.223 on larger game

[Poseiden]

I've never used a .223 to shoot anything larger than a coyote.

Have any of you used it to hunt larger game? How did it perform? What bullets were you using.

I've read a couple of the typical articles today concerning the performance of the 885 and 109 bullets in combat. How inadequate they are, etc. I know if they were using quicker fragmenting bullets, like say a V-Max, they'd be more happy with the performance of their ammo. Of course that's an unsubstantiated opinion, but I'm sure we could find better bullets for large game than the 885 or 109.

What have you guys experienced with larger game? How about hogs?

Disclaimer: I'm not advocating hunting moose with a .223, just curious what folks have found when they have stepped up to larger game. I hunt deer with a 30-06 and probably always will.

[Prometheus606]

I took a 250lb Russian Boar with my M4gery at 50 or so yards a few years back... I want to say I was using plain ol' Winchester white box....It was a VERY VERY lucky shot......

Rusty

[Poseiden]

Where'd the shot hit?

[Prometheus606]

Hit him in the neck traveling toward the butt..(head towards me)

IIRC it went through a artery and lodged in the heart......

like I said.....VERY LUCKY SHOT

Rusty

[Poseiden]

Yep, that was.

Sounds like decent penetration though.

[95Bravo]

I killed a deer with a handloaded Speer 70 grain "semi-pointed" (as they call it) soft point, with BL-C(2) out of an AR15A2 around fifteen years ago. One shot broadside through the lungs at just shy of 100 yards, he took four steps and piled up on his nose. The bullet left an impressive exit wound suggesting generous expansion. That rifle was just about MOA-accurate with that load.

The Speer 70 grain soft point was one of he few bullets to choose from for deer-sized game shooting back then, but there are nice heavy bonded-core type to choose from, if you ara a handloader.

Wincherster loaded a 60-something grain load intended for deer hunting quite afew years ago, and I'll bet they still do.

Bullet placement is 90% of the game.

[Poseiden]

I hand load too.

I was thinking that Barnes Triple Shock might make a nice bullet for heavier game.

[Flinter]

I've taken a few deer with the .223.

I have no idea what the loads were..........Remington factory soft points probably.

It really, really did not impress me.

[thegundude]

Hmmm. You all raise an interesting point.

It seems to me that when discussing .30 and smaller rounds, I'd choose something that I could shoot most accurately over a larger size bullet. For example if I had a Garand/load combo that was minute of pie plate and a Mini-14/load combo that was 1 minute of angle (and the shot was over fifty yards or so), I'd take the Mini-14 every time. I'd rather be able t oput a bullet exactly where I want it than to just get close. Sure, just getting close may be enough, but you just can't substitute acuracy for bullet size.

Shot placement is King. A perfectly placed .22 LR will bring down an Elk.

[95Bravo]

I wouldn't be surprised if regular off-the-shelf .223 soft-points were poor performers, Flinter. The .223 is generally factory loaded with a fast expanding varmint type bullet that isn't designed to hold together.

Actually, I had to revisit this thread because I just got back from my rifle club where my wife was going through the basic hunter certification course. In the centerfire rifle portion she used on eof my heavy tactical-style .308's off-hand.

The "instructor" suggested that the rifle she brought was too heavy to shoot off-hand, and suggested a lighter rifle. So, I pointed to a Bushmaster M-4 with an ACOG scope and suggested that handy light rifle. To that he said, "Oh no! She can't use THAT!...but do you have, say, a light weight .223 bolt-action rifle she can use?"

A .223 bolt action? What an idiot. :losingit: I guess "scary-looking guns" are not allowed in the hunter safety clases. :mad:

[Flinter]

I wouldn't be surprised if regular off-the-shelf .223 soft-points were poor performers, Flinter. The .223 is generally factory loaded with a fast expanding varmint type bullet that isn't designed to hold together.


Well that's true, but part of it may have been me.

I've always been a dyed in the wool, behind the shoulder shooter.

If I were to use a 223 today to harvest deer.......I'd only take neck shots.

[95Bravo]

You make an interesting point.

A comparatively fragile factory bullet load might indeed fragment pretty well and actually do better in a neck shot, cutting major arteries are not too deep.

I only shot one deer with my AR, and I would do it again if still lived in a state that allowed it (with a heavy 70 grain bonded or partitioned bullet), but Washington requires a "24 caliber and above" for big game. :dunno:

I discovered wild boar hunting twenty years ago and started using a 18 inch rifled barrel (I shortened a Hastings tube by two inches) Remy 870 and sabot slugs and later a Imbel M444 FAL.

Pigs are tough. But fun. :D