Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .223 55 grain bullet failure on deer

Well, it was bound to happen eventually. I was sitting with my daughter this afternoon when she shot a 110lb spike broadside at 115 yds. It was a good shoulder hit that i watched through binos. The deer went down but continued to flail until we got out the stand and jogged down to put it out it’s misery. The 55 grain Barnes Vor-Yx bullet had essentially splattered on the shoulder bones and one of the fragments nicked the spine partially paralyzing the deer. It was not a pretty scene.

We have had such good luck with that bullet the last few years that I guess I was lulled to sleep. I know we still ended up with a dead deer, but it was not a big deer and the range was not extreme. I would go heavier but the CZ has 1:9 twist and does not shoot anything heavier very well. Guess we will have to stick to neck or boiler room shots from now on even on smallish deer.

Why stick with a .223???

I find it awfully hard to believe a Barnes x bullet splattered on a shoulder bone.

60 gr Partition or 64 gr Solid Base. Either is tough as you could ever need.

Not married to the 223, but daughter likes the rifle and has killed a few deer wit it. I have gotten poor accuracy with anything over 55 grains. It shoots the Barnes 55 and Hornady 55 grain in nice little cloverleafs at 100 yds thought.

Never thought the .223 was big enough. Others will disagree.

Would never had believed it either if I had not just seen it. Splatter might not be the right term. More like it shattered into small shards. Maybe we just got a bad bullet. I have been reading some troubling things about Barnes quality control of late.

I'm a little confused...a 1/9 won't shoot anything heavier.... All but two of my .223s have been 1/9 and shoot 75 grain bullets almost exclusively...with sub .5 MOA accuracy...

A friend has killed pushing 40 deer with his .223 which is a 1/12 I believe... 95% have been with the Winchester 64 grain PowerPoint. A few others with the Sierra 63 gr. SMP and the discontinued Trophy Bonded.

Was wondering what bullets you have tried...

Bob

My mistake. It is the older CZ with the 1:12 twist.

I have not loaded heavy bullets just tried the Honady Black, Ferderal Fusion and Federal Premium from 62 to 77 grains and would not group any of them well. Strangely it does not Iike very light bullets either, but shoots all 55 grain I have tried very well.

Move her up to a 6.5 with a 100 grain TTSX - that is the TTSX specifically. The combination produces mild recoil, but consistently excellent terminal results.

The TSX produced inconsistent terminal results for me in .30-06 and I swore off Barnes after that. Thankfully, someone coaxed me into trying the TTSX, which has consistently produced excellent terminal performance for the last seven or eight years on deer and countless pigs.

Don’t you know......Running down the mighty .223 will get you on real trouble around here. It’ll get you kicked out of the club.

Happen to have pics of the impact and/or skinned carcass??


I'm always interested in bullet performance and such.


I've learned the "shoulder" means different things to different people. Archery guys especially love to brag "such n such broadhead went right through the shoulder". Well.....kinda. That's a paper thin scapula you could get through with a butter knife.




I'm pretty surprised a Barnes didn't fair better. I don't have any experience with them or a 223 on deer...but I've read lots of good things.

use either a 63 grain SMP Sierra or a 70 grain SMP Speer, and put it in the right spot, either one will drop a deer fast...

@OP, First off... Good on ya for taking the daughter hunting. Congrats !


If you are set on the 12 twist CZ in .223, the bullets above are worth a try. If not, as others have mentioned, might be worth moving up a millimeter in bore diameter. I started my petite grand daughter off with 110gr NAB's in a .270 Win rifle with a short stock. She never noticed recoil when shooting KY WT's...

Since I'm not a member of the club to begin with, I'll say this........the 223 will indeed kill deer, and I have killed a few deer with it, but there are FAR BETTER choices, and I believe using a 223 is best left to those who are good enough to place that bullet with surgical precision. Most young or inexperienced hunters are simply not able to that. That's what a 243 is for, and I consider it to be the least cartridge one should use for deer........and for those who say there isn't enough difference between the two cartridges to matter, I say they have idea what they're talking about.

When you say it didn't group the Fusion well, how did it group them? I had a 12 Twist 223 that wouldn't group them either. 4" Groups at 100 yards with no oblongation of the holes on paper. That was bad grouping. I have seen some folks eschew a 2" gun for deer even when their longest shot would not likely exceed 100 yards.

Try the Partition and Bonded before you give up.

Probably the bone fragmented and it looked like the bullet splattered. Was the base of the bullet found, or did it exit?

Can't blame the cartridge or bullet if it brought the animal down and you recovered the deer. If lungs aren't hit well, it's going to take time for it to bleed out.

A cup and core could have lacked penetration enough that the deer might have got away or not been knocked down.

Was the bullet a 55 Gr. TSX or TTSX??

Barnes does not offer the TTSX in Vor-Tx 223 factory ammo

Try the green box Remington 55 gr psp.