223Kill any thing Or strictly a Varmiter? .223Rem/5.56 NATO is a exception to almost any other calibre in the world , for a number of reasons. Firstly Unlike so many other rounds this calibre comes in a wide array of rifling twist from 1-14" to 1-7" or even 1-6.5" twist this means that it can shoot ( with the slow twist rifles & upto 1-9") Varmint bullets from 30Grain at speeds in the very high end of the 3000FPS bracket and Just under 4000fps and with the tight twist rifles bullets up to 90 Grain Match Boat tails Iv even seen some 100Grain bullets for sale in .224"Dia: there is a wide range of bullet types and styles from varmint to lite skinned game core locked bullet (like the Win 64Gr PowerPoint pill "CX2" its my favourite Goat hunting pill in Australia, on shoulder shots It passes clean through both shoulders and leaves about a 50 cal. exit hole on the far side every time with consistent kills every time, this 1-7Twist combination is zeroed to strike point of aim at 250Meters and with a 8X scope its a "Dead" easy off hand shot at that range, my hand loaded Win 64 Gr P-Point pills leave the muzzle @ 3200FPS with a 23"barrel, with only 25Grains of powder. Its cheap and Very Efficient. light V-Max bullets in slower twist are just devastating on small game like crows , rabbits,feral "house type cats" and chest shot foxes, on the other hand with the tight twist barrels you have still more bullet choices like Barnes copper X bullet types, core bonded bullets, FMJ Bullets long heavy match bullets that out range 308Win at 1000yards and so on, using a tight twist and a long heavy match bullet you in effect have a mini version of the 6.5mm Swede in your hands with a bullet that is a long skinny needle that will penetrate quite deeply it is a VERY VERSITILE ROUND don't let its small size fool you there is so much going on with this little round depending for which bullet weights its built up for??would I hunt Elephant with it NO, but with all the rite circumstances and knowledge of the target body (kill points) Im sure that it Could be done I just would not to put my life on the line proving it, but would it be reliable and consistent No It would not. In short know your gun, Know your load and just what it can do, ( the joy of Hand Loading Gives you this) then lastly Know your games weak points, then apply common sense and reason. Happy hunting all. "Quote of the Day " the only thing wrong with common sense is that its not so common any more?' look at the Democrats? I rest my case. gun)