Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Need help picking an urban deer rifle

My first choice i always a steyr but the only way to get a 223 shorter than a 23.6" is to buy a scout/ elite platform. Been down that road.
I like the tikka but hate having a 223 in a 30-06 length action.
The CZ was a close 2nd but the integral mounts and the 90 degree throw puts a scope higher than I want.
I was actually considering the heavy AMAX when I thought the twist was 1;7" but its a 1;9 so a 60 will probaably be what I use till I run suppressed subsonic. then I will load cast lead over trailboss.

Marlin 1895 in 45/70. Bang flops.

Remington 700 plus hacksaw.

Ooooops, scratch the hacksaw. Comes with 16 1/2" tube.

My vote would be the classic .222 in anything!

For my urban deer shooting I use a Ruger # 1B Hornet with 26 inch barrel. With a .45 gr. TSX and a maximum load of Lil'l Gun, deer drop.

Cz 7.63x39 add a can

that remington diesnt come with anything case it aint coming...
The H&R 300BLK still hasnt hit and it was announced at last years shot show and supposed to be on the shelves feb.
AAC has been to busy trying to get the micro seven to do anything similar to feeding a round to build another platform.

Hornet or Bee in whatever platform from Contender carbine to bolt gun.

Head and neck shots. I finally had to tell Nephew where I was going to stick his Winchester 43 Bee, if he ever lung/heart shot another buck with it and wanted help finding him. (ranch hunting with a perfectly good .270 at camp.) Neck shots can be dicey if the spine is not hit (even with larger calibers.)

My bee is the little Marlin 1894 and the only load I have ever fed it shoots 1 1/8. I feel certain that fine tuning the load could shrink that group. I have taken several meat deer and feral goats with head shots out to about 100 yards. 70 yards would be a chip shot for the ear or eye or somewhere in between.

The .223 can be loaded down and still do a fine job. jack

This is the first gun/cartridge that came to my mind, too.

I've got this exact set-up and it's is very accurate, often putting 3 shots in 3/8" or less at 100 yds. with my handloads.

I will have the savage in hand by monday, a savage wood stock with metal trigger guard by tuesday. Just ordered a Nikon 3-9x40 and leupold QRW rings. And using Maxima bases because they are so low.
So I can switch the stock back to plastic and take the scope off after deer season and have a durable $400 truck rifle
Might pick up a votex FH if the 20" doesnt burn up Varget enuf.
All in all not a bad set up for less than $700 OTD including a spare walnut trophy factory stock.

This rifle



this stock but ADL and mattte metal trigger guard

Ringworm, that rig should be a killer. The noise may push you to a can sooner than you wanted. jack

I assure you, I'd have one now but I dont want to spend the money and time to do it.

To break his boys into hunting my brother picked up a Savage 340 bolt action in 30-30, ugly little gun that was a short range tack driver and great little gun for hunting from a tree stand with the boys.

I've been thinking about using a 45/70 for "quiet" hunting. A 350 and 405 gr bullet with 13gr Red Dot sounds pretty tame even from my Marlin Guide Gun. It's pretty flat sound instead of a loud higher pitch crack that carries.

Either that or a Hornet with the 45 TSX but really think the 45/70's sound wouldn't be as noticable.

Good luck with that. Folks around central NC pretty much swear by the .22 Hornet, .223 is mighty loud in comparison.

Bloop.... thump....

A .224 cal projectile at X MV is going to be Y decibles.
regardless of the headstamp.
I dont shoot factory loads so I can make a 223 into a 22CB if I want to.

6.8 SPC

I have a 18" barreled 700 that is ideal for this. The cartridge is awesome on deer, low recoil and blast, plus can be suppressed later like you want.

If you're really serious about using a .22 caliber rimfire cartridge, then I'd recommend a super-accurate heavy-barreled bolt-action, clip-feed .22 rimfire rifle like a CZ453 "Varmint" (heavy barreled, adjustable single-set trigger) rifle and use super-accurate "match" ammunition in it like Tenet or Wolf Match Target.

With such ammo, you need not be concerned about "flyers" since this ammo is very, very accurate, shot-after-shot. Thus, the concern about reloading is eliminated.

To further obtain greater accuracy, you could weigh and measure the the rims of each of the cartridges and group those with the same weight and rim thickness together for added shot-to-shot accuracy.

Target or "bench-rest" ammo is usually sub-sonic (around 1100 fps), so a .22 rimfire using such ammo doesn't make a lot of noise since the bullets come out slightly under the speed of sound. Yet, they are only about 100 fps slower than the so-called "high velocity" .22 rimfire cartridges.

Thus, there is no "crack" when fired since the bullet does NOT break the sound barrier and thus, there is no bullet-created "sonic boom" which is caused by the bullet exceeding the speed of sound (about 1125-1150 fps depending on your altitude).

If you're willing to PAY for absolute accuracy, then you might even consider an $1800 "Anschutz" (sp?) bench-rest rifle. Of course, it's too big for a "truck rifle"... and too expensive as well. But if you wish to "worship" at the cradle of accuracy, you need to have a rifle and ammo that will consistently get the job done.

That said, a pillar-bedded, free floating heavy-barreled CZ453 with a factory installed single-set trigger (for better accuracy) using Wolf Match Target ammo should get your job done with ease.

My own pillar-bedded "varmint" model (hvy. barrel) CZ453 will normally shoot all bullets into a quarter-(coin)-sized group at 50 yards consistently... and, if I do my job, sometimes it will "do" even a dime-sized 5-shot group at 50 yards from a solid rest. Only rarely will there be a "flyer" and it will still stay within an inch (or less) of the rest of the "group".

Such a rifle listed for $590, and will generally cost you $475-$525 retail with a discount if you can find a new-in-the-box CZ453. They have been replaced by the CZ455. I recently visited the CZ web-site and they are still offering the 453 model which indicates to me that they still have some new-in-the-box rifles.

However, even a used one that was well-cared for should get your job done as well. However, expect to pay for it since they aren't made anymore & the vast majority of their owners know what an excellent & very accurate rifle they are.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.