Thread: 223 on deer

Good going with the gold dots. I have two cans of Belmont ammo loaded with the 62's and they don't shoot well in any rifle I've tried. I have handloaded the 75's. Have not shot a deer with them, but I shot a decent boar charging me and it almost went the whole length. Entered in the shoulder and stopped in the opposite rump.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

That's very interesting @Tahr.

What I am seeing is vitals damage that's significantly disproportionate to the calibre / weight of the bullet.

That's been my experience of using fast, frangible .223 bullets that have a decent lower jacket / shank. The damage is not really discernibly different to .243 Win / 100gr.

I've got a collection of gralloch photos here, you'd be hard pressed to spot the difference between your photo and one of mine with the .308 Win.

Funnily enough I believe the 50grn ttsx was giving me SIMILAR wounding to a slower .270 cup n core loading but in opposite order on animal.

Super nice day here in the bay, calm and zero breeze

After getting back to the Ute this morning I set up a target at 200 yards so the 223 could have its annual check

60g Nosler Ballistic tips @3100 fps are effective but they need to go where they’re aimed

A gentle forwards load on the Harris 1A2 bipod and left hand under the rear of the stock for last second adjustments and a Nosler was sent on its way

A quick peek through the scope confirmed all is well and we’re ready for the next gully

Long live the 223

Attachment 236763

Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

Super nice day here in the bay, calm and zero breeze

After getting back to the Ute this morning I set up a target at 200 yards so the 223 could have its annual check

60g Nosler Ballistic tips @3100 fps are effective but they need to go where they’re aimed

A gentle forwards load on the Harris 1A2 bipod and left hand under the rear of the stock for last second adjustments and a Nosler was sent on its way

A quick peek through the scope confirmed all is well and we’re ready for the next gully

Long live the 223

Attachment 236763

Definitely confidence inspiring. Here’s a challenge for you…. Do that exact drill 10 times over and see what you get. Doesn’t matter if it’s shot on one go, or 4 hours between shots. I’d be really interested to see what your zero worked out to be after that.

Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

Long live the 223

A little fast bullet surprises a big fast bullet every time!

Originally Posted by Flyblown

A little fast bullet surprises a big fast bullet every time!

So true

Attachment 236789

Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

Super nice day here in the bay, calm and zero breeze

After getting back to the Ute this morning I set up a target at 200 yards so the 223 could have its annual check

60g Nosler Ballistic tips @3100 fps are effective but they need to go where they’re aimed

A gentle forwards load on the Harris 1A2 bipod and left hand under the rear of the stock for last second adjustments and a Nosler was sent on its way

A quick peek through the scope confirmed all is well and we’re ready for the next gully

Long live the 223

Attachment 236763

Out of interest what power scope you using on rifle? Doing well to see a 13 mm? dot at that range.

Originally Posted by woods223

Out of interest what power scope you using on rifle? Doing well to see a 13 mm? dot at that range.

2.5-10


Attachment 236863

Doing my bit for the late Queen this evening.



180 yards. High shoulder. Didn't move a muscle. 52 grn Targex (gun is sighted in for these on wallaby and I cant be fagged re-sighting it for the heavier Targex I use on deer).
Obviously hasn't shed his antlers.

Originally Posted by Tahr

Doing my bit for the late Queen this evening.

Attachment 236836

180 yards. High shoulder. Didn't move a muscle. 52 grn Targex (gun is sighted in for these on wallaby and I cant be fagged re-sighting it for the heavier Targex I use on deer).
Obviously hasn't shed his antlers.

Attachment 236837

That’s a practical looking blade you have there @Tahr

90 pages and not one failure. I might be just a bit sceptical.

https://sportingshooter.com.au/gun-l...enough-bullet/

Originally Posted by Oldbloke

90 pages and not one failure. I might be just a bit sceptical.

https://sportingshooter.com.au/gun-l...enough-bullet/

There’s failures discussed in the thread if you look. The article that you linked to uses the age old ‘ftlbs of energy’ fable as the basis to prove his point. Energy doesn’t kill animals, tissue destruction does and that is all about the correct projectile DESIGN and impact velocity.

Case in point, a cricket ball thrown at a deer has the same energy that a .303 bullet does, sure as shit won’t kill it.

Originally Posted by Oldbloke

90 pages and not one failure. I might be just a bit sceptical.

https://sportingshooter.com.au/gun-l...enough-bullet/

If you look at the autopsy photos and images of entry/exit wounds, you’ll note that the shot placement is spot on. Most of the regular contributors to this thread are highly experienced deer shooters, with a detailed knowledge of anatomy. They have the conditions and ability to put the small, fast bullet right where it counts for a fast killing, unsurvivable wound.

In the article, the primary discussion is about pigs. Pigs on dams and in swamps. There’s some discussion about safari and thickets. The advice offered is to use large calibres with slow bullets (.45/70 and .30/30). Nothing wrong with those. However…. I’ll warrant that the author is shooting offhand 99% of the time. And oftentimes the animals will be running. This is because shooting prone is usually - almost all the time - simply not an option in typical flat outback conditions. Have you ever tried to shoot a full power .45/70 from a prone position with a face full of rocks and spikey grass? You can’t see bugger all and you’ll get a painful reminder why its a very bad idea.

(Having spent many weeks shooting pigs and other stuff in outback Aus I’m struggling to remember ever using a bipod and shooting prone. None of my photos have rifles with bipods. The contour and amount of brush and scrub meant even sitting was usually pointless. I shot close range offhand almost all the time or off the bonnet or quad seat for longer shots.)

The flipside is I’d suggest that 99% of the deer pictured in this thread were shot from a solid rest, either prone or sitting. The key is precision. These deer are shot unaware, with high precision rifles, off rock solid rests. Comparing shooting outback swamp pigs to prone shooting deer in our hill country isn’t a valid comparison. You wouldn’t pick a .223 bolt rifle to shoot at pigs on the run in the same way you wouldn’t pick a .45/70 to shoot prone at deer 250m away.

.223 Rem is all about precision. It’s very good at precision on still game where the anatomical target is easy to reach. It’s nowhere near as “controversial” as some writers will have you believe, once they drop the invalid comparisons.

Picked up this fallow spiker last light on doc land. 69 gn tmk 80 yds. High shoulder shot. Didn’t move an inch. Sacked. I’m not used to these little deer any more. Whipped off the hocks and the head after gutting it and got the whole thing in my pack ! Autopsy to follow later today.

Thats in great condition Nathan.