Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting .223 for a dedicated deer rifle

If a 223 was the only choice I had as a deer rifle, I'd gladly use it, and expect it to work as long as I did my part. However, thankfully, I have better choices and I use them.

Easily my favorite caliber to shoot....anything. It works, and works well.

Y’all are going to talk me into a 223....

Nah, too small. You need at least 33 caliber and at least 250 grains of bullet to kill big game.

No doubt the .223 works well but as several people have mentioned "if you do your part". That of course is true in every hunting situation. I like the idea that you should use a cartridge that will work best when things go wrong, mentioned many times in other threads. The thought that you can shoot the 223 all day is a very good point.
Maybe make a dedicated shooter & a dedicated hunter twin. My "problem" is figuring out which one to dedicate.

With proper bullets the .223 works fine on deer sized critters "when things go wrong"....

A couple seasons ago I hunted mainly with a T3 SL in 223. Shot 75gr Hornady HPBT into little groups and did the job on the only buck I shot that season. About 120yds buck didn’t make it 15yds and collapsed. Only complaint was no blood trail but one wasn’t needed.

Our deer are easy enough to kill, I could do my hunting with a 223 if needed/wanted.

Thanks so much for sharing that buck with us! Wow! What a stud! Congrats!

The 223 is nice to carry and shoot. I would not use one if there were bigger animals on the menu, shots might be more than 300 yds., I was spending a bunch of money on a hunt, if I I had a very hard to draw tag, or if extremely windy conditions were likely.

I shoot a 243/6mm more for the same reasons as above but it has the same caveats as the 22s just slightly less so. With a fast twist 223 the difference between a 22 & 24 shrinks quite a bit. So I would say get one and see how you like it which I am sure you will.

If you are talking to people who "hammer giant bucks in colorado, ... with a .223 Montana", you can probably get a reward for turning them in. The minimum legal caliber in Colorado is 6mm/.243".

Ya, that's a problem. Same here in Washington, 6mm/243" minimum legal deer cartridge.

And 6's, 25's and 6.5's work just fine.

Guy

24.0 gr TAC & 65 BTSP @ 92 yards, IIRC. High shoulder shot. Dropped. I put the finisher in him just to be sure.

It’s my go to hog/deer load out of my 16” middy.

223/556 is a heck of a cartridge to kill deer with,sharp shooters who are called into areas to kill deer use a 223/556 all night long. where i live we call 223/556 our killer gun,we use them on varmints and sometimes for deer too.to be honest just a Savage s.s. 223 rifle shoots just fine to get the job done and Savage rifles cost a heck of alot less too and many times these Savage`s will out shoot a expensive rifle too.

I agree pete...

....and in Oregon, the minimum caliber, for deer, is .223. Go figure...

It appears that my slow twisted R#3 in 223 will shoot 50 gr TSXs fairly well when pushed by AA 2520

I bet those regulations were formed a long time ago now, and with enough of the right kind of lobbying, you could probably get the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission to allow .22 caliber rifles as well. These laws have been changed in other states, such as Kansas, with no issues arising afterwards.

They only became legal here about ten years ago. I still don’t know anyone that uses a 223 . Maybe a kid does.

A few years ago, I bought a Tikka Compact 223 for a truck gun. Ended up letting a great-nephew use it for a deer rifle, and he killed his first deer with at 6 years of age. He fell in love with the rifle, so I sold it to them and he's killed several more with it.....all one shot kills. I'm still not a huge fan of it on deer, primarily because there are too many people who own one, who have no idea what the difference is in bullets. Using a good bullet, it'll work okay, using the wrong one, and it's a poor choice.

60 - 64 gr have done great for me. 17 deer, from 70 - 250 yards. 60gr Barnes HP is my favorite. 64gr Win is good, too.

Let my buddy's 8yo son use my rifle, for his first hunt. Took his deer with 1 shot, through the neck, @ 235 yards. Dropped where it stood, 64 gr Win PSP.

My 9yo Grandson took his first deer, last season. 210 yards, dropped in it's tracks. 30 minutes later, 140 hog @ 155 yards, using 60 gr Barnes HP.

Shot placement is 90% of the equation. IMHO

I don't shoot boolets over 64 gr, not accurate in my rifle.
I found a box of 40 gr FMJ, same bullet used in .22WMRF.
Loaded them to 2000 fps for varmints. A .22 Supermag, blast to shoot and quiet. My pellet rifle is louder.