PDA

View Full Version : 75 gr .224 bullets for deer and antelope in 5.56


Eagle_view
10-04-2018, 10:04 PM
We are moving shortly to Wyoming and just got back from there. I found out that I can hunt Deer and Antelope with a .223 if I use at least a 60 grain bullet. I have a new AR that I put together that has a 1:7 twist 18" barrel with a 5.56 Nato chamber and a 24" 1:8 Twist Barrel on one of my Contenders. I have never been allowed to hunt medium game with a .224 cal bullet. What do you recommend? I normally shoot 55 grain soft nose Hornady's with the Contender and have not shot the AR enough to know what it will do. I am not a distance shooter, but sometimes it is quiet a ways from where you are and where they are with not much in between. What do you recommend?
Thanks, Lowell

varmintshooter
10-04-2018, 11:05 PM
I use 65 gr sierra game kings in a AR and have had good luck on whitetails. I have also used 75 gr amax and have killed deer out to 380 yds (had a pass thru) with a 223AI first one had a great blood trail but the others not so much. I like the game kings.

TinMan
10-04-2018, 11:37 PM
Sierra also makes a 63gr SP GameKing, and Winchester used to make a 64gr SP. They will work fine in 1:12 twist 223.

Bill K
10-05-2018, 12:27 AM
I use the old tried and true Nosler 60 grain partition bullet for them. They shoot well and work great on game such as you are wanting them for. Bill K :)

squirrel_slayer
10-05-2018, 12:31 AM
barnes has their 70gr tsx
A friend of mine set his daughter up with a .223 for her first hunt. she killed a nice 2x3 mulie at 340 yds with the federal fusion 62gr. he said he was very happy with the results. didn't get a pass through but did the job.

this is the same bullet used in the gold dot. rocky mountain reloading sells them as pulled bullets from time to time.

i've never heard anything bad about the tbbc offered by federal.

csterner
10-05-2018, 01:44 AM
My boy was very recoil shy at 13. I loaded 63 gr sierra semi points for his 22-250 with a warm load of varget. He knocked the snot out of a big whitetail buck with it at about 175 yards. The 63 is listed as a varmint bullet and it did not exit. We did find the bullet in the off side, perfect little mushroom. Lost a little weight but mostly held together. The benefit of the semi point is its short and fat. It should fit the magazine better than a 75 gr bullet that you'd really have to seat deep to fit the mag. The drawback is the poor BC, but at normal huntimg ranges, say 300-350 yards, you won't l know the difference.

Always wanted to try the 60 partition on deer or even the 65 game king.

Eagle_view
10-05-2018, 08:27 PM
Thank you all for your input. I value the advice and this gives me a selection of bullets to build loads around. I am excited, to say the least. Drove through the Black Hills to New Castle and was amazed at the game we saw. There were White Tails on the Port and Turkeys on the Starboard, Saw some Mule deer cross in front of us. And there always seem to be Antelope somewhere with in sight. Our Lab put up some Chuckers on the banks of the Powder River and we jumped some Mallards along there too.

Lowell

17tbs
10-06-2018, 11:20 PM
Tried it with lots of success with hunts in TX where it is legal to use ANY center-fire to hunt deer with. We use everything from 22 hornet and up, some even use a .144 caliber Walker. When you can place your shot accurately then pretty much everything with enough energy to get to the vitals and leave a good blood trail will work. If you can assure yourself of a really good shot placement then anything "could work", but most of what Wyoming is famous for will prevent you from getting those shots, this includes wind, distance and game that easily spooks leaving a trail of dust in your scope. USE a fast enough cartridge and rifle combination to ensure that you do not make errors in wind and end up wounding game.

That being said, a .223 is really a bare minimum in my opinion for shots up to 200yds. I would never shoot at something that I MIGHT miss by even 2 inches if using a .223 Rem or 5.56. Really there is no margin for error.

I hunt deer using an ambush technique and stalk them on a game trail. If I am not within range to hold dead on and dead steady within an inch, then I do not shoot. This means I stalk to within fifty or fewer yards, frequently as close as ten yards.

Wyoming topography probably will seldom present you with that sort of opportunity. In my opinion you should not be thinking about a good bullet for deer at 300 yards in a 5.56mm or a .223 Remington. Perhaps in a 22-250, but not the .223 Rem. There are just too many things that can go wrong at those ranges using that caliber. Yes you will kill a lot of deer, but you will loose a lot more if you shoot beyond 300 yards.

IF I were shooting at those ranges and had to choose a lead core bullet, I would use the 63gr Sierra Semi Spitzer, or the 65gr Sierra Gameking. I would only shoot from a rest, and only with wind either dead steady and under ten mph, or zero wind.

You should really consult a ballistics chart to let you know what is going to give you the most forgiving trajectory and fastest time of flight coupled with a bullet that you know will expand, but not fail to penetrate.

That leaves with the 65gr Game King, followed with the 63gr Sierra Semi-Spitzer.

Unless your rifle can produce north of 3300fps with these in my opinion 250 is a reasonable outside limit. So, unless you are hand loading then you should rationally keep it inside 150 if we are honest with ourselves.

I use a contender and with the 63 and 65gr I can get about 2680 from my 16.25" barrel. I will not huntwith it at anything over 100yards, not because of accuracy, but because the target MOVES unpredictably.

Eagle_view
10-07-2018, 06:41 PM
17tbs

Thank you for your advice that you and I agree on. I have hunted all over the west and been successful in many places.

I guess I am a little old fashioned but I consider a 200 yard shot to be long shot and for years I hunted with a 30-06 with 165 grain bullets in an A3 Springfield that I modified while in high school.

That rifle fed my family for years, it is on it's 3rd barrel. I am now a Contender (2) and Encore (1) shooter and have barrels from 5MM Craig, 17HH 204 Ruger on up to 6MM Dasher.

My bolt guns that go from 5MM to .338 Win. I love shooting them and that is why we are moving back to my home state of Wyoming.

I would consider the .223 with a 60-65 bullet to be a 150 yard rifle for me just like most of the rest of my rifles.

It is my ability and health that determine what range I can humanely shoot at. I generally start my hunts in the summer by watch and marking maps where cross over passes or other physical restricting focus game travel.

During hunting season, I then set up before daylight over looking these spots and plan on sitting there all day if I have too.

It has worked very well in every situation except here in Western Washington where I am now. The brush and timber hide many of the travel routes and over looks are hard to located.

Anyway thanks again for the info.

Lowell

L.Sherm
10-09-2018, 02:03 AM
I use the old tried and true Nosler 60 grain partition bullet for them. They shoot well and work great on game such as you are wanting them for. Bill K :)

Bill has some great advice.

hunter67wa
07-21-2019, 01:04 PM
I live in WY and shoot whitetail does with 223 using 65gr gameking and it works great. Haven't shot one over 212 though and I will not take a shot that is not perfect but heck when buck season shuts down the farmers will let you hunt doe's in the alfalfa in Dec and they just come running out to eat in the evening and Im proned out with RF and bipod and rear bag. Pick out the 3 fat ones as Im running a can and just lay them down. After the third shot they know something is up. Nosler is supposed to be making a 70gr accubond and i would try that also. I think the TTSX would work great also but I havent tried them.

Good luck

pertnear
07-22-2019, 12:32 AM
I've never had the need to shoot deer with a .224 cal bullet, but I've heard good things about Norma (0.224") ORYX BONDED BULLETS. Available from Brownell's.

ackleyman
07-26-2019, 11:23 PM
I've never had the need to shoot deer with a .224 cal bullet, but I've heard good things about Norma (0.224") ORYX BONDED BULLETS. Available from Brownell's.`


Try a Speer 75g Gold Dot``````````````````````````````````````````````` ``````

the last antelope I shot was at 470 yards with a Rem 788 in 223 using a 55g Hornady sp with the cannalure with a muzzle velocity of 3100. Load was 26.5g of Win 748. He flopped at the shot. A couple of years later, I killed two legal does with the same load, and they both flopped, both around 100 yard lung shots.

moorepower
07-30-2019, 04:25 PM
Swift Scirocco II 75 grain would be my choice "if" I used a .224 bullet.

foxhunter
07-30-2019, 08:12 PM
barnes ttsx 62 gr and sierra 65 gameking, 70 accubond if you can find them.

stacy
08-24-2019, 11:30 PM
I have had great results with barnEs 55 gr ttsx out of my 223 it does put them down

Daryl
04-13-2020, 04:34 PM
I have a very close friend who delights in using his .22-250 on mule and white tail deer, using the 45gr. TSX at about 3,800fps. Bang/flop in the middle of the fields with double lung and heart shots both. With his .270 and 7x57, they always made the bush line from the middle of the fields, same shots. Not with the .224" 45gr. TSX. The one that did move out of his tracks after being shot, took the little bullet in the left front chest, the bullet exited in front at about the lest rib on the right side. That one stepped a tight little circle, 3 or 4 steps to the right and dropped.

Win1885
04-30-2021, 09:57 PM
im not a fan of .22 caliber and big game. Others here perhaps have more experience. I've taken 4 Antelope with a 8" twist Swift. All four died. 3 impressive one shot kills. On the fourth, it made a mess of meat, and had to shoot him 3 times.

T_the_Tinkerer
05-29-2021, 12:03 AM
I have a very close friend who delights in using his .22-250 on mule and white tail deer, using the 45gr. TSX at about 3,800fps. Bang/flop in the middle of the fields with double lung and heart shots both. With his .270 and 7x57, they always made the bush line from the middle of the fields, same shots. Not with the .224" 45gr. TSX. The one that did move out of his tracks after being shot, took the little bullet in the left front chest, the bullet exited in front at about the lest rib on the right side. That one stepped a tight little circle, 3 or 4 steps to the right and dropped.

Yeah, apparently the 22 Hornet load book I have shows how even some hunters associated with the big bullet companies have used the hornet with TSX bullets to take African game. There's a YouTube channel of a fellow in South Africa who took three antelope on camera with a hornet using 45gr soft points (handloads) from distances of up to 160m. Head, neck, and lung shots. They dropped like any other game hit with larger calibers. If he didn't tell you it was a hornet you wouldn't know the difference.

Since the deer down here in Florida aren't that big, I plan on using my K Hornet on them one of these days. I'm using a monolithic, 35gr hammer bullet. The makers of the bullet design them and have verified them to work even on deer sized game. I'm running them around 3500fps and plan to keep things close to 100yds, maxing a bit further if I get a deer that ain't moving much. Mostly I want to use them to hunt turkey down here. They behave like GS Custom bullets, Mk318 mod 0, etc. This makes lung shots devastating. Lung shots also give you greater margin for error than a head or mech shot. They also contain no lead, so you never have to worry about eating it!

Anyone using a .224 caliber rifles should look into Hammer bullets or GS Custom's international branches. They behave in a way that allow them to work against all types of targets...varmints, predators, and even (larger) edible game like turkey and deer.

Bill K
06-07-2021, 01:37 PM
Yeah, apparently the 22 Hornet load book I have shows how even some hunters associated with the big bullet companies have used the hornet with TSX bullets to take African game. There's a YouTube channel of a fellow in South Africa who took three antelope on camera with a hornet using 45gr soft points (handloads) from distances of up to 160m. Head, neck, and lung shots. They dropped like any other game hit with larger calibers. If he didn't tell you it was a hornet you wouldn't know the difference.

Since the deer down here in Florida aren't that big, I plan on using my K Hornet on them one of these days. I'm using a monolithic, 35gr hammer bullet. The makers of the bullet design them and have verified them to work even on deer sized game. I'm running them around 3500fps and plan to keep things close to 100yds, maxing a bit further if I get a deer that ain't moving much. Mostly I want to use them to hunt turkey down here. They behave like GS Custom bullets, Mk318 mod 0, etc. This makes lung shots devastating. Lung shots also give you greater margin for error than a head or mech shot. They also contain no lead, so you never have to worry about eating it!

Anyone using a .224 caliber rifles should look into Hammer bullets or GS Custom's international branches. They behave in a way that allow them to work against all types of targets...varmints, predators, and even (larger) edible game like turkey and deer.

Varified ?? You sure but faith in some writer/publications. It is all in where you place the bullet, not matter what it is. Hell do you realize how many have been killed the the lowly 22LR in years past, depression and hards times ?
One of the best and standard bullets for .224 calibers is the old tried and true 60 Grain Nosler Partition. :)

MikeP
06-07-2021, 03:08 PM
I've never had the desire to shoot big game with my 220 Swift or 222 Remington or, gasp, the 221 or, oh my, I've got to stop before I faint in horror :-0

There are plenty of more suitable options hanging around the gun closet. I personally don't need to experiment on living flesh.

However, for those who do, I have no complaint as long as it's legal.