Thread: 223 on deer

Originally Posted by Fat belly Dog

Went and had a look at a couple of 223s at the local gunshop today.

They have a new Browning X-Bolt supper light CF stainless factory cut to 16.6" any thoughts on the X-Bolt?

Cheers FBD

Mine is an X Bolt Hunter. Blued/wood as they don’t make them in stainless left handed. They make the 223 on a genuine extra short action and the magazine will take 2.4”OAL.

Originally Posted by Shearer

Mine is an X Bolt Hunter. Blued/wood as they don’t make them in stainless left handed. They make the 223 on a genuine extra short action and the magazine will take 2.4”OAL.

Whats the trigger like?

Originally Posted by Tahr

Whats the trigger like?

I have been setting up a hells canyon for a mate.
Got the spring from aussie and still pretty average.
Just put a timney in the budget when you buy one.
Wish Tikka did a 300 prc!

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Originally Posted by andyanimal31

I have been setting up a hells canyon for a mate.
Got the spring from aussie and still pretty average.
Just put a timney in the budget when you buy one.
Wish Tikka did a 300 prc!

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they make a .223, get one of them instead

Wish Tikka did a short action

Originally Posted by gimp

they make a .223, get one of them instead

Just got 1-8 20 inch screwed onto my tikka 22-250 varmint.
223 is an underpowered goat/rabbit/magpie cartridge .
Just saying

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Originally Posted by andyanimal31

223 is an underpowered goat/rabbit/magpie cartridge .

Agreed, if there's one thing this thread demonstrates, that's definitely it

Originally Posted by gimp

Agreed, if there's one thing this thread demonstrates, that's definitely it

Nobody talked about shot of jaws or not been able to find mortally wounded deer when shot placement isn't perfect.
Use the right cartridge for the right job.
There's a few on here that are capable and have the judgement to call the shot to be humane with the said 223.
To be fair it's a fairly small percentage of people I have seen shoot.
Basically nobody skites about their fuckups

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Originally Posted by andyanimal31

Nobody talked about shot of jaws or not been able to find mortally wounded deer when shot placement isn't perfect.
Use the right cartridge for the right job.
There's a few on here that are capable and have the judgement to call the shot to be humane with the said 223.
To be fair it's a fairly small percentage of people I have seen shoot.
Basically nobody skites about their fuckups

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A few weeks ago, I saw a hind drop with a 270 cartridge, and about 10 seconds later it jumped back up and ran up-hill for 70 yards and finally came to a rest. If it had been a 223 or 308 I think the result would have been the same. Just didn't hit enough vitals to keep it down on the spot.

My small contribution to this thread. Good sized Red hind shot at 240 mtrs with a 64 gr Winchester Deer Season round. She was sitting and chewing , it wasn't an easy shot ( for me) as she was a little tucked up in the matagouri .
Perfect conditions but I couldn't close any more distant. I have shot a lot of 223 on rabbits out to 450 mtrs so felt comfortable but not ideal.
She went lights out and never moved . I love the 223 but I do feel under gunned with it on deer . I think for me it's very capable but I prefer a bigger hitter just for peace of mind.
However with members like Tahr and Gimp nailing them it shows experience goes along way.

Originally Posted by andyanimal31

Nobody talked about shot of jaws or not been able to find mortally wounded deer when shot placement isn't perfect.
Use the right cartridge for the right job.
There's a few on here that are capable and have the judgement to call the shot to be humane with the said 223.
To be fair it's a fairly small percentage of people I have seen shoot.
Basically nobody skites about their fuckups

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Ok then. I’ve screwed it up a few times. 1. Lost a fallow trophy of a lifetime with a .270, never recovered the animal after days of searching with assistance of a dog. My logic is that on the angling shot I didn’t penetrate the rib cage. 2. Took a headshot at a stag in the roar a few years ago (after successfully pulling it off many times). Went low and took his jaw off. Luckily he stood trance like long enough for me to finish it properly with a quick follow up. I will never again attempt a head shot like that. Cartridge was a .308.
In between times I shot many animals with a 6x45 and never lost a single one. I’ve seen deer run just as far with a 200+ gr bullet through the lungs from a 300WM as I have any shot with a 6x45/223 or the .243.
I killed two bull tahr with a .260 when the ‘expert’ in the camp claimed one animal after 9 shots fired from a 7mm Rem mag.

Hey it’s just my small data set, but I’ve observed; to kill it first you have yo hit it. And secondly, bullet choice (construction) matters way more than the head stamp on the case that sent it.

Re the browning - Terrible triggers. Even with the spring mod, hopeless imo. The only way to fix it is put a timney or similar aftermarket trigger in. So if your going down the browning road, factor trigger cost into your budget. Other than that, nice rifles, i liked mine alot.

Originally Posted by Tahr

Whats the trigger like?

The trigger standard was pretty rubbish. I have just put in a lighter spring from High Velocity Hunting Australia (about $25 delivered) and it has made a big difference. Still not target quality but acceptable for my average marksmanship.

60g NBT@3100fps

Originally Posted by andyanimal31

Nobody talked about shot of jaws or not been able to find mortally wounded deer when shot placement isn't perfect.
Use the right cartridge for the right job.
There's a few on here that are capable and have the judgement to call the shot to be humane with the said 223.
To be fair it's a fairly small percentage of people I have seen shoot.
Basically nobody skites about their fuckups

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True. People don't talk about the bad shots they make but at the end of the day, a deer shot in the jaw is a deer shot in the jaw no matter what cartridge you are using.
There are probably more deer wounded with big magnum cartridges than 223s these days. I have watched YouTube clips of people using the big muzzle braked magnums at range and it is obvious they are not proficient with them. They seem to think that if they have a dial-up scope and a range finder the big cartridge will do the rest. Like you say with the 223, there are few on here that have the ability to use those rifles at long range in the field and get a 100% kill rate.
I haven't had any fuckups with the 223 on deer (yet) but as long as I keep clearly in mind that it is a 223rem, I am confident my judgement will prevent me from making those fuckups. It is very much like taking up bow hunting. It gives you limitations that you have to be mindful of, and that is part of the fun/challenge of using one.