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223 as a deer cartridge

Alright, alright… here's a little secret I have done to load 62gr eld-vt in my ar mags that people say can't be done and hornady doesn't recommend. It may help you with 80gr?

These are stupid accurate at a measly 2850 and function flawless. OAL 2.315 puts them up against the mag well.

I used a dremel on this 10round mag and you can see I "cut" to far down it but it works great.

Just an idea
 

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Alright, alright… here's a little secret I have done to load 62gr eld-vt in my ar mags that people say can't be done and hornady doesn't recommend. It may help you with 80gr?

These are stupid accurate at a measly 2850 and function flawless. OAL 2.315 puts them up against the mag well.

I used a dremel on this 10round mag and you can see I "cut" to far down it but it works great.

Just an idea
We did something similar years ago, but we cut out a small front, top portion of a couple of metal mags so 5 rounds would load and still maintain mag integrity.
 
My kids killed lots of deer with Blackhills 77 OTM 5.56. Not sure how many they killed combined but I the never had a mishap. All were shot under 200 yards. We use them still in hogs at night. Maybe 70 to 100 hogs per year. I'll say this if I was going to battle that would be my ammo!
Yep. We've been killing deer and some hogs with 223's, 222's and 22-250's since the 1970's. With proper shot placement and bullets at shorter ranges, the average deer and hogs are not that hard to kill. With the 80-90's in the 22-250 and AI, deer and hogs at longer ranges die about the same as being hit with my 6mm's.
 
The 60gr Partition can be quite devastating.

I moved to 64gr Hammer Hunter and then the 68gr HHT.

I like the Hammers because there is less meat damage, and more penetration, but from what I have been reading the 57gr HHT might be the sweet spot and I'll be loading those next (for niece and nephew)

Personally I do prefer 270win and 280rem when I am deer hunting, just offers a little more flexibility with quartering shots and longer range (just my opinion)

Shot a doe in the eyeball with a 60gr Nosler Ballistic tip one time. No exit wound, looked like she died of natural causes. That reminded me to be very careful with placement, especially when using softer bullets
 
I would say I have killed enough deer to be an expert with 22 caliber rifles. The lightest a 22 hornet--the heaviest a 22 creedmor.

I will say a 223 will kill a Texas whitetail very dead as long as shots are kept prudent and of moderate range.

I have found heavy 22 caliber bullets (70 or heavier) and mono bullets tend to be the best.

I like as much speed as you can get--and I'll tell you the 22 creed at about 3000 fps and a 88 eld or a 73 grain hammer hunter will flatten deer toot sweet
 
My boys used a 223 loaded with 75gr swift siroccos. I think they only ended up shooting 3 deer (2 bucks and 1 doe) before they moved to bigger cartridges. All were one shot kills. Two dropped and one ran about 40 yards.
 
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