.223 Rifles for Deer sized game

[HodgemanAK]

Where is "here?"

Eastern Tennessee for the time being.

 

[gbflyer]

Yes. They work well.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

I’m in the process of working up a deer/antelope load for my .220 Swift featuring the Sierra 62 grain Gameking. I think for smallish deer, pronghorn antelope and mouflon sheep, this load ought to be as Goldilocks put it, “just right.”

 

[Guy Miner]

I’m in the process of working up a deer/antelope load for my .220 Swift featuring the Sierra 62 grain Gameking. I think for smallish deer, pronghorn antelope and mouflon sheep, this load ought to be as Goldilocks put it, “just right.”

I saw you'd replied to this and thought "Oh here we go, Dale's going to preach the 30-06 and a 180 grain Partition..."

Your 220 Swift should push those 62's pretty hard. Will it stabilize them okay?

Guy

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

I saw you'd replied to this and thought "Oh here we go, Dale's going to preach the 30-06 and a 180 grain Partition..."

Your 220 Swift should push those 62's pretty hard. Will it stabilize them okay?

Guy

You know me very well Guy. Unfortunately I’ve seen more than a few deer bite the dust from .223 and .22-250 rifles over the years. While I don’t necessarily consider them an ideal deer rifle, they are certainly adequate for the task.

My Swift has a Douglas barrel with a 1-12” twist and stabilizes the 62’s just fine. I’ve only gotten to shoot a handful of them at the range and so far it looks promising. Can’t wait to play with it some more this spring.

 

[Vince2]

While the .223/5.56 will work why not an AR10 for deer and a AR15 for coyotes, prairie dogs, and home defense?

That gets you two rifles.