Thread: The ‘controversial.222’

Did most of my shooting in my formative shooting days with a trebbly. As others have said, the ability to go out shooting hare, rabbits and magpies at decent ranges whenever you felt like it made for an awfully big looking deer at 2 hundy when you went out after bigger game.

But shot placement is everything. I vividly remember crawling through a tunnel of gnarly supplejack and vines towards a sika stag going off his nut. He shut up as I was sneaking towards him, and looked up to see him 5m away in the same tunnel crawling towards me!!! pointed the bang stick at his chest and pulled the trigger. He spun around and went 20m, then began coughing violently, then crashed off. Came across a pool of several litres of blood, so continued searching knowing he would be close. 2 hours later I had not found him. Came back the next day with the dog and still no luck. 3 years later a mate came across that same 7 pointer 800m away from where I had shot it. Tough tough buggers. Shot placement is everything with a .22 cal

Shot 2 large Kangaroo's tonight both about 70kg. High chest shots both went down straight away both required finishing with the knife incapacitated but not dead with the 222. Fallow deer give up quicker.

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Excerpt of a hunting report posted up a few years back. The story takes up after my buddy had shot a Fallow with his 222

When he fired his shot I was watching what I thought were 2 does and a yearling about 250 m away and was trying to figure out how I could stalk in closer to take the yearling. At his shot, the 3 animals moved around the side of a steep pine covered hillside and it wasnt till the last animal stopped on the brow of the hill that I could see it was a buck. After they had disappeared I moved briskly around the bottom of the hill to try and get into a position to ambush them.

Just as I entered the bottom of the next gully I could see them near the head acting a bit uneasy........no doubt due to the scent left from us when we had walked around the top of the same gully. They then reversed their direction and headed back the way they had come.......about 150 metres away and quite some distance above me. As I watched between the pines I saw the doe cross through a gap, then a second animal walked through quickly without slowing enough for me to see if he had 'sticks'. It then stopped with its head and shoulders obscured by a pine tree slightly facing with his left side towards me. Looking through the scope I couldnt tell if he was the buck .......and I didnt want to shoot unless I had positive ID on his sex.
I held on his front leg for about 20 seconds...........then he moved slightly and I could see his pistle hanging down under his body. Bingo, he was the buck!!!

I slowly took up the slack and the Sako 'barked'. I knew it was a good hit.......but saw the animal start running around in circles. After 3 or 4 small circles I lost sight of him..........then about 15 metres below where he was standing at the shot, I saw a ginger body tumbling down the hill towards me. I lost sight of it a couple of times but was confident he was down for good. After making my way up the hill, (talk about steep!) and climbing up a 30 foot sheer bank I finally found him.........dead.

Ranged the shot at 144metres up about a 45degree slope. Projectile was a Sierra 50gr Spitzer pushed by Varget.

Entry point was just behind his front leg, low on his body. The bullet passed through the buck and exited high on the offside about halfway down his body.

When I gutted him I found that the bullet had passed through the front lower left lung, entered his heart, exited into his right lung at the top rear and then passed just under his spine before passing out the off side.



Will find a pic of him when i get back from todays charter.....

Comes down to realistic range along with shot placement. Several years ago I targetted a large red stag that was leaving a scuff mark in his tracks. After avery complex stalk I shot him with my 308; one shot kill. When I examined him he had had one back leg shot off at the knee and when I butchered the animal I found a 223 bullet encased within his other side rump. I later discovered that a heli recovery op had not recovered a large stag they had been shooting at from the air , in that area.

Mature hind shot through the neck;120 yds, "Childsplay" for the .222
Nothing controversial about that

Ive shot 9 deer with my .223 so far this year. 7 one shot kills, and two 2 shot kills. Out to 300 yards. Small Fallow through to a Red stag. I bring my .223 out once I start spring meat hunting.

Its easy peasy:

- Patience
- No running shots
- A good rest and a half decent 'scope (and for me with a higher top end mag like 12 or 15)
- Well sighted in rifle
- Neck or lung for ordinary 55 grn
- Shoulder/hillar works using a decent or heavier projectile.
- 200 odd yards for ordinary 55 grn - out to 300 yards with a heavier projectile in a faster twist barrel.

3 neck shots
4 shoulder/lung shots
1 Red too far forward shoulder shot required 2nd shot (275 yards)
1 Fallow buck too low and behind heart required 2nd shot (240 yards)


Used on the 9:
Factory Geco 56 grn (Good)
Factory Fiocci 69 grn (Not impressed)
69 grn Sierra TMK (great)
77 grn Sierra TMK (greater)

Originally Posted by Tahr

Ive shot 9 deer with my .223 so far this year. 7 one shot kills, and two 2 shot kills. Out to 300 yards. Small Fallow through to a Red stag. I bring my .223 out once I start spring meat hunting.

Its easy peasy:

- Patience
- No running shots
- A good rest and a half decent 'scope (and for me with a higher top end mag like 12 or 15)
- Well sighted in rifle
- Neck or lung for ordinary 55 grn
- Shoulder/hillar works using a decent or heavier projectile.
- 200 odd yards for ordinary 55 grn - out to 300 yards with a heavier projectile in a faster twist barrel.

3 neck shots
4 shoulder/lung shots
1 Red too far forward shoulder shot required 2nd shot (275 yards)
1 Fallow buck too low and behind heart required 2nd shot (240 yards)


Used on the 9:
Factory Geco 56 grn (Good)
Factory Fiocci 69 grn (Not impressed)
69 grn Sierra TMK (great)
77 grn Sierra TMK (greater)

See, this is exactly the sort of approach that I think bring success with the 222/223; being disciplined and sure of yourself and your gear. I think too many people just look at calibres themselves and not how that person is going to use said calibre, and on which game, with which bullet at which distance. Again, .223 will absolutely work on deer, if you are disciplined enough, but I worry too many people would take it personally and laugh it off if you said "mate you're not good enough to use a .223 yet".

222 buck
223 buck

I once lost a deer whilst carrying a Sako Vixen in .222, back in 2010.

The now ex-wife and I were making a trip into the Kawekas, and were about 1/2 an hour up the track from the lakes car park. Come around the corner, and here is a sika stag feeding on a small slip no more than 80yds away. Took what I ‘thought’ was a good shot, and deer runs off. I searched for ages, but with it drizzling it was going to be a tough task. Never found it, and swore at that point that I’d use ‘more gun’.

It took a few years (and a foray into archery) for me to realise that it was entirely my fault that I lost that deer. I had been in the habit of shooting deer in the kill zone, i.e aiming somewhere within the vital 6” circle, rather than picking the precise point that I wanted to put the bullet. I also now project the track of the bullet through the animal in my mind before pulling the trigger.

That is what I think of when someone uses the term a ‘cool, calm shot’. Not like I was back in the day

doesn't matter what the calibre is, if you cant place the shot accurately, dont know your and your rifle limits, aren't using suitable projectiles. Then dont take the shot on an animal.

Originally Posted by chainsaw

doesn't matter what the calibre is, if you cant place the shot accurately, dont know your and your rifle limits, aren't using suitable projectiles. Then dont take the shot on an animal.

Definitely. 100% agree with this.

I feel it takes a lot of maturity as a hunter to get to that point however. My guess is that the disciplined .222/.223 users here have a fair amount of experience under their belt, or have been mentored closely by someone who has. It has taken me years to develop that discipline, and I think I only just really cracked it this year through having a go at bow hunting.

Philosophically I’ll never hold it over a young guy or girl that makes a mistake and looses an animal, as long as they are committed to making it right. And what I mean here is some deep reflection on what went wrong, being totally honest with oneself, and stepping back into it with a plan of what to do next time.

I also guess that the gurus with these calibres have made a few cock-ups in their time, but that is exactly what makes them so good now. Lessons learned.

if you have spent over an hour searching,you have tried....if you have spent over an hour searching with a dog who knows thier shit...you have tried really hard...and sometimes eve nthat isnt enough,but you can be lucky when you actually believe the dog and follow it after you have given up and find the animal some 3-4-500 yards away and finish the job properly....shot placement is vital with any calibre...just more so with the wee ones.

Just for a laugh I took my short barreled .222 to the range and shot it at 300yds. Took me a few shots to get on target, no dialing just windage. It was about 1 Meter drop and 1 Meter wind.
You do need top bear that in mind when considering a shot at an animal and proved to me again not to bother about stretching the barrel.

Back when I used the 222 a lot I found it very efficient within it's range limitations. When culling we used Sako 50 gr ammo which I think was relatively hard bullet but it performed well.
Over the years I handloaded various bullets , most worked well on goats which is what we used the 222 for a lot. I did use the 222 for deer as my main caliber for a number of years and it killed well for a light caliber. Back then the Winchester 50 gr was the bullet I used quite a bit and did shoot a few big stags with them. I found that well placed shoulder shots would have the animal run, but generally they went down within 30 -50 yards.
I remember losing a deer in the Whirinaki many years back as it ran away, it was running around a clearing and I think my shot raked it along the ribs towards the shoulder, it left a good blood trail for a while which we followed by torch light eventually losing it and getting ourselves "misplaced" we found our way out of the bush about midnight.
With good bullet placement and bullets the 222/223 are fine little performers out to about 200 yards for consistent results.
Nowdays I use a 223 which is much of a muchness, they are a do it all caliber if the shooter is careful with it's use.

Originally Posted by Mooseman

Back when I used the 222 a lot I found it very efficient within it's range limitations. When culling we used Sako 50 gr ammo which I think was relatively hard bullet but it performed well.
Over the years I handloaded various bullets , most worked well on goats which is what we used the 222 for a lot. I did use the 222 for deer as my main caliber for a number of years and it killed well for a light caliber. Back then the Winchester 50 gr was the bullet I used quite a bit and did shoot a few big stags with them. I found that well placed shoulder shots would have the animal run, but generally they went down within 30 -50 yards.
I remember losing a deer in the Whirinaki many years back as it ran away, it was running around a clearing and I think my shot raked it along the ribs towards the shoulder, it left a good blood trail for a while which we followed by torch light eventually losing it and getting ourselves "misplaced" we found our way out of the bush about midnight.
With good bullet placement and bullets the 222/223 are fine little performers out to about 200 yards for consistent results.
Nowdays I use a 223 which is much of a muchness, they are a do it all caliber if the shooter is careful with it's use.

Nice