Don’t know about your friends success rate with 223 Rem. I’m sure he’s killed deer with it. I don’t think it is a good one for deer out at 500 yds. Compared to other potent 224s like 22 Creedmoor, 22-6mm and 220 Swift, which really move 88 grain weights fast, the 223 doesn’t come close. Not saying it’s not a great cartridge, just saying it lacks a lot on deer size game at 500 yards. It would really struggle to get an 88 grain out at 2,500 fps, the others would be at velocity ranges of 3,200 fps-3,400 fps with an 88 grain bullet. This translates into 500 yard impact energy at about 650 ft-lbs for the 223 Rem, the others would be producing around 1,200 ft-lbs, or about double, quite a big difference using a .224 on deer at 500 yds.
Absolutely not a 500 yard deer cartridge in my estimation. Not a good one anyway.
That's why I qualified it with this, "for a hunter who can get in range to make a perfect shot every time, I'd tend to believe him."
And not just deer, but probably hundreds of them and hogs too.
Certainly it's not an all around any range cartridge. But it is efficient, within it's limitations. Probably 200 yards would be a good rule to go by in general. But I know some have stretched it out another hundred. It's just a round that's easier to be proficient with than something that has three or four times the recoil energy. And more accessible in general than the hot rod 22's.
