Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 1-8" .224 bullets for game?

I've recently acquired a .223 bolt gun with a 1-8" twist barrel that I dearly want to love. I will use this rifle for culling small game, hogs and exotic deer on a large ranch here in Texas. Most shots will be 50-100 yds and I would like a tough, heavy for caliber bullet for this application.

In the past with 1-12" twist barrels I've gotten along well with 60 gr Partition, 60 gr Hornady FB and Barnes X's.

The 70+ grain selection has gotten rather large for .224 and I'm clueless but I am mostly concerned with bullet integrity whilst hitting some bone.

What would all recommend for this application?

Thanks in advance for everyone's help.

BBQ

If you care about meat waste- Barnes.

If you want more emphatic kills, but still want to limit meat destruction- 75gr Swift Scirocco or 75gr Speer Gold Dot.

If you want the most decisive kills- 77rg Sierra Tipped Matchking, Hornady 75gr ELD-M

I've never used it on game, but get very good accuracy in two .223s, a 1 in 7" and a 1 in 9" using the 65 Game King boat tail soft point.

After seeing your pics on here Form I’ve started using the 77TMK in my AR. Haven’t shot any animals yet but I bet it won’t be long.

Let me know how they do for you.

I haven't killed a deer with this bullet yet but the Hornady 62 grain sp-bt is really shooting great out of my 1-8" twist.

Is there a Accubond in the real world?

If they worked in your 1-12, they will work in your 1-8.....
Why look for something to engage heavy bone in a .224 bore at 50-100yds? You can shoot them in the eye at that distance with damn near anything and it will be good...

I'm not particularly a fan of .224 bullets for deer and hogs, but......



If you ear hole/CNS shot a 50 gr. Nosler Ballistic tip will do the job.

Other than that I have had acceptable results with the 60 Gr. Nosler Partition, the 64 Gr. Nosler Solid Base, and the 70 gr. TSX






Other bullet for sure, but those have worked for me. With the Noslers, there is no problem with OAL and magazine restraints in an AR.

ya!

GWB

My daughter used a Nosler 64 gr bonded solid base with great success. Was a complete pass through leaving a 3/4" hole upon exit.

For those ranges most hunting bullets will work and no need to go to heavies really.
I'd look at Barnes TTSX in 55 or 62 Gr.
Speer Gold Dots in 55 or 62 Gr.
Sierra 63 gr. SMP


Ive used all of these on hogs and would again...

I've had great success using the 60 grain Partition on deer through my 1-12, 22-250. The 62 grain TTSX has also proved to be a killer also.

Recently, I was helped my 11-year nephews get their RAR, 1-8 twisted, 22-250's sighted in and the handloaded 60 grain Partitions shot well. They went on to kill a couple deer last week and the results were text-book perfect on shots from 15 yards and 265.

I'm one who's always believed in hunting bullets for hunting and target bullets for targets, but I trust Formidilosus in his bullet choices so I'm going to try the 75gr Hornady ELD-M this season in my 1-9 22-250. Accuracy is great, we'll see what happens on whitetails. My shots are rarely under 200yds maybe they will hold together well enough at 22-250 speeds.

Have you seen a noticeable difference on game between the 55 and 62 gr. Gold Dots ?

Put them in the ribs, no problems. Hit bone and they’ll make a mess. They kill decisively either way.

77 tmk is a killer?
Hmmmm...

Mo better than a 75 gold dot???

All don’t shoot them only when they are motionless.

Significantly more tissue destruction. The 75gr GD’s are great bullets. The 77gr TMK’s are almost too much for deer.

I'm going to try the 75 Gold Dot. I had no idea of the construction of some of these heavy for caliber .224 "target" bullets. Thanks for the info!

What bullet do you suggest for shooting moving game with a .224 Cal?😂