Thread: 223 for deer hunting?

Have shot more deer with a 223 than the other calibre's I've owned and cheap to run.

Shot a large bodied spiker this morning with my 223, probably 85-90kgs gutted. Shoulder shot, 150yds roughly, 55gn Hornady training ammo. He was walking slightly away from me, hence why I opted for a shoulder/chest shot rather than head/neck. Angled the shot just behind the shoulder, the projectile travelled thru his vitals and stopped just under skin slightly forward of the opposite shoulder blade. It dropped him on the spot, in his tracks, and by the time I walked over to him he was in deer heaven.

Warning...daft newbie question.....what about barrel length, say an 18" barrel, how far would you be prepared to still shoot.....

serious question, my .223 has a 1 in 12 twist and is at that length, not confident to use it on deer yet, use my 7-08 for that!

Originally Posted by Scouser

Warning...daft newbie question.....what about barrel length, say an 18" barrel, how far would you be prepared to still shoot.....

serious question, my .223 has a 1 in 12 twist and is at that length, not confident to use it on deer yet, use my 7-08 for that!

Most all of the contract cullers are using this calibre...Sako shortened and suppressed. Most aerial shooting is carried out using AR15 though you still find the Ruger mini 14 in use.

I have the same 223 1 in 12 twist. Use 55gr. Why are you not confident in shooting a deer???. The killing area is exactly the same as any other hi Powered rifle.

Mine 1 in 12 twist, 15.5 inch barrel. No trouble shooting deer at ranges out to 200m, sometimes further, most of the time within 100m though.

It is all about shot placement and knowing yours and your rifles capabilities. Nothing more.

Thanks guys, im not confident enough about shot placement, as im new, i get the heart palpitations every time i see one, which hasn't been a lot, seen 8, shot at 4, dropped 2.....

first kill, was on a deer farm, dont consider that a hunt, more an eye opener to see whats its like, second kill was a 'roar jobbie' cacking myself and a huge adrenalin rush......

hopefully a quiet stalk will result in me taking a deep breath and a more controlled 'placed' shot....now that the monkey is off my back....certainly hope so!!!!!

@Scribe what rounds are you using? If reloading what projectiles ?

Originally Posted by Scribe

Most all of the contract cullers are using this calibre...Sako shortened and suppressed. Most aerial shooting is carried out using AR15 though you still find the Ruger mini 14 in use.

I have the same 223 1 in 12 twist. Use 55gr. Why are you not confident in shooting a deer???. The killing area is exactly the same as any other hi Powered rifle.

Most aerial work lately is done with buckshot in my experience. Any shooters with the skill to use a rifle are seriously, few and far between.
Not to bad in the tussock when you can work them up hill and rattle a mag off and fluke a hit.
Plus hunting in low light on flats and slips makes buckshot proves more practical.


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Originally Posted by R93

Most aerial work lately is done with buckshot in my experience. Any shooters with the skill to use a rifle are seriously, few and far between.
Not to bad in the tussock when you can work them up hill and rattle a mag off and fluke a hit.
Plus hunting in low light on flats and slips makes buckshot proves more practical.


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Yes I had forgotten to include buckshot. I never used it much myself. It was hard to get enough lead into a target in the tall podocarp.

Forgive my ignorance but how do you even see a deer from the air in tall podocarp?

Originally Posted by Happy

@Scribe what rounds are you using? If reloading what projectiles ?

Hi Happy,

I am about to load a batch of 55gr, Nosler, Solid Base, boat tail, Spitzers. I don't know whether you can still buy them now. I have a few less than 100 left.

27.5 gr of BL-C 2. Behind them. I havn't loaded this powder before myself. But recently I was giver 20 rounds to try. They appear fast and accurate.

I have been using Nosler Partitions 60gr but I thought they were a bit hard. I didn't have them going fast enough either I felt.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Forgive my ignorance but how do you even see a deer from the air in tall podocarp?

Attachment 31504

Yes as I was saying that was a problem inn places like the Ureweras where we did a lot of shooting. It was mostly slip and riverbed shooting there. But when a deer carrying a bit of lead made it into the podocarp it was not that easy to finish off unless you had the AR15 handy.

Originally Posted by Scribe

Hi Happy,

I am about to load a batch of 55gr, Nosler, Solid Base, boat tail, Spitzers. I don't know whether you can still buy them now. I have a few less than 100 left.

27.5 gr of BL-C 2. Behind them. I havn't loaded this powder before myself. But recently I was giver 20 rounds to try. They appear fast and accurate.

I have been using Nosler Partitions 60gr but I thought they were a bit hard. I didn't have them going fast enough either I felt.

I've used that load too with various 55 grn bullets. Mainly Lapua when in the trees for a living. It's an underrated powder. Burns a bit dirty though. Used it in .222 as well.
BL-C2 behaves almost exactly the same as the new powder CFE223.

I use 2206sc and 69 grn Targex @ 3k and 2208 and 55grn Barnes @ 3.2k now. Shoot in the same place so I just use the Targex for longer shots. I've used them out to 290 yards, but mainly the Barnes under 200 yards. Barrel 20".

BL-C2 is also excellent in short barrelled 7-08 with 120 and 140 grn.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Forgive my ignorance but how do you even see a deer from the air in tall podocarp?

Attachment 31504

Is that you chomping on the supplejack VC?

Originally Posted by Tahr

I've used that load too with various 55 grn bullets. Mainly Lapua when in the trees for a living. It's an underrated powder. Burns a bit dirty though. Used it in .222 as well.
BL-C2 behaves almost exactly the same as the new powder CFE223.

I use 2206sc and 69 grn Targex @ 3k and 2208 and 55grn Barnes @ 3.2k now. Shoot in the same place so I just use the Targex for longer shots. I've used them out to 290 yards, but mainly the Barnes under 200 yards. Barrel 20".

BL-C2 is also excellent in short barrelled 7-08 with 120 and 140 grn.

Thanks Tahr, you have added to my store of knowledge on this powder.

I think you are right about BL-C 2 being known as dirty powder. The early M16 that gave a bit of trouble in Vietnam were burning this powder or a close cousin to it.