Thread: 223 on deer

Funnily enough its big rutted up stags that have ALWAYS been said to be maybe step to far for the .224s. Maybe not so silly Afterall.

77grn TMK at 219 yards.
The .223 is so powerful it gutted it and it landed in my pack.

Bella is going great.bailing a woundie...Tilly would be proud mate,her tail will be going flat out watching that.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Bella is going great.bailing a woundie...Tilly would be proud mate,her tail will be going flat out watching that.

It was a dilemma. Needing to dispatch it as quickly as I could but wanting her to get the idea of what I wanted. Just let her have a couple of barks and lunges and then dispatched it.

That's my pick for post of the year.

Suppressed 243 with limbsaver.... Better in everyway IF shot angle or position or puffed or big,wet,grumpy animal. (This from guy who took the piss out of 243 users for fourty years) You just have more horsepower ...

Indeed.i have three cartridges in .224 calibre,trebly,223 and 22-250 love them all.have shot deer,pigs n wallabies with all three.

Will he reload?

308 with 130gr doing about 2,800fps. Very mild to shoot.

No he won’t load as far as I know, although he’s welcome to use my gear, and if it’s a 308 he eventually gets, I’ll happily knock him up some hand loads.

That’s what I’ve done, I’ve got some mild 130’s and my boys shoot it, but I’d say not well. However they seem confident.
There’s definitely a bit of apprehension there. Whereas the 222, no issues.
My 13 year old has shot a deer with each, the 222 was a beautiful shot; clean kill at 150 with a 55gn.
308 took 2 shots, from much less with a 130 gn.

But the long shot was well set up with a rest, and an unsuspecting deer at first light.
The 308 close shot, was under a light, standing, and it was walking away back to bush edge. So there was a bit of pressure on a quick standing shot, when it stopped and looked back quarter on. Probably not a fair comparison, but that’s my main point, when you have a young hunter in a situation like that they’re more than likely going to take a shot.

Had he made the same two shots with the 222, who knows…

That stainless 308 howa or vanguard that sold the day would be a good starter.

You can buy reduced recoil .308 loads...I've seen it forsale in Ashburton,might have to order it in,but it's a thing,as is the big heavy slow option,but that sort of runs into same slower kill issues.

I like the 308 150gr SSTs,you hardly know you pulled the trigger with a suppressor on.

Today I had perfect prone rest,both bipod and back pack. Two deer in matagouri less than 150 yards away,rifle sighted in properly( checked 20mi utes earlier harvesting goose breasts off a Canada in place I don't want one to nest lol) both deer resting.I even had a 63 grn projectile in the bigger 22-250 case. I lay there with bolt closed for good five minutes,didn't fire.lifted bolt and waited some more,one deer totally obscured except it's head was visible when it lay neck out to peek around scrub.the other one I could see entire animal,BUT it was laying arse on to me and only feasible shot was neck/head upright in shade at far end of animal.... Fallow have always been my nemisus animal,needed far more follow up shots on them than all the reds n pigs combined. So I waited some more.arse on yearling eventually stood up.giving me view of legs and tiny bit of crutch,it took two steps forward and lay down by its mate completely obscured... The wind was gusty and blow you off feet strong. I walked away leaving deer chewing cud and laughing at me. One day Roger Fits one day...

So now your suggesting a 300 win mag is on the table for a first rifle for young fella was an option.... Your so far out of the original question it's laughable if not outright rude. Agree the 243 is a good option ,suppressed even more so.

Some this guy say this n the other guy says that. Recently a guy send some projectiles down range at 1k and got a perfect 10 for ten, damn good that. It wasn't a 243 but my fav 300 wsm.

A couple at 200 odd yards for the soup kitchen. Shitty night but still a good choice over watching the rugby test on TV.

60 grn Hammer Hunters at 3280 fps.



First shot was the yearling. Broadside lung shot. It bolted without any sign of hit and folded after about 15 yards. Pretty much what I would expect from a rear lung shot:

Exit


Lungs


Mum ran up hill 30 yards and stood barking, face on to me. She copped one slightly off centre in the front of the arm pit at a slight angle. Pretty much folded on spot:

Broken hearted