Thread: A question for the doubters

Whether a .223 is a legitimate cartridge for taking deer in my opinion depends on the individual hunter and the specific hunting situation. I agree that the .223 with "heavy for calibre" bullets is adequate for taking deer, BUT chuck in a few variables which make the shot less than ideal such as the bullet contacting some grass or twigs on the way to the target, a less than perfect bullet placement, an angled shot into the vitals which requires greater bullet penetration. In these type of situations a heavier larger calibre bullet must give an advantage, including the greater chance of a blood trail to track. Sectional density (momentum) becomes an important part of the bullets performance. Generally spea
I know the bullet energy factor has been criticized as not as relevant as we are led to believe, and to a point I agree after seeing the damage a 73gn ELDM will do to the chest cavity of a deer at longer (300m) range. But picture for a moment the result of impact on a ballistic gel block of say a .22 rimfire projectile and then a 165gn .308 projectile. The difference in impact energy is obvious. To my way of thinking there must be some advantage as impact energy increases. The other thing I would be interested in getting some feedback on is bullet frontal area in relation to terminal performance. I think this becomes more important as the range increases and the velocity decreases, as this happens the bullet deformation and fragmentation reduces, So at this point how important is frontal area which is dictated by calibre in relation to the wound channel and tissue damage.