Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting .223 for whitetail - yes or no?

Why not? I like the 60 grain SP Hornady, the 63 SMP Sierra and best, the 70 SMP from Speer.

Each one will kill above their paygrade

After my hunt this morning and my 10 year old missing a nice 4x4 at under 100 with the mini howa mtd lss grendel I put together for him I think I should have just let him use my lightweight 16" ar. He asked to use the ar and it had a 20 round mag of 60g partitions in it and I just said no you're using this bolt gun.

I'm finding that 10 is pretty young to be deer hunting stalking style not from some ground blind or elevated stand where they have a good rest. It just hard for young inexperienced kids to get set up in a hurry in a field shooting position where you have to improvise with whatever is near by to try and make a rest. I really am starting to think a lightweight ar with an adjustable stock in 223 is the ideal 10 year olds deer rifle for one who's actually out stalking animals not waiting to ambush one from a bench.

That little ar has a lightweight 16" Black hole weaponry 3 groove 8 twist and a ctr stock. The kids love it. My 7 year old would bank rupt my running cases of ammo through if I let him. My 8 year old daughter says she likes it better than her purple rascal and wants me to build her a purple ar. I think for the my 7 and 8 year olds first deer guns I will just build them lightweight ARs. Maybe I'll find some pencil weight 6mmx45 barrels so I can burn up all the 85g partitions I have.

Then when they get a little bigger say 12 I'll build them bolt guns in something a bit bigger.

I can't imagine how the leftists would freak reading that someone is considering building ars for his kids at age 10. I just really think they'll make good deer guns for smaller kids. I let my 10 year old use the ar in the morning if the right opportunity presents again. He told me on the way home tonight that I don't have to find him another big 4x4 he said he just wants to shoot a buck, any buck.

Bb

We big kids miss too. Tell him not to worry about that! But a gun they like and are comfortable shooting is a must. No matter the situation.

Was out playing with my AR earlier this week. It has an upper built by a buddy that is a 16", 1/9 twist, with a 223 Wilde chamber. Over the 2 years I've had it, it has just impressed me as a good fun gun, usually getting around 1.5 MOA more or less. All my shooting with it has been with 50 and 55 gr bullets, with one attempt with 64 gr WWs. It didn't like te 64 grainers at all.

Because of the tighter twist, I decided to try some other heavier bullets. Unfortunately, because of the shortages, I am down to just 55 grainers and one box of these:




I don't know where they came from, probably some long ago trade or group purchase, but they've been sitting there for years. Anyhoo, I loaded up a handful to try. The first three shot group went into 0.33". Subsequent groups were 0.67", 0.98", and 0.6". They only clocked in at 2660 fps but were dang sho shooting close.

Here is the question....has anyone used these things and will they expand on a deer? I called Nosler yesterday and the technician could not find this bullet in any of the catalogs or sales materials he had on hand. Since they only went back to 1975 or so, he thinks the bullet was probably from the 60s when they were making them by hand.

The box refers to them as 'Solid Base' and not 'Match' so it really doesn't help much. Unless I can get definitive information on how well they will expand on a deer, I'll either pass using them or only take head or CNS shots. I'd hate to shoot a deer in the boiler room and have it just pencil through or explode on the rib cage.

Bingo. Kids are never going to be that quick at that age, you just have to be patient and allow them to get a lot of practice. When I was that age, I was out in the desert shooting jackrabbits. Most kids do not get that kind of practice anymore. So, take them to the range and work with them. Make it fun and keep them off the bench!! When you are young, that is when you need to learn how to shoot from your hind legs. Offhand, offhand, offhand. Shoot from the bench later on in life, but learn them right from the start.. and no, more lead slung at deer or elk downrange is not the answer. I hope that is not was he was alluding to. If so, that is a piss poor belief. 1 shot 1 kill.. Give him a single shot that is lighter, if need be.

Use a 55gr Hornady sp interlock. That will take all the guess work out of it. You can burn those 68's up on paper and steel. Won't take very long in an AR.. Stretch that AR out to 4-500 with those bullets and see how they do. You may be surprised.

I killed a half dozen or so deer with the 222 and 55 grainers back when I was a teenager. The only deer since then with a 22 was with my L46 Sako using a 55 gr Hornady SP. All of the above shots produced DRTs. I have several hundred of the Hornadys and have faith in them to do the trick, but just like the idea of a heavier bullet in the AR. My L46 was rechambered from 222 Rem before I got it and has a 1/14 or so twist. The 55 gr Hornady is the biggest bullet it will handle. I tried some of the aforementioned 64 gr WWs in it while playing with the Noslers in the AR yesterday and they missed the 14"X14" target! I found where one of them went through the backing board sideways. However, it shoots the 55 Hornadys into tiny groups consistently.

Naw, I would just love to kill a deer using the Noslers. A hundred yards is all I can safely shoot on my property, and I don't get much fun out of shooting groups after establishing what the bullet/load/rifle can do. I only shot 3 shot groups so as to leave more of the bullets to 'do business' with. IF it turns out not to be a good hunting bullet and IF I back off from using head/CNS shots, I'll plan on hunting yotes with it.

Regarding the Solid Base bullets, this is from Nosler's website:

"1972

The Solid Base® bullet was introduced.

John’s next hunting bullet design was the Solid Base®, unique because of its thick, solid base and tapered jacket. This streamlined boat tail set a new standard for aerodynamics among hunting bullets, but also provided incredible terminal performance on deer-sized big game. Solid Base® varmint and target bullets were built on the same principal, and these quickly set a high standard for accuracy."

I never used the 22 cal Solid Bases, but the 6mms, 25s, 264s, and 270s were my favorite bullets. Still mad at Nosler for discontinuing.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/306278/1

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...s/11290194/old_nosler_solid_base_red_box

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/12679937/old-nosler-solid-bases-hps

Haven't read them yet, so not sure if these old threads will be any help !

I did use Nosler 55gr solid base, outta my .222, on pigs, back in Australia, growing up.

My mind says 24.7 grains of W748, but it was a long time ago.

knock on wood, never lost a deer with one, all have fallen within eye sight, using the 62gr federal fusions. My kids are older now and using more sufficient calibers.

It's newer than the sixties and I'm pretty sure it's Nosler's take on a hpbt match bullet. I don't have my old Nosler manual handy to check. What it will do in flesh I can't say.

Mid to late 80s manufacture.

Should be able to find something of comparable length that may shoot just as good.

Here is what I would try.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010522133?pid=199027

My kids first deer was comical actually.

I had him practicing all fall. I'd have him run 20 yards and back so his heart rate was up a bit, then shoot the deer target. Stuff like that to make it fun.

But his first one... we were set up in the stand and we saw a deer within 2 minutes of being up there. It wasn't shooting light even yet. So we set the gun up on the rest and waited a second. Then another one ran in, no BS.....right into where he had the gun lined up. He said "she's right in the scope"

I looked at my watch and was going to say I think it's time now. But what happened was I said "I"....and then there was a BOOM!!

The absolute best training tool I EVER had was a youth model RWS .177 break-open with a 4x scope. We got it for Christmas when I was about 10 and my brother was 7. Aside from the initial sight-in and occasional zero-check, it never saw a benchrest or sandbags. We shot cans, birds, varmints, grasshoppers, you name it, all from improvised field positions, be it bracing against a tree, shooting off somebody's shoulder, or kneeling behind the railing of the backyard deck. It taught us how to judge a rest, get our body where it needed to be, acquire the target, and break the trigger at the right time. It was invaluable experience, and made me into a pretty decent shot when it was time to hunt deer in the following years.

Were the ones you used hollow points or did they have a lead tip?

If you shoot them all in the throat or head. Shooting in the body you better be a good tracker.

Most people talk out their rear on this topic, but my group friends and I have taken no less than 25 whitetail with the same load. Never had to track a single one amongst us.

A .223 for deer is like taking your fat cousin to the prom...if that us all you got, well...