.223 varmint bullet, 1-9 twist, will it fail?

[rash powder]

I don't know what deer look like where you live, but we get 250+lb. deer all the time around here. You'd chase that deer for miles before the coyotes found him first. At 100 yards a 60 grain bullet will have about 960 ft. lb. of energy, and an 85 grain bullet in a .243 will have 1640ft. lb. of energy. These were figured as max loads right out of the Speer manual. The 60 grain Hornaday has a little better B/C, and driven to 3200 fps, it will have 1058 ft. lb. of energy at 100 yards. That's considered to be the minimum power for deer at impact. At 200 yards it's down to 811 ft. lb. The 87 grain 6mm at 100 yards will have 1726 ft. lb. of energy. At 200 yards it will have 1400 ft. lb. and still more energy at 300 yards than the .223 will have at 100 yards.
gary

We get around 60 lbs of meat out of a big doe. It's maybe a little small, but if you hit the deer where you are supposed to they fall every time. As far as power goes, yeah its light; but .223 kills humans quite effectively so it should do in critters the same size and smaller.

I have never lost a deer I have hit.

 

[GreekRedneck]

I will vouch for the 223 being effective on deer. I have only killed 6 with it and 55gr. Vmax, but all with great results except one. Terrible shot in the brisket infront of the shoulder. I did find him, and had I not been shooting explosive bullets I don't think I would have. As far as weight goes they ranged from 85 to 175 pounds and they all fell on the spot with a single shot behind or directly on the shoulder. Ranges from 30 to 180 yards. 250lb deer might be pushing it but with what ive seen done to these GA deer i wouldn't be scared to try it. And the 55 will stabilize fine, but I would try the 60gr. first for best accuracy

 

[SidecarFlip]

.223 is my match target load. I shoot piles of .223 reloads from once fired mil brass (Federal), usually Hornday 55 grain FMJBT's with H322 around 25 grains or so with bench rest CCI primers.

I also like to 60 grain Hornady Ballistic tipped Vmax for small game. Somehow I can't see it working with deer however, I'd try anything once....

I shoot the 223's with a Ruger Mini 14 match Target accurized with Accuracy Systems components and it's a tackdriver at 100 yards, literally. I can easily remove the heads of the pins holding the targets...

 

[Nomad]

Shooting a 1/8 and 1/12 with a 52gr Amax with H335 upper end in win cases prep
205m shoots a sub min in both guns
For deer hunting have used 64 gr pp by win with varget good results all above....
For shooting chucks used the 55 gr Ballistic Tip with H335 on the upper end all else above....
shooting coyotes and saving the hides used 60gr nosler partition varget high end all else above.

 

[CaptainCrunch]

I hunt whitetails with a .223. Longest shot I have taken is in the 200yd range, the deer fell in its tracks.

My rifles in .223 for hunting are a Ruger M77 in stainless - not sure which MK model, probably II. The other is a Rock River Arms Coyote with a 20" barrel. I use off the shelf ammo, usually 55grn ballistic tips. I've been using 55grn soft points since getting the RR as I wasn't sure if the ballistic tips would feed properly.

For woodchuck sized game, a .223 will be more than sufficient. Not sure I would bother with reloading either. Hornady Custom loads come out at about 3100FPS and group wonderfully for my RR.

Matt N

how far do you chase them?
gary

Matt,

Try this sometime.

Bullet weight/type Hornady 75gr AMAX
Primer type Remington 7 ½ Bench
Brass type S&B
Powder type Varget 22.5 gr

Barrel 16" 1/7
Semi auto Single Shot with longer round
Cartridge over all length (OAL) 2.260"(tip removed) /2.395"(tip in place)

One shot one kill on a doe at 190yds.

The round was too long for the magazine with the tip in place. To overcome that I loaded several rds with the tips removed then I loaded one with tip in place.

This rd was dead nuts accurate. I tried it on our hostage target at 250yds. Bad guys head was about 5x5. Never missed.gun)

It is also amazingly accurate with the tips removed.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

how far do you chase them?

gary

Funny! Seriously, he's right. Both my father and I have taken deer wounded with a 22 cal centerfire because they were dead/wounded. A knife strike in the brain stem did what the 22 couldn't on one. The other one was a deer we watched a guy empty his rifle on(not sure cal, but small) then didn't see come out of the draw. Later that evening, I found it (as I left camp to take a leak) with a bullet in the guts stone dead.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Matt,

Try this sometime.

Bullet weight/type Hornady 75gr AMAX
Primer type Remington 7 ½ Bench
Brass type S&B
Powder type Varget 22.5 gr

Barrel 16" 1/7
Semi auto Single Shot with longer round
Cartridge over all length (OAL) 2.260"(tip removed) /2.395"(tip in place)

One shot one kill on a doe at 190yds.

The round was too long for the magazine with the tip in place. To overcome that I loaded several rds with the tips removed then I loaded one with tip in place.

This rd was dead nuts accurate. I tried it on our hostage target at 250yds. Bad guys head was about 5x5. Never missed.gun)

It is also amazingly accurate with the tips removed.

I've got an AR also, and you would be better off with the 75gr priv. partizan or 75gr hornady hp with either 4895 or tac(I'm sure Varget could be used, but I have the others already) with a cci 41 (or 450). With either one of those I get moa accuracy for 5 shots, and they fit the mag without alteration with a mv of 2800 fps.

 

[CaptainCrunch]

It's all about shot placement. A deer can still run a long way with a 50cal through non-vitals. A good knowledge of the anatomy of what you are hunting and being able to hit where it counts will bring them down quicker.

The 223/5.56 is an effective out beyond 500yds with the right load.

Some 1/9's will perform well with a heavier bullet, some won't. It's good to get some range time in with different loads to determine which one works best out of a particular rifle. All of my AR's are 1/7, not the best for lighter stuff. Example a 50gr Varmit grenade, my best group was .75", with the worst being 1.6".

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

22 cal is a peculiar animal though. Nearly all bullets are made for prarie dog and coyote size critters, or they are fmj mil type. Barnes is the only bullet I'd use on a deer if I had to, but why. I've got 9 other rifles in the basement ready to go that are big enough to shoot anything on the continent.
I've heard of and seen quite a few kills on deer with 22 cal. here in N.D., and every one has been a head shaking moment, save one;.I used to shoot with a guy that developed a load for his swift with the original Barnes x. He head-shot a doe at moderate range and it went right down.

 

[ForneyRider]

Avoid a Sierra Blitz, those are for 22 Hornet and other low velocity 22's.

Sierra Blitz King, Hornady V-Max, and Nosler Varmint Ballistic Tip all shoot great in my .223 1-9tw AR. They put a pretty good divot in cheap steel targets at 100 yards.

 

[CaptainCrunch]

One thing you got to remember is this. 1/10, 1/9 & 1/7 twist will in some rifles behave differently. The 1/10 & 1/9 are 'generally good for 55g & lighter bullets while the 1/7 is good for 55g & heavier. This is not written in stone. You need to find some ammo in the neighborhood that you want to use and try it out and determine which is best suited for 'your' particular rifle.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

One thing you got to remember is this. 1/10, 1/9 & 1/7 twist will in some rifles behave differently. The 1/10 & 1/9 are 'generally good for 55g & lighter bullets while the 1/7 is good for 55g & heavier. This is not written in stone. You need to find some ammo in the neighborhood that you want to use and try it out and determine which is best suited for 'your' particular rifle.

Usually for the 9" twist guns, a 75 or 77 grain pill is about it. Even some of the poly-tipped bullets won't work in a 9" twist. I don't own a 10" twist gun, but I suspect that a 10" twist would top out at 68 grain or so.

 

[CaptainCrunch]

I doubt a 1/9 would stablize a 75gr bullet. It's possible for shorter ranges, but I wouldn't want to bet my life on it.

I was fortunate with the upper(1/7) that I grabbed to build what became my favorite AR. It shoots most everything 55gr and heavier sub MOA.

I loaded some 50gr Varmit Grenades using 23.0 - 23.6gr of Varget. 23.3 was the only load that shot sub MOA(0.9"). There was 1 that was 1.2, the rest were pretty ragged.

The main thing is this. Find the load that works best for your gun. It takes some extra time, but in the long run it will be worth it.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

I doubt a 1/9 would stablize a 75gr bullet. It's possible for shorter ranges, but I wouldn't want to bet my life on it.

I was fortunate with the upper(1/7) that I grabbed to build what became my favorite AR. It shoots most everything 55gr and heavier sub MOA.

I loaded some 50gr Varmit Grenades using 23.0 - 23.6gr of Varget. 23.3 was the only load that shot sub MOA(0.9"). There was 1 that was 1.2, the rest were pretty ragged.

The main thing is this. Find the load that works best for your gun. It takes some extra time, but in the long run it will be worth it.

5 shot 1" group at 100 with a 9" twist dpms 5.56 top end. (75 gr bullets)
They track well out as far as I've gone, but I haven't put on paper past 100.