i know it on the small side but does anyone use a 223 for deer hunting? if so do you have a favorite load?

I vote no.

I say no as well. Unless you get absolute shot placement there is to great of chance of just wounding the animal I have seen it happen all to many times. I know some of you will disagree, but to me it is to great of risk.

I have a couson in Montana that uses one for Speed Goats. If it was my choice I would use a 60-80 grain, which means you would have to have a bolt action or single shot. But I do agree its a little small.

Lars

It's to small in my opinion.However in these parts I know of two older gentleman who use this caliber with Barnes bullets successfully each year.Both limit their distances,an one just installed his first scope last year at age 74 due to his eyes not being what they use to be.Both use ruger long guns in this caliber.

closer range with them new 80 grain seirra HPs i dont see why not.. guys use a 6mm tcu shooting the same bullet weight out of the same case.. just keep it under say 75 yards and have a nice hot load should be fine.. thats the only way i would do it if i needed too

I too think it is too small -- it's only .22 caliber. I think it is marginal out of a long gun, let alone a handgun. Not saying it won't kill a deer, but unless you hit CNS, you may be in for a long tracking job.

In theory of taking game, one should think of a bullet that will do it, not could do it. From experience, I have seen them get up and never be seen again. Shot from a 223.

i use 55gr rem soft pt.Have shot three whitetail bucks in the 150lbs class,two in the body one in the neck,all within 150yrds.Have taken two axis and two sika with the 223,all in the neck.In Texas 22 center fires are legal and if you do the range time they are great.Pick your shots and your bullets.

I still think it is under powered for any big game. The deer I spoke of was shot under 75 yards broadside, text book shot. The deer went to flopping around like a fish out of water! Thought it had expired, it layed there until we walked up and spoke. Then it jumped up and high tailed it out of there! Keep in mind the shot was well placed!

Ahandgunhunter, if you have a 460 why would you go to the other end of the caliber choices for whitetail? To each his own I guess.

In the right hands the .223 could be an excellent whitetail cartridge. You would need to be diciplined in shooting and shot placement.

I have taken 2 whitetailed doe with my 15" Encore in .223. both using a 55gn jacketed soft point bullet. Both shots were under 35 yards.

The .223 is easy to shoot and very accurate. If you are comfortable shooting it and your state allows the .22 centerfire for deer, you should give it a try.

The larger the caliber you use the more forgiving it will be for a misplaced or bad shot. Deer are very tough animals and a muscle or gut shot will most likley lead to long, slow, painful death no matter what you throw at them!

I also think it's too small, my wife insisted on using a 222 the first year we hunted together because her dad had given it too her. If I remember correctly it was factory Rem ammo with a 90gr bullet. We came across a forked horn blacktail at about 30-40yds and being her first buck she got a bad case of buck fever and hit it in the guts, I ended up having to dump it with my 300. I realised while gutting it that it would have lived and even if she had hit it right I don't know for sure if it would have been enough gun. The bullet went between two ribs and into the stomach but didn't exit. The wound had no blood as the hole in the stomach and hide was tiny and plugged with partially digested grass and I'm sure it would have healed and he would have pooped out the bullet. I bought her a 270 and since then every shot has been perfect and everything she has shot at has dropped at the first shot.

It wouldnt be my first choice, BUT Ive killed several dozen deer with 223 rifle. With a a 64 gr Winchester power point everything in front of the diaphram was jelly. Ive also killed several hogs with a .223. Same results. Bigger hogs were head shots. DRT. It is a very lethal round with good shot placement.

jeremy i ask the question because mt wife whats to try handgun hunting. being small framed she doesnt handle recoil very well. i on the other hand think bigger is always better.

A 14" bull barrel in 7-30 Waters is a pussycat to shoot.

I agree completely it is a very tame and accurate but lethal round.

Well, that makes it a little different. Whatever you choose, shot placement is always key. I actually have done it with a 22 WMR at very close range. 10-30 yards, with success. I don't recommend it but I know what I am capable of. Those deer had came right to me.

Head shots don't always present themselves and if it is a once-in-a-lifetime trophy, I doubt you will shoot it in the head. The options then make it inadequate under many circumstances. Placement is always king, this one leaves no margin of error. JMHO.

Now We Can All See For Ourselves Via This Blog Just Exactly Why U.S. Combat Troops Have Been Pleading With The Pentagon Wigs To Discard The 5.56 x 45mm NATO/.223 Remington Cartridge In Exchange For A Round That Inflicts Considerably More Physical Trauma On Enemy Combatants. This Problem Is Exacerbated By The Use Of "Shorty" Weapons Like The M4 Carbine With Its' 14 Inch (Velocity/Energy Cheating)Barrel Which They've Issued To So Many Thousands Of Our Troops In Afganistan And Iraq. Who Can Estimate The Number Of Soldiers Who've Been Wounded/Killed By Enemies Who Were Hit But Not Completely Disabled By Those Tiny Bullets.

.308 would be my round of choice in a rifle followed by .30-06 then 7mm mag

ahandgunhunter, just remember if you must use a 223 that you need enough twist for the heavier bullets. In a handgun I wouldn't shoot a 60 gr. or heavier without atleast a 1-8 twist.

The 7-30 would be a great choice.

thanks all for the input. i have several friends that have wives or children that have taken deer with a 223. being from tenn where the smallest you could use was a 243 this was never a issue. now living in arkansas and hunting in arkansas and missouri you can legally use a 223. i was going to load a 60gr noslar part in a 14 contender for her to try.. she has shot my 35 rem with a break and didnt like it. but she shoots a ruger GPSP101 All day day long.

For those thinking about it… check with your state legislation and see what the minimal caliber is. I know that some states requite at least a 6mm or 25.

After that is said… I say no… You loose 400 fps in the 22 cal selection and I think we owe it to what we are hunting to find another platform. I think the 7-30 Waters is awesome and is very under rated. With that being said, if you are worried about recoil I would say call MGM and order a 14in 7mm TCU and hand load it with 120 Nosler’s. Nosler’s loading data lists a 120 at over 2400 fps and even lists their 140 at over 2250.

I would also give JD Jones a call and ask him some questions. I have heard that the 6.5 JDJ is very recoil friendly and extremely accurate.

JMHO

Duane

About 20 years ago I took a scoped CAR-15 (16" barrel) to Kodiak Island for Sitka blacktails - just to satisfy my curiosity. I loaded the Nosler 60-grain SolidBase to around 2900 fps. With six shots I took five deer (none were head shots, that is a flawed shooting method IME and IMO). The first deer didn't react to the shot so I fired again. He fell over five seconds later. The two shots were within 2" of each other in the lungs, both fatal. The next four I just fired once and waited. They all fell over within about ten seconds, usually without much reaction to the hit. From my experience newbie hunters might think "hey, the .223 is a fine deer cartridge." They would be wrong.

At that time deer were so plentiful on Kodiak that the limit was seven deer. I saw dozens of bucks each day and could afford to wait until I saw a perfect broadside presentation. All shots were within 150 yards. Only one bullet was recovered, all the rest passed completely through the deers' chests. The single recovered bullet looked like the advertising photos we are so familiar with.

For my conditions that year the .223 worked, but that does not make it a good deer cartridge. I passed up quartering shots, moving shots, shots over 150 yards. In many other areas I have hunted, passing up those shots means you will never fill your tag. The hunter with the .223 would be needlessly handicapping himself. There are better choices than the .223 for a low recoiling handgun, even a .357 Magnum would be superior out to 100 yards. Using a .223 displays questionable logic IMO, regardless of the results of a few shots. I gave up stunt hunting years ago.


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Nice!

Those deer on Kodiak are on the small side too, the sitka blacktails are about the smallest except for maybe the coues. I know they are quite a bit smaller than the columbia blacktails and depending where your hunting the white tails can get alot bigger than either of the blacktail species.

No. In making a lethal shot there are already too many variables so why handicap yourself with a minimal cartridge? Would you hunt a Kodiak Bear with a 30-06 Encore if you owned a .375 JDJ Contender?

And if you only owned a 30-06 Encore then wouldn't it be much smarter to buy a .375 JDJ (or bigger) to help ensure the trip was a success? (I am not sure if a 30-06 is legal for Brown Bear, just a comparison.) I do know a friend that killed a Kodiak with his .375 JDJ Contender in Alaska.

In Colorado and Wyoming and other states the .223 is not legal for big game.

I feel that anyone who can shoot a .223, can handle a .243. And that is a considerable step up on game IMHO.

gregg if my wife could handle something larger then i would have never posted the ?. also in arkansas and missouri a 223 is legal for deer hunting.

What can she handle in a rifle?

Have you considered a .243?

Excellent point! I use a 243 rifle when I hunt open fields. Taken deer 400-500 yards with no problem. IMO a 243 should be minimal for deer size game. I have shot a many Whitetail and they still amaze me on their will to live.

It may be legal to use .223 in those states but a newby shooting game is not your average sharpshooter. Shooting paper is alot different than taking em down IMO! The real difference is going to be filling the freezer or trailing blood trails. You are getting a ton of excellent opinions. That is why you asked in the first place.

Good luck to you and your wife this hunting season!

In a rifle I would agree with you, but there is a significant difference in recoil between the two in a pistol.

MN just made the 223 legal as of last season, but I prefer bigger for deer, 6mm minimum for me and preferably 7mm.

Have you given any thought to a 257 Roberts or 25-06. I have a 25-06 in rifle and handgun and love both of them. Not much recoil and lethal on whitetail and hogs. I'm shooting 100 grain NBTs.

7mmTCU? It might be a compromise using a 223 case. It will come close to 7-30 Waters performance with less powder and recoil I had one in a 11in Bullberry and it was VERY pleasurable to shoot with 120 NBT’s!

Have you considered a break????

Luv 2 Hunt, the 257 is a great idea, but it has significantly more recoil than that of a 7-30 Waters.

ahandgunhunter... The great thing about this sight is that you can ask questions and then pretty much do as you want to. LOL Just waned to let you know that if we were not so admit or didn’t care we wouldn’t be posting our .02’s.

So please take if for exactly what it is…

Your friend

Duane

i know when i posted this question i was going to stir the pot a little. but i would rather have her shooting something she shoots well verse trying to over gun her. a gut shot deer with a 375jdj is still a gut shot deer.

but i am looking to trade a 375jdj barrel(contender) for either a 243, 260, 6.5 jdj barrel for my encore frame. to try to move her up in caliber.

WOW! Teaching somebody a gut shot? At this point you would be better off just letting her shoot the 223 and wing it!

LOL… I think the intent was I would rather have her shoot something she has full confidence in and can manage. Putting a 375 JDJ in her hands has the potential for intimidation and jerking which might result in gut shooting a deer… which is what he doesn’t want!

I completely understand your dilemma. Using smaller cartridges, just please be cautious to use bullets designed for larger game instead of varmints. It might even be worth your effort to handload premium bullets.

Give some after market breaks, not TC factory breaks, a gander. They take half the felt recoil, or more, out of a cartridges.