Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Why would anyone use a .270 for deer with all those .223's out there?

I've had no problem killing deer with .22 CF's, but I would never, never use a .270 for anything but pests. As a kid I read too much Elmer Keith and not enough Jack O'Connor.

Because California requires .24 caliber or larger to hunt any big game!

Right.



Wrong.

DING!

Give that man a cigar!

Of course, the sound of the "ding", probably sent some velcro shoes scampering to see if the fries are done....

I have a 223 Rem. but will probably not ever use it for deer as I have several other rifles, two pistols, and a bow to use on deer. I have a hard enough time using what I have in a 3 month deer season on deer not to add another. I do believe it'd work, given proper bullets and more importantly, proper shot placement. I just can't see using it to prove what's already been proven several times over. I'm sure it works just fine, but I'll use what I've been using for years on deer as I'm boring like that. My personal stance is that I don't care what someone uses as long as it's legal and they use it well!

Perhaps what I'm going to add to this conversation is germain - perhaps not.

I grew up shooting big guns. "Big" for a kid anyways.

I learned how to shot MOA with a 760 Remington pump in 30-06. Now that my Dad is gone, I still use it - it has a metal butt plate. I think I started to get pretty good with it around 12 or so.

When I bought my first rifle (at 16) with my first paycheck - it was a Model 70 Winchester in .300 Winchester Magnum, as I just had to have something bigger than my Dad. I shot it into MOA too.

Then a fellow gave me a pile of old Weatherby brass - so my .300 Winchester became a .300 Weatherby. I could still shoot it into MOA.

To make a long story short - a lot of time, and rifles and different cartridges went under the bridge since then. A lot of game was taken too - living in central B.C. as I do, it's easy to rack up big numbers.

I never kept a diary, but I wished I did, because then I could state things with certainty, instead of relying on memory. But, my memory tells me this.

I had a custom rifle built for me. It was a .22 CHeetah. It was a money-no-object kind of deal. It was about 15 lbs, it had a "Tooley 1000 Yard" stock, a 30 inch bull barrel with a 1 in 16 twist, and the best of everything in between. It has only ever shot ONE weight and brand of bullet - ever. Moly-coated 53 grain Barnes X's. It shot those bullets into a 1/4 MOA and it spit them out at 4285 fps, 15 ft in front of the muzzle.

I used it in clear-cut log blocks for Mule Deer and in alfafa fields for White Tailed Deer. The shortest shot was about 15 yards. The longest, a measured 385 yards.

I've shot over 20 deer (I'm pretty sure it's over 25 now) with that rifle (but now it's "normal weight" with a slimmer 26 inch barrel and a Boyd's Laminate Thumbhole stock) and not a single deer made it 50 yards from where it was hit. About half of the deer died in their tracks. One big running buck - summersaulted into a plowed field so hard he buried his antlers in the soft soil.

Going by memory, and including a LOT of deer shot with 25-06's, 30-06's, 7mm-08's, 7mmSTW's, .300 Winchester Magnums and .300 Weatherby Magnums - it's my opinion that I got more in-the-tracks kills, shorter distances when running off, and quicker kills with the .22CHeetah - than with ANY one of the other cartridges shot.

And a lot of "blood under the bridge" flowed before I discovered that.

I know it should be that way (unless you've read P.O. Ackley and his burro experience) - but it is.

Why? I wished I knew.

I wouldn't think their trigger squeeze would be any different than anyone else's, as long as their lighter-recoil needs were met if they had any---and these three classes of people just might.

Lots of folks have shot chucks or pds with a 223, lots of folks has seen what it does to them.

Doesn't stretch minds much to wonder what happens to the inside of a deer/lopes chest once the 223 bullet enters no does it?

Just a thunk.

I wonder, should I ask what people would think of a 25 grain Barnes in a 17 Rem on deer or lopes? Nope I shouldn't as it might stir things a bit much and I already know the answer...<G>

Dober

Wow....

Also I'd like to add this.

A lot more 53 gr. Barnes X's when shot from fast .22's will penetrate deer fully, than average 30-06 bullets will penetrate Moose fully.

And, a .22 caliber hole completely through a deer's lungs is a LOT bigger (percentage-wise) than a .458 sized hole is if it completely penetrates a Moose's lungs.

If a fast .22 with a good bullet, isn't a deer cartridge - then a .460 Weatherby definitely isn't a Moose cartridge.

Brian,

The original poster wanted a pissing contest.

That's all this thread is intended to produce.

Facts, won't change that one bit.

Somewhere along the way here I got the impression that the people against using the 223 on deer are not aware of the performance of the tsx's or the partition...or the even heavier "other" bullets mentioned.

Right. The ones most vocally against using something, are almost always the ones without a f'kin' clue as to what it actually can/will do.

Kind of like people telling you how to sight in, when they don't know the difference between trajectory and line-of-sight. That one...oh never mind.

Yeah, something like that....

Reckon this should be nominated for quote of the year...

Say my name. SAY MY NAME!

Uhhh ... Jeff_Olsen?

GE

You know ... I looked at this thread and thought "Popcorn".

Read a couple posts and went straight to the Bleu Cheese and Jalepenos on Triscuits with Coors Extra Gold.

I love the 'fire!

G: Me, too! Glad I couldn't sleep well;.... I learned a lot tonight!

Jeff

BTW know your max range..... it was commented... My far reach with the 223 so far has been 565. 75 amax. DRT. It didn't limit my range. But I had the knowledge to make the shot and place the bullet. With 4 other witnesses present..

Jeff

This thread kinda reminds me, why use a 340 Roy for griz when you got a pefectly good 25-06.