Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 5.56 for Big game

It is perfectly adequate but I feel like I need to pick my shots more carefully with the 223 than even a slight step up like the 22-250 or 243. This isn't always possible so when I am hunting for big bucks I usually go with something 6mm, 25 caliber, or 6.5 caliber. For culling does the 223 is ideal and I even drop down to a 17 Remington sometimes, which I think now with the Lehigh bullets I will be using it more for deer, hogs and javelina.

Are most you guys running bolt guns?

Or AR based rifles?

Around here those using 5.56/223s, all the deer and antelope hunters I know but one are shooting ARs. I know one man why shoots a HOWA 223 for antelope In Wyoming you need a 60 grain or heavier bullet to be legal, and only for deer and antelope. No elk or larger game is legal to shoot with 22 center fires.

I personally have not killed any deer or antelope in Wyoming with a 223 but I have some 60 grain Nosler Partitions loaded in case I ever get the urge to do so.

I have seen others do it probably about 2 dozen times, and with correct bullets they kill just fine. Nosler Partitions, Swift Scirocco and Barnes GMX all seem to kill deer and speed goats as well as you could ask for if you shoot them in the right place.

In Idaho, you can hunt any big game with any centerfire caliber. Moose or bear with a 22 Hornet? Certainly not my choice but it's legal.

Bolt guns for me...pics for examples..

Bolt gun for me. Specifically, a Kimber Montana 84M.

Bolt guns or Contenders.

Mainly AR use for me. Started with a 16” 9 twist with a 1.5-5 VX3 on it. It was stolen and I replaced it with an 18” 7 twist PSA with a 1.25-4 VXR. To me the most important thing to remember as far as an AR for a truck/hunting rifle is to spend the money on a decent trigger. I limped my current one along with a 6lb mil spec trigger for a couple months and it made it tough to like. The main reason I mainly use the AR is pigs, there’s no limit or season and killing the maximum number possible is the name of the game. Best I’ve done is 8 or 9 out of one bunch before they got away. It rides under the pickup seat 365 days a year with 4 20 rounders in the door pocket.


Old rifle.


Newer AR



If I’m in a bolt gun mood and want a 22cf I grab my 700 in 222mag. It’s a 20” 9 twist Shilen with a 4.5-14 VX3 bedded into a first gen TI stock.

My daughter shot a nice doe Sunday evening with a .222 Rem. Bullet was a 55 grain Trophy Bonded. Drove it nearly the full length and we found it perfectly mushroomed under the hide.

Was it a factory load or component bullet Bristecd? I’ve never used any Trophy Bondeds but like the sound of the 55 for a pig bullet.

This right here is what worries me. A .223 has no business taking down a 600#+ elk. Ive seen them eat lead from large 30's (properly placed), like I eat Skittles.

lots of deer and hogs taken with .223 and 5.56
pretty much any bullet will work if placed correctly and with enough power...
killed 15-20 hogs with nothing more than FMJ's when thats all that i had left...

Mule deer, antelope, pigs and exotics oh my!!!

I foolishly sold an LTR a decade ago so I slum a hodgepodge of parts 1-8 ar anymore. Running an LRTSi and Wisconsin trigger.

Keep it coming gents. Anyone taken a caribou?

Now you guys have me thinking about a 223.....

I have always resisted it even though many are very successful with it. It has dumped a bunch of critters in rural Alaska for a long time and I have been told of caribou and moose running off after being shot with poorly placed ball ammo. But, lots of critters run off after poorly placed hits. I have some 62 grain Barnes TTSX bullets to load up and I know I could kill stuff with that bullet and my Larue AR. Just have not done it yet, always grab a 30-06 or .338.

My next bolt .223 will be a Ruger American or Tikka Superlite with 10 round mags. and a SWFA 3-9x42 HD I have that scope on a Superlite 6.5 Creed and like it for a hunting scope. I long ago foolishly sold the tack driving Rem. 788 I had. What was I thinking

I agree. Yeah, you hear about elk being taken with them. But, you never hear how many they wound. Somehow that never comes up in the bragging. Have some respect for the animals and use enough gun to do it right the 1st time.

I think they are marketing the Trophy Bonded as Gold Dots now..Ive used the 55 gr Gold Dot...and yeah...it works!

@1Ak I’ll have to check out those 62’s sometime, seem highly regarded

I like my 6X, but the 3-9 tempts me lately

I used their 1-4 this year, and right at dusk in the woods I felt mildly lacking on brightness

And add 55’s to my list

No problem with deer using 53 gr TSX.
GreggH