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need advice for deer load
wrdog05
Member Posts: 17 ✭✭
I have just bought a new barrel for my .222 rem its a 31" barrel with a 1-7 twist its mainly my varmint rifle but would like too use it on whitetail deer and antelope. Anyone have any suggestions.
Comments
Must be 243 minimun
W.D.
The 223 guys use some 55gr to my knowledge but know a few who load up the 60-79gr stuff and swear by it. Don't know how much this helps you but I'll never critique any round capable of taking down game cleanly.
Here in MI, ANY centerfire (and any rimfire larger than 22cal) is legal for deer.
That's an unusual combination of length and twist rate for a civilian varmint barrel. The military uses that combination but it's one that I thought only a very few of us eccentrics used (mine is 31" [:D]). You could cut it back to about 25" and still have enough length to get the velocity necessary to keep those long bullets stable.
Your twist rate will stabilize the longest bullets available right now, the 90 gr. Berger VLDs, JLK VLDs and the Sierra Match Kings. Obviously it will handle any of the shorter, lighter bullets as well as long as the jackets hold up to the twist. Shorter bullets can be slowed down a touch.
I've used the 75 and 80 gr. AMAX for deer along with the 60 gr. Nosler Partition and even some of the Barnes 70 gr. TSX-BTs and the 75 gr. Swift Scirocco. This is going to depend on the rifling and the velocity you can achieve with the commensurate accuracy required for hunting. Shot placement is critical.
Not knowing who made your barrel or the type of rifling, you're really going to have to run some tests to see what's happy in your barrel. First thing I would do is check to be sure that the twist rate is actually 1:7", not something slightly less.
We can guess which bullets will perform in your barrel but it boils down to actually testing the individual bullets to see what happens on the target at the ranges you will encounter. Expansion tests would be good also but the mediums available to the public are limited. There is a material that Corbin sells and there is something now that comes in a tube but that's all I can think of right now.
Best.
my barrel is being custom made by mcgowen precision barrels out of montana
With that .222 i think you need a balance of speed and weight. Once you get to the upper end of the bullet spectrum in .224" the .222 case just won't hang with the .223. I recommend sticking with a 60 gr. Partition or Hornady V-max. I know people are going to say the V-max will hit and bounce off a deer but it won't. The fragmenting terminal characteristics of varmint bullets impart a lot of energy into an animal. You need to make sure the shot goes into the vitals though and not a shoulder. Large bones will negate what a varmint type bullet will do.
FWIW, I've shot 18 deer with thin skinned bullets...and never had one even get back up after he got knocked down.
I've hunted deer with .222, but I've also passed up a lot of shots I would have taken with my .257, .270 or .308.
If you really want to fill the freezer, have limited time in the field, or doubt your ability to pass on that trophy buck because its a bit too far away or presents a poor angle; then go with something bigger. Otherwise, use your .223, and good luck.
To light for deer except brain shots. IMO.
I disagree. Lots of folks in Texas use a .223 to hunt deer.
Most folks who live in Africa hunt BIG game with a 308..Seriously ask anyone who's been there. American hunters show up with super 460 Weatherby's and still cannot hit the broad side of the barn.
USMC uses the .223 to hunt all kinds of two legged trouble makers.
My point?
I'll take a man who can put a .223 in a running jack rabbit over a yahoo with a 30-06 who doesn't know how to use it.
Practice. Practice. Practice.
quote:Originally posted by owen219
To light for deer except brain shots. IMO.
I disagree. Lots of folks in Texas use a .223 to hunt deer.
Most folks who live in Africa hunt BIG game with a 308..Seriously ask anyone who's been there. American hunters show up with super 460 Weatherby's and still cannot hit the broad side of the barn.
USMC uses the .223 to hunt all kinds of two legged trouble makers.
My point?
I'll take a man who can put a .223 in a running jack rabbit over a yahoo with a 30-06 who doesn't know how to use it.
Practice. Practice. Practice.
The 222 (of which this thread is about) is a different cartridge than the 223. Try to keep, OK? [;)][:p]
quote:Originally posted by DENWA
quote:Originally posted by owen219
To light for deer except brain shots. IMO.
I disagree. Lots of folks in Texas use a .223 to hunt deer.
Most folks who live in Africa hunt BIG game with a 308..Seriously ask anyone who's been there. American hunters show up with super 460 Weatherby's and still cannot hit the broad side of the barn.
USMC uses the .223 to hunt all kinds of two legged trouble makers.
My point?
I'll take a man who can put a .223 in a running jack rabbit over a yahoo with a 30-06 who doesn't know how to use it.
Practice. Practice. Practice.
The 222 (of which this thread is about) is a different cartridge than the 223. Try to keep, OK? [;)][:p]
Nowhere in my post did I say HE was using a .223. I own a .222[:p]
I've never shot a deer with it cause it doesn't shoot well enough.
I've harvested a 250lb boar from the Florida swap with a sharp stick. (although I'd never recommend it)
What's the point of this? Who knows?
Go buy a new rifle and support the US economy.
If one is an ethical hunter, he will take the time to know the limits of his equipment and his own skills, and use them accordingly. This includes proper shot placement. Just let me ask you all a question...How many of you big bore users take the time to put the shot where it belongs...behind the front leg? Or do you just blow thru the leg bone itself instead? If one can kill a deer with stick and string ethically, it damn sure can be done with a 222 Remington ETHICALLY.
Follow the advice of going with a 60 grain partition, or with that twist, one of the heavier bullets, and place the shot BEHIND the shoulder.
Best
I've never shot a deer with it cause it doesn't shoot well enough.
I've harvested a 250lb boar from the Florida swap with a sharp stick. (although I'd never recommend it)
What's the point of this? Who knows?
Go buy a new rifle and support the US economy.
What would a leatherneck know about anything?? [:p][;)][:D][^]
You know, I really don't get that some people don't that dead is dead. Some people think that a 500 WhizBang kills deader that a 22LR. I have said this before, and will say it again...
If one is an ethical hunter, he will take the time to know the limits of his equipment and his own skills, and use them accordingly. This includes proper shot placement. Just let me ask you all a question...How many of you big bore users take the time to put the shot where it belongs...behind the front leg? Or do you just blow thry the leg bone itself instead? If one can kill a deer with stick and string ethically, it damn sure can be done with a 222 Remington ETHICALLY.
Follow the advice of going with a 60 grain partition, or with that twist, one of the heavier bullets, and place the shot BEHIND the shoulder.
Best
NO IT CAN'T
quote:Originally posted by tsr1965
You know, I really don't get that some people don't that dead is dead. Some people think that a 500 WhizBang kills deader that a 22LR. I have said this before, and will say it again...
If one is an ethical hunter, he will take the time to know the limits of his equipment and his own skills, and use them accordingly. This includes proper shot placement. Just let me ask you all a question...How many of you big bore users take the time to put the shot where it belongs...behind the front leg? Or do you just blow thry the leg bone itself instead? If one can kill a deer with stick and string ethically, it damn sure can be done with a 222 Remington ETHICALLY.
Follow the advice of going with a 60 grain partition, or with that twist, one of the heavier bullets, and place the shot BEHIND the shoulder.
Best
NO IT CAN'T
UHHHH...YES IT CAN. I will reiterate that a misplaced shot no matter what you're shooting is UNETHICAL. I have seen time and time again how a .222 blows jackrabbits apart and leaves 3" gaping holes in coyotes shot from 300 yds away. If you load that little case hot, you have a real killer in your hands. I have also, a number of times when I lived in Montana, found wounded deer and elk right after running into some hunters saying they could swear they hit the animal (but didn't know where). Most of those hunters had magnums or a minimum of a 30-06. I've watched a number of hunters sight in with the "pie-plate" method. Can they put 5 rounds into a pie plate @100 yds. Yes, barely. They they try the same standing shot @ 250 when they're huffing and puffing.
That's ethics. Making sure of your shot whether you're @100 or 1100. Not knowing where you hit an animal when you shot it. I'd seriously have to question myself as a hunter if I couldn't say where. With a .222 You can kill a deer cleanly if you pick your shot and use the right bullet. I also consider it poor ethics to get the big buck by ruining the front half of the meat. I've never found bloodshot meat even suitable for making sausage.
Anyhow, that's my rant. It can be done. If it's done, it needs to be done correctly. Shoot straight, just like every other hunter out there needs to.
Shot placement is the key with any weapon. 222 is fine as long as theirs no brush to shoot through. I personaly would stick with a bullet wieght were the volocity could be kept over 3000fps. 55gr should be managable.
Just a little FYI...there is no mythical caliber, or bullet weight that can or will shoot thru brush without temporarily destabalizing. Actually it has been proven that the faster the twist rate for any caliber, the sooner the bullet will restabalize...but it is not going to be immune from deflection off target.
Best
I beleive it was Mark Twain that said " It is better to be silent and thought a fool , than to speak and remove all doubt "
That's kind of like implying all of us are fools for expounding upon our opinions. Not to be rude, but you gotta come off the fence with this one. Do you believe it doable and ethical or not?
I personally believe it puts too many restrictions on me to use as a deer rifle. I would personally choose a more powerful rifle. However, I know it can be done ethically if one chooses the right bullet and load and follows good methodology in the field to obtain a good shot. So, if what I had was a .222 for deer hunting that is what I would use.
PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE SOME MORE! RELOAD! PRACTICE! CB.
Best