Thread: .222 .223 .222mag .5.56.. THE CALIBRE OF CHOICE FOR MANY HUNTERS

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In the professional field of hunting.
Bullet placement is of course the essence with these calibres as IS TRUE with every other calibre. An animal can only be so dead and a gut shot or leg shot is the same by any other calibre. Place any of these bullets above, forward of the last rib into the engine room of a deer and its yours. Remember one thing though, its not where the bullet hits an animal it is the path through the animal that counts.

Bush bucking capabilities of these rounds is not great but neither is the bush bucking capabilities of any high powered rifle. If you don't believe this then try firing a magazine of tracer 308 3006 303 on automatic into a forest at night you end up with a Catherine Wheel Effect of spinning bullet fragments that will come half way back to meet you.

In the NZFS in the sixty and seventies you could use whatever calibre you wanted but you were only supplied with 2 .270 and 3 .222 rounds per kill. Among the hunters I worked with and knew, the vast majority used the deadly little Sako Vixen .222. Second most popular calibre was the 243, the boys using this calibre, would trade the 270 rounds at the local sports store for powder and projectiles.

I can only ever remember losing about one deer a month using the .222 and I wouldnt mind a dollar for every hour I have spent on my hands and knees blood trailing deer shot with other calibres 303's, 308's, 3006's and in particular 270's. The NZFS at this time had CAC producing a 270 rounds stamped on the base NZFS, using a 130 gr bullet that was spectacularly ineffective. When I started as a shooter I replaced a guy who had an accident and he was on 35th one shot kill so far that month using a .222.

My current and preferred deer rifle to this day is a Sako Vixen that began its life as a .222 and was re-barreled for .222 mag. This is a great cartridge and I used it until I started aerial shooting using an ar15 that I eventually brought. I then had the vixen re barrelled in .223 to use the same ammo. I have used a lot of 5.56x45 FMJ on deer with outstanding success. In the aerial shooting game many firms started there shooter of with the sig 308's but most gravitated quickly to the .223 an ar15, Ruger, HnK.

Big deer, little deer, Red, Sambar, sika, fallow, wapiti, thar and chammy, never mind, they have all fallen in their thousands to the deadly family of cartridges above. So if you are sharing a hut with another bunch of hunters and there is an old bugger there with a well used Sako .222 keep your eye on him because he is probably a big tallyman in a previous life and he will clean out the valley.

The Contract shooters of this day that I am in touch with all use .223. for goat control and deer control.
As professionals shooters like us, they pride themselve's on having the best tools for the job.

On the subject of range. I shoot with people who have found the lure of the long range calibre irresistible. They say we can shoot deer at 800 metres. I say I cant see the point in that as I have still got to wander over and carry the meat back or take its tail, so I would rather wander within 300 metres and put a neat hole through its ribs. A neat little hole that spoils no meat and I can block with a plug of moss dipped in pepper or flyspray to stop the flies from blowing the bullet wound.