Thread: 223 on deer

at one point NZFS issues deer cullers with .22lr browning t bolt I believe.....for both goats and deer... its all about shot placement and personal mindset/having confidence and dicipline to know when to shoot and more importantly when not to.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

at one point NZFS issues deer cullers with .22lr browning t bolt I believe.....for both goats and deer... its all about shot placement and personal mindset/having confidence and dicipline to know when to shoot and more importantly when not to.

At what point in time was that Micky Duck? .222,308 and .270 were the main flavours and on the odd occasion certain guys were supplied .243. that list was a definite on the Thar blocks. Although the majority of hunters on the Thar including myself carried .222's. I'm talking mid 60's-late 70's.

Originally Posted by doinit

At what point in time was that Micky Duck? .222,308 and .270 were the main flavours and on the odd occasion certain guys were supplied .243. that list was a definite on the Thar blocks. Although the majority of hunters on the Thar including myself carried .222's. I'm talking mid 60's-late 70's.

not 100% sure of dates...I have read about it a couple of times in books and or magazine articles....one magazine article was in two bits...first bit was written as culler and 2nd was some 30ish years later back walking same paths. thats where the Tbolt bit came from..pretty sure writer said they only given HV ammo so it was still noisy... not as noisy as the trebly but couldve been much better with subsonic.
was deemed a failure so wasnt continued...pretty sure it wouldve been central north island and goat rich blocks...was definately bush and river flats..... Phil H used .22 magnum on goats at one stage.....

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

not 100% sure of dates...I have read about it a couple of times in books and or magazine articles....one magazine article was in two bits...first bit was written as culler and 2nd was some 30ish years later back walking same paths. thats where the Tbolt bit came from..pretty sure writer said they only given HV ammo so it was still noisy... not as noisy as the trebly but couldve been much better with subsonic.
was deemed a failure so wasnt continued...pretty sure it wouldve been central north island and goat rich blocks...was definately bush and river flats..... Phil H used .22 magnum on goats at one stage.....

Cheers there MD, gotta be from the North Bush hobbits eh..

Originally Posted by doinit

At what point in time was that Micky Duck? .222,308 and .270 were the main flavours and on the odd occasion certain guys were supplied .243. that list was a definite on the Thar blocks. Although the majority of hunters on the Thar including myself carried .222's. I'm talking mid 60's-late 70's.

Greetings All,
At one point NZFS adopted .270 Win as their standard animal control cartridge, mid 1970's I think. CAC made head stamped ammo for them. This was all written up in the hunting mags at the time. I found two discarded NZFS head stamped cases on the range, both expanded by egregious over loads. Whether these were factory or hand loads I don't know. Either is possible knowing CAC's later problems.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings All,
At one point NZFS adopted .270 Win as their standard animal control cartridge, mid 1970's I think. CAC made head stamped ammo for them. This was all written up in the hunting mags at the time. I found two discarded NZFS head stamped cases on the range, both expanded by egregious over loads. Whether these were factory or hand loads I don't know. Either is possible knowing CAC's later problems.
Regards Grandpamac.

Gidday there Grandpamac, Yeah the .270 was supplied along with .308 at that time but .222 was used rather than the bigger calibers although one of my bosses grabbed a .270 that was on offer at the time and he was not culling,rather an office type.
The Forest Service offered the Thar hunters in my area brand new CF2,s in .270. Those things were far too heavy and bloody noisey plus the weight of ammo, hence the .222's being far more popular. When I worked in the Marlborough district They offered new Sako vixens in .222. Cullers moved around a lot from one district to another and at the end of the day the .222 was still very popular regardless of animal size.
cheers

My apologies NewbieZAR for getting side tracked on certain subjects I find my bleating can sort of keep on keeping on eh.

Originally Posted by doinit

At what point in time was that Micky Duck? .222,308 and .270 were the main flavours and on the odd occasion certain guys were supplied .243. that list was a definite on the Thar blocks. Although the majority of hunters on the Thar including myself carried .222's. I'm talking mid 60's-late 70's.

.222 was probably the main flavour top of south island late 70's to '87? when NZFS was abolished. 223 mainly with DOC shooters now apart from some contractors who were using 22 magnums and heading dogs.

Originally Posted by doinit

At what point in time was that Micky Duck? .222,308 and .270 were the main flavours and on the odd occasion certain guys were supplied .243. that list was a definite on the Thar blocks. Although the majority of hunters on the Thar including myself carried .222's. I'm talking mid 60's-late 70's.

The cullers in the NW Ruas or some of them preferred the 243 and had to trade ammo because the powers that be did not like the venerable 243 yet was a fantastic calibre for slip shooting in the river catchments. Yes some idiots [aged 18] hauled around the BSA CF2 270. A railway track would have been lighter but with a 130gr pill it certainly hammered deer. Some used them as a replacement for the 303 spinner. Gary Sutton shot 7 deer above the Ironbark hut on the tops next to Mokai Station in spring 1976 using a 222 which was quite a feat considering he normally used a 270 which was bigger than himself.This hill was adjacent to the clip on the Redstag timber dude and Alipate? were shooting in the saddle during Covid period.

Quite happy to use a 55gnSP in the right circumstances when the shot is on.
This one dropped like a stone @247y but again I was really confident of the shot (stopped, head down, grazing, no wind, good set up I trusted and not a rushed shot). I think that's a really good point @NewbieZAR raises that we sometimes miss because we are prepared to rush a shot, rather than respect the animal and let it walk.


I now have the luxury with a faster twist 1:8 .223 of using a 75 grain bonded Speer Gold dot - which I'm looking forward to using a little more with these and this cal across a wider range of animals. BTW the place was mainly Fallow, but when life gives you a upgrade who am i to say no...

Originally Posted by Carpe Diem

Quite happy to use a 55gnSP in the right circumstances when the shot is on.
This one dropped like a stone @247y but again I was really confident of the shot (stopped, head down, grazing, no wind, good set up I trusted and not a rushed shot). I think that's a really good point @NewbieZAR raises that we sometimes miss because we are prepared to rush a shot, rather than respect the animal and let it walk.
Attachment 149348

I now have the luxury with a faster twist 1:8 .223 of using a 75 grain bonded Speer Gold dot - which I'm looking forward to using a little more with these and this cal across a wider range of animals. BTW the place was mainly Fallow, but when life gives you a upgrade who am i to say no...

@Carpe Diem - reviving an old thread. Do you have anything further to report on the Gold Dot? Effectiveness, load etc? Thanks

almost looks like on old bulldozed track too...how COULD a fella pass up that chance??? your barrel looks like it long enough to be half way there anyway...you would be at least 6" closer than alot of folks...good on you for not cutting it super silly short.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

almost looks like on old bulldozed track too...how COULD a fella pass up that chance??? your barrel looks like it long enough to be half way there anyway...you would be at least 6" closer than alot of folks...good on you for not cutting it super silly short.

Hahaha.. Thanks @mickyduck lets just say it wasn't too hard getting the sxs in there, and yes looks long in the photo but is factory length - plus a forward Waitaki suppressor I was lucky enough to win at the last Toby Shoot down in Kurow. Actually it balances very well with the paper weight added. I also have a .308 with 16.5" pipe for the bush, but that is in need of a re-barrel so its having time out in my safe for now while this get a few more walks and is becoming my go to...

CD.

I have shot more Deer with a 223 than all other Cals put together
All I might add - were shot with full jacket - cheap Russian and I think Serbian Ammo
Hand on heart - I can only think of 4 or 5 that got away after been hit
That was actually more to do with the shitty Wichita base mount that was on my 1st Mini14 - it never held zero well and I jaw shot a few (poor beggars - no a nice way to die:-(
However – I would never go back to that Cal
It was purely to do with cheap ammo – semi auto 20 shot mags etc
If Deer shot chest – would run like not hit at all – but dead within 40m
Norinco was common use back then too - think that's China made ??

Must have been a North Island thing as I knew a few NZFS guys way back and only ever heard of 303, 222 and 270 being used by them.
Oh and the odd 308.