He didn't mind shooting my 223 at all so I figured that was where I needed to be caliber wise. I look online for the most effective bullets for deer even though alot of people frown upon using the 223 on deer. I decided on Nosler 64gr Bonded Solid base as I found numerous photos of good expansion and the bullet holding together. I did a load work up and found one that shot great over Varget - .75 MOA on 5 shots in a Howa Mini Action. The last day of youth doe he got to put them to the test. 85yd shot at a small doe quarter toward us. I told him to aim right at the shoulder to put it through the vitals. He did exactly that, it was a BANG-FLOP - DRT!!! The doe flipped right over on her side and didn't go anywhere. After skinning it out that night, the bullet past through the the shoulder, through a rib across the top of the heart and out between 2 ribs on the other side. No meat was wasted or blown up so the bullet did exactly what it was advertised to do.
First year reloading my own ammo,
First year of rifle hunting for my son
First deer for him,
and first animal killed with one of my reloads.
Last edited by PA_Probe; 11/09/18.
