Deer Gun .556?

[muleystalker]

Joe said those 556 bullets would cut you in half.

They have that good "Tumbling Action" that is devastating!

 

[goodbadugly]

5.56 wasn't worth a dam in Nam!!

 

[jcm800]

I've used a 1-9 223 on small parcels where I didn't want the bullet to exit. Hornady 68 bthp"s are very impressive on broadside lung shots. I would only use them in this scenario as they fragment after 8".

 

[Tesoro]

Joe said those 556 bullets would cut you in half.

Wrong..He said a 9mm bullet would blow your lungs right out of you body! Maybe he was referring to a 355-50BMG wildcat?

 

[K22]

I hunted deer for over 50 years and had my share of successes and misses.

While I never hunted deer with a 223-class cartridge, I've taken a bunch with the 243 Win. and never lost a deer that I hit with this cartridge. All were under 200 yards.

However, the two largest bucks I ever took were taken with a 308. These two bucks were bucks of a lifetime for me and I was very glad I had the 308 on these hunts.

As any experienced deer hunter will tell you, it's all about shot placement. Can you be successful with a 223-class cartridge with proper shot placement at a reasonable distance with a bullet that can penetrate the vitals? I don't know but I would not what to learn that it is not adequate when a deer of a lifetime walks out and presents itself.

 

[Richard Jones]

There has been a lot of discussion recently here and other forums on .223 for deer hunting. Many discussions have gone on for ad nauseam. My question is, with several companies now manufacturing 223/556 caliber hunting rifles (Henry Long Ranger, Ruger American, etc) rifles capable of firing a 556 as well as a 223, how much better would a 556 quality bullet be over a 223 quality bullet? NONE (THEY BOTH SHOOT THE SAME BULLET) Would you feel underpowered with a 556 if you felt underpowered with a 223? WOULD NOT FEEL UNDERPOWERED WITH EITHER WITH PROPER BULLET AND PLACEMENT, BUT THERE'S REALLY NO DIFFERENCE IN THE 2 And would you feel comfortable going on a deer hunt using a 556? YES, BUT ILLEGAL IN VIRGINIA . I WOULD FEEL COMFORTABLE, NOT SURE ABOUT THE GUYS THAT CAN'T SHOOT WELL (Asking for a friend! )

So now you know the difference in .223 bullets and 5.56 bullets? Hopefully, that's your takeaway............

 

[Doug Casner]

All the 5.56 bullets I was ever around werethe same diameter as .223 just full metal jackets. Doug

 

[450BM]

There has been a lot of discussion recently here and other forums on .223 for deer hunting. Many discussions have gone on for ad nauseam. My question is, with several companies now manufacturing 223/556 caliber hunting rifles (Henry Long Ranger, Ruger American, etc) rifles capable of firing a 556 as well as a 223, how much better would a 556 quality bullet be over a 223 quality bullet? Would you feel underpowered with a 556 if you felt underpowered with a 223? And would you feel comfortable going on a deer hunt using a 556? (Asking for a friend! )

They use the same bullets, there is no comparison to make and they are the same case.

Would I use a .224 bullet for hunting deer? Yes, and I did while growing up but in a 22-250 so I had more velocity than a 223. It was my only rifle. I used 50gr Sierra spitzers and killed 8 or 9 deer with them, also killed a buck with a Sierra 63gr SP one year. Never wounded one and all 1 shot kills. Would I had been as successful with a 223 and bullets 5-600 fps slower? Not sure. Speed kills.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Wrong..He said a 9mm bullet would blow your lungs right out of you body! Maybe he was referring to a 355-50BMG wildcat?

Well I might have been improvising a wee bit!

 

[Jr Rigsby]

When my grand daughter turned 13, I put a 222Mag in her hands, she shot several bucks (mostly lung)
& I never say any take a step

 

[Knotwild]

My personal experience says that it depends on what type of hunting you are doing, what part of the country you are hunting in, and what type of deer, and what type of shot do you try for. And how confident the shooter is in his skill, and the accuracy of his rifle. The .223/5.56 has killed a lot of deer for me here in the south and has proven deadly - at night and in deer stands with a long shot being 200 yards. I shoot the neck and high shoulder only and I pass if that is not available. I don't need a bullet that holds together or passes through, and the Nosler Varmageddon has accounted for most of my kills with the 77gr Sierra second. However, my favorite here in the south is my 6mm Remington or .243 AI. I'm not good at tracking deer because I never had to.

Now if I were to hunt somewhere up north, where the body size is larger, and I might get a shot at a trophy, I personally wouldn't even feel comfortable with the 6mm Remington. I would feel like K22 mentioned in his post.

When you guys say deer, does that include mule deer? If you are including mule deer, I don't think I would consider the .223/5.56. If you are talking about the chance for a monster whitetail north or northwest of where I am - the .223/5.56 wouldn't be suitable for me.

 

[K22]

When the 243 Win was first introduced many gun magazine writers criticized the cartridge as being marginal for deer. Here I am talking about eastern whitetail. Of course, in those days there were two offerings for this dual-purpose cartridge, the 100 grain for deer, and the 80 grain for varmints and predators. Thus, performance of the 243 Win was judged (published articles) on use of the 100 grain bullets.

One of the remarkable discoveries I learned was the superior effectiveness of the Sierra 85 BTHP on deer with a behind the shoulder shot. The 100 grain bullets will take a deer but often they will run after the shot, sometimes longer than optimal. However, the 85 BTHP, in my experience, drops them in their track or they usually run no more than about 50 yards. Of course, my sample size is small statistically but several other hunters I knew had a similar experiences.

So, where I am going with this is that I wouldn't rule out the posters on here that have actual extensive field experience with the 223 Class cartridges and deer. There may be a parallel between my experiences with a high velocity 243 bullet and their experiences with the 223 Class cartridges. However, quite honestly, I have to admit I am surprised but I take a man at his word.

 

[Dgd6mm]

Winchester Super X 223 Remington Ammo 64 Grain Winchester Power-Point

Winchester Super-X ammunition has developed a reputation as being hard hitting and reliable. This ammunition is loaded with Super-X Power-Points which...

www.midwayusa.com

My son kills a couple deer each yr with these Winchester 64gr soft points.. He shoots them in the only rifle he owns, a New Haven Model 70 Winchester Coyote in 223Rem. lt came from the factory with a 24inch Stainless Wilson Varmint barrel with 1 in 8'' twist. He shoots factory ammo ONLY.. Scope is a 6-18 VXII Leupold w/fine cross hairs.. He's never lost a deer with it. Less successful on prairie dogs:-(

My Pastor's son who is 42 yo has harvested every Deer he has shot in Missouri and North Florida with a NEF singleshot .223 using the Winchester ammo.

 

[K22]

Six of one, and a half dozen of the other.

Bullet selection would be paramount. There are a few decent game bullets out there though. At sensible range, there is no reason a 223/5.56 would not be adequate. There is a trend to think that deer are hard to kill. Tons were killed with the 22 hornet and the 25-20 in the bygone years.

The debate over deer cartridges is never ending. I can remember sitting around the pot bellow stoves at camp listening to the debate over the 270 Win versus the 30 06. Can you believe that hunters actually debated this! I mean either cartridge, with proper shot placement will take a deer without issue. There are not degrees of dead, dead is dead.

However, this is what makes the sport entertaining if not practical.

 

[TTE]

Deer Gun - .556​

IMO .... those two things do not go together

 

[Tesoro]

When the 243 Win was first introduced many gun magazine writers criticized the cartridge as being marginal for deer. Here I am talking about eastern whitetail. Of course, in those days there were two offerings for this dual-purpose cartridge, the 100 grain for deer, and the 80 grain for varmints and predators. Thus, performance of the 243 Win was judged (published articles) on use of the 100 grain bullets.

One of the remarkable discoveries I learned was the superior effectiveness of the Sierra 85 BTHP on deer with a behind the shoulder shot. The 100 grain bullets will take a deer but often they will run after the shot, sometimes longer than optimal. However, the 85 BTHP, in my experience, drops them in their track or they usually run no more than about 50 yards. Of course, my sample size is small statistically but several other hunters I knew had a similar experiences.

So, where I am going with this is that I wouldn't rule out the posters on here that have actual extensive field experience with the 223 Class cartridges and deer. There may be a parallel between my experiences with a high velocity 243 bullet and their experiences with the 223 Class cartridges. However, quite honestly, I have to admit I am surprised but I take a man at his word.

#1530 is the tits! You dont need anything else but this bullet...proven by too many hunters. Sierra quit making them for years and then got the machine back in action mid this year. I shoot them out of my 6xc for everything. Accurate too. 223 is too puny other than for close range shots or only well placed ones, imo. But the Q is why use a 223 when there are other low recoil options.

 

[450BM]

Warning, I’m going a little off topic from a 223…

I’ve killed deer with Sierra’s 85gr HPBT too, dang good bullet!

If a deer is not alarmed, just about anything will put them down in their tracks with a well placed shot. But an alarmed deer high on adrenaline is very difficult to put down, even with a very well placed shot and especially if this is a slower moving bullet like from a 308. This has been my experience anyways.

I’ve dropped deer in their tracks at 75ish yards with a 185gr HP from my 8” 44 Mag revolver. It was feeding and had no idea I was there. I’ve dropped running deer with my 308 and watched them get back up and continue to run. One got away from me and another hunter shot it a few hundred yards away. All the deer I’ve killed with the 22-250 either dropped on the spot or dropped within 50 yards. I think it’s from hydro static stock or whatever you want to call it.

So, would I use the 223 as a deer cartridge? Yep!

I’m not a trophy hunter nor do I need the meat. If I wanted a trophy buck or needed the meat “right now”, I’d use my 300 WSM loaded with Hornady 165gr Interbonds. Which I loaded this way specifically for the chance at a trophy buck knowing I didn’t need a perfect angle to put one down. Never killed that trophy but did take a couple of bucks with it, one a broadside chip shot about 60 yards, the other was charging hard from a drive that ran 50 or 60 yards. 2 hole bleeder and he was pretty well drained when he dropped! But if were going out just to spend some time in the woods and maybe shoot a deer if the opportunity came about, I wouldn’t worry one little bit about hunting with a 223. Any shot I took would be a guaranteed kill shot or I wouldn’t take it.

It comes down to the hunter and their reason for hunting.

Ok, farther off topic but a pretty good story…

Reminds me of a hunter from 40 years ago. He was an all too typical hunter from Pennsylvania. No land of his own, spot lighted a lot which was his scouting. Was basically a road hunter and never got far from his vehicle. Shot his rifle about 3 shots a year to make sure it was on paper. He bought a 300 Weatherby Mag for a long range deer rifle and wanted me to load long range loads for him. I’d shot the rifle with 180gr factory loads as did he. Yeah, it kicked more than I liked and he was scared to death of it. He wanted it loaded with 150gr bullets to reduce recoil and get more velocity and I wasn’t going to argue with him. I don’t remember how well it shot because of what happened when he did shoot it.

Picture this…. Shooter at the bench, looking through the scope, rifle is on sand bags front and rear, he’s trying to get comfortable, looking through scope, pushing the rifle into the bags, pulling it tight, more pushing gun down into bags, fiddle farting around for at least 3 or 4 minutes. We didn’t think he was ever going to shoot! When he finally did, and I’m not making this up, front and rear scope covers came off the scope, his hat was knocked completely off his head and his glasses were hanging off one ear. We thought the gun blew up! It hadn’t, it was all his reaction to the shot because he was so afraid of it! Us watching him laughed our butts off! I think he shot it again but I’m not positive but I did as did a couple others and the loads shot ok.

He killed a buck with it that year. He was walking through a golden rod field and a buck jumped up in front of him 20 yards away. He shot from the hip, taking its privates off and then killed it with another shot. We always kidded him about his long range rifle.

 

[HandgunHTR]

The bullets are all .224" diameter. Don't get caught game hunting in Idaho.

Why is that?

 

[Jr solocam]

I read where a guy killed an elephant with a 22LR. Shot it in the "arm pit", behind the front leg. I guess it died an hour later or so....

 

[rockhound78]

Probably minimum caliber restrictions for big game.