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OP
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I have a new Ruger Hawkeye in .223, along with a Bushnell Elite 4200 3-9x40 scope with the typical stepped crosshairs.
Haven't shot it, have barely had it out of the box.
Never used anything as small as the .223 for anything as big as antelope or deer (previous experience includes .243 Win, .257 Roberts, 7mm-08, .270 and 30-06), but I'm considering it for next hunting season here in Nevada. I don't hunt coyote, groundhogs or assorted vermin.
Anyone here want to pass on some words of wisdom concerning this rifle, my scope choice, preferred ammo, and max range if not twisting dials?
I'm pretty sure I'll be looking for some Win 55gr PowerPoints to start off with, although I can handload if factory ammo doesn't perform well in this rifle.
And actually, I was even considering trading off the rifle for something smaller and lighter (Howa Mini Action?), because I want my wife and kids to have something to use with minimum recoil if I can ever persuade them to come hunt with me.
Anyway, if you don't mind, tell me what you think the limitations of this pipsqueak cartridge are and how you put yours to work hunting medium-size game.
Thanks!
Last edited by czech1022; 01/04/19.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing -- Edmund Burke
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Joined: Dec 2004
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It's legal in several states.....and it works....at least it did for me.....pick your shots and distance.....and hope you don't see a Boone and Crocket buck quartering toward or away from you..../
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Joined: Mar 2017
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Works just fine. Whitetails, Antelope, Mulies. I've killed whitetails with cheap 55grn soft points at 60yds. No blood trail but only went 30 yds, heart and lungs. also used it on antelope 175yds with 60g partitions, passthrough with light blood trail, 30 yds. Observed a 200+ muley go down with a neck shot with 75g hollow points at 200 yds....... I would say put it in the boiler room out to 300 yds and enjoy backstraps
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Joined: Jul 2013
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
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I and those I've hunted with have used 223's on several deer and antelope. My brother killed two does with one shot using 60 gr Partitions. The bonded-core bullets have been used several times, along with 68 and 75gr Hornady BTHP, and a few Hornady 55gr PSP. All have exited the chest or neck, regardless of shot angle, though most have been broadside, regardless of the amount of bone hit. Distances have been from about 60 to a bit over 200 yds. Though I'd not carry the 55's when hunting trophy deer, my nephew shot a huge whitetail through both shoulders at about 200 yds using them. The heavier bullets have all gone through at least one shoulder, and the Hornady BTHP have both been shot through both shoulders of deer 180-220 lbs. The Partitions and bonded bullets are surprisingly hard to stop, since both have been used on quartering shots and have still exited. The two does with one shot and a Partition were broadside. The 2nd doe was hit through the low shoulder after no bone was hit on a ribs shot of first doe. We had several doe tags, by the way.
So I have no fears about using 223's on medium game animals at standard ranges. The wound channels aren't ever huge, but that has been irrelevant. The animals have never gone very far, no more than a handful of steps. The 223's are easy to shoot well, even for kids, which likely also contributes to their effectiveness, because all bullets have been placed well.
I belong on eroding granite, among the pines.
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I used to think a .223 was just a BS cartridge. Started hunting hogs with some of the AR's lying around and was surprised at how it slayed them with FMJ bullets at close ranges. Started using PSP cup and core bullets and was amazed at how well it will trip a deer.
I limit my shots on game, to about 250 yards max, but it will really perform if you do your part. It WILL NOT make up for a poor hit as well as a larger caliber will.
It works so well, that I hardly ever use my "deer rifles" any more...
Last edited by Sasha_and_Abby; 01/05/19.
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went" Will Rogers
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Joined: Jul 2005
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Started out using in for fox and coyotes and longer shots at jack rabbits. Then had a whitetail doe wander out to see what the noise was about 150 yards out. She dropped in her tracks with a 40gr to the neck. Switched over to the bonded solid base from Nosler and have taken a few with my AR and my bolt out to no more than 200. Full pass-through on most shots. Insides diced up nicely and it will go through both shoulders.
Support your local Friends of NRA - supporting Youth Shooting Sports for more than 20 years.
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Whatever you do, Pay it Forward. - Kids are the future of the hunting and shooting world.
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65 grain SGK over a good charge of Varget will kill deer pretty dead.
Mathew 22: 37-39
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Campfire Ranger
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It’s against regs where I am, but if it wasn’t, I’d just go buy some Federal 62gr Fusion and have at it.
“Life is life and fun is fun, but it's all so quiet when the goldfish die.”
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Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
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OMG! Stunt shooting!! Is it even legal in most states!
"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
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Joined: Dec 2004
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Campfire Tracker
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OMG! Stunt shooting!! Is it even legal in most states! Yup....it's legal in a surprising number of states.... It wasn't in Minnesata when I lived there.....so I built a 6 X 45 and that was legal.....It, too, killed deer just fine. But then Minnesota doesn't hold the title to unbiased laws.....it's just another liberal state.
Last edited by vapodog; 01/05/19.
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Only killed one deer with my 223. Used 45 gr TSX at about 80 yards.. In one side, thru rib, thru lungs, thru rib and lodged under off side skin. 2 1/2 year old buck ran about 50 yards.
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." Albert Einstein
At Khe Sanh a sign read "For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the protected never knew".
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Joined: Dec 2008
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Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2008
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OMG! Stunt shooting!! Is it even legal in most states! Yup....it's legal in a surprising number of states.... Yes, but is it ethical?
"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
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brother has killed antelope and mule deer in wyoming and utah a rar and it works good! the 223 works good!
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Joined: Dec 2004
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Campfire Tracker
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OMG! Stunt shooting!! Is it even legal in most states! Yup....it's legal in a surprising number of states.... Yes, but is it ethical? if you believe it's not ethical, then don't use one.....but don't pass off your ethics on the rest of the crowd.
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I used it in Oz for a lot of culling a variety of game which commonly goes up to perhaps 200-250lbs. I never owned my own but shot several test rifles and borrowed other rifles on occasion.
Still have a pig mount that I took using the 55gn Sierra but the last bullet I tried extensively that made the cartridge shine out to around 600 yards (requiring about a 4 foot holdover) was the then newly introduced Barnes 53gn X bullet.
Because I abhor cleaning rifles and fiddly bits of rag to torture my patience with, I have walked away from smaller bores in my own rack. There is nothing and no-one who could temp me towards this caliber again unless it was for civil unrest reasons and AR platforms, but for a bolt action, forget it.
My personal bias is of no value to anyone other than to state that it is immensely competent, accurate enough to expect under MOA performance with suitable loads with a mild report and recoil level that anyone would welcome.
When truth is ignored, it does not change an untruth from remaining a lie.
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OMG! Stunt shooting!! Is it even legal in most states! Yup....it's legal in a surprising number of states.... Yes, but is it ethical? if you believe it's not ethical, then don't use one.....but don't pass off your ethics on the rest of the crowd. I think you're missing some chapters out of the Ingwe history book, Vapo...
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It's been legal in Minnesota for a while. I have used it on a few deer, including a couple large size. I have only used TSX 53 grain bullets on deer with it. I have never recovered one from a deer, two holes every time. The wound channel was a little better than a 30-30 with cup and core ammo in my opinion. It worked well, a very large doe I shot with it was just above the heart and she was down and dead in a little over 100 feet. Another, didn't make it quite that far with the heart loose in the chest. Velocity on what I loaded was running just over 3000 FPS
I wouldn't use it past 250 yards. 100 yards or so and in, it's fully equal to anything as far as putting white tail deer down, but it does suffer a little in terms of range .
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Campfire 'Bwana
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OMG! Stunt shooting!! Is it even legal in most states! Yup....it's legal in a surprising number of states.... Yes, but is it ethical? if you believe it's not ethical, then don't use one.....but don't pass off your ethics on the rest of the crowd. I think you're missing some chapters out of the Ingwe history book, Vapo... He may have never gotten the book even. Geno
The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men. In it is contentment In it is death and all you seek (Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)
member of the cabal of dysfunctional squirrels?
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OMG! Stunt shooting!! Is it even legal in most states! Yup....it's legal in a surprising number of states.... Yes, but is it ethical? if you believe it's not ethical, then don't use one.....but don't pass off your ethics on the rest of the crowd. You are taking Ingwe much too literally.
'Four legs good, two legs baaaad." ---------------------------------------------- "Jimmy, some of it's magic, Some of it's tragic, But I had a good life all the way." (Jimmy Buffett)
SotG
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OMG! Stunt shooting!! Is it even legal in most states! Yup....it's legal in a surprising number of states.... Yes, but is it ethical? if you believe it's not ethical, then don't use one.....but don't pass off your ethics on the rest of the crowd. THIS
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went" Will Rogers
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