Tyler4565

Hello everyone. Has anyone had experience using 223 hollow point boat tail ammo for deer, coyote, or hog hunting? My problem is that the only ammo I have found that consistently shoots well(at least sub moa) out of my rifle is Winchester HPBT 69 Grain Sierra MatchKing, which is not recommended for hunting. I like the accuracy I get with this ammo(.5-.75moa) , but am not sure about its performance on game. Has anyone tried it out in the past or have any insight?
--Rock River Fred Eichler

Skinbasket

I used 75 grain Black Hills last season. It dropped a 280 pound buck at about 80 yards on the spot with a neck shot. Lung shot on a large doe at about 30 yards left her on her feet for about 60 yards before she tipped over.

I know plenty of others who use, and have been using for decades, 55 grain and up in both .223 and .222, and all will tell you the same thing: if you hit the deer where you're supposed to, you'll kill it. If you're confident in your accuracy with the Sierra, I would recommend using it. Your goal is to poke a hole in the right place, no matter what caliber, and placement is always going to be more important than bullet size or shape. The only "drawback" I note is that you're not making a fist sized hole in the deer, so sometimes you're not going to get a very strong blood trail. Depending on your hunting area and your tracking abilities, you might want to take that into account.

I'll be switching to 69 grain this season for no other reason than that's what I could get at a reasonable price.

Any 223 round is going to be enough for a coyote, but I have no experience with hogs. From what I've heard, though, you might want a larger caliber for those.

archeryelk1

I would question using a hollowpoint bullet for deer hunting. The bullet you mention is a boat-tail hollowpoint match grade, which is basically designed for shooting small groups on paper. They are simply a lead core dropped into a jacket and then swaged together, which means they separate pretty easily and is why they don't recommend it for hunting. A hit in the front shoulder, and more than likely a rib behind the front shoulder on a deer, will probably result in the bullet "splashing" on the outside. This means when the bullet hits something hard it will come apart. This will leave a huge surface wound without penetrating the vitals. I would look for a different bullet that is designed to mushroom and have some weight retension. I have no doubt that people have probably killed deer with them, but it would require exact shot placement.
They would be fine for coyotes, although it will probably do considerable hide damage if you hit it in the shoulder, but a hit behind the shoulder should result in a fairly small hole in and no exit hole.
I also have no experience with hogs, but have heard that they have tough hides and muscles. This means you would want something that will penetrate well, aka high weight retention.

jerry d

What the twist on your rifle? If a slower twist it may not stabilize heavier bullets.

Oldtimr

As Ruark so eloquently said, use enough gun, a 223 is not enough gun for deer generally. Why would anyone want to use a caliber that is on the edge of being big enough to be sufficient?

JagMagMan

I would like to know a legitimate answer to that question myself!

Skinbasket

How is it "not enough gun?" It puts a hole through vitals just the same as any other bullet. In my experience, I have never known, or heard of, a 223 round of any type "coming apart" without penetrating and causing non-lethal damage to a deer, not with any ammunition made in the last decade anyway.

I suppose you could rely on shooting lead pumpkins to make up for shot placement and judgement and hope you mangle the insides of the deer well enough that it eventually bleeds out, but I would rather use the rifle I'm most accurate with at a given range. Depending on where I'm hunting I'll take out the 223 or the 30-06. I don't feel one is more lethal than the other. I'm simply more comfortable with each in different circumstances.

Especially in hunting, there's a lot of old, and... dubious, information that still gets shared as truth. I believe the 223 debate is a wonderful example of this. Sure, I'm biased as I hunt with the caliber, but I cannot remember talking to someone who has who still thinks the 223 is somehow inadequate for humane kills on deer.

All I can tell you in the end is that myself and others I hunt with use all types of HP and SP 223 and 222 ammunition (both the super special and brightly advertised "hunting" rounds as well as typical factory ammo) and that we have the same confidence in the caliber that we have any other that it will kill any deer we come across quickly and cleanly.

Oldtimr

I like my game to die asap, not eventually. How many deer or other big game have been lost because of someone using a pipsqueak caliber and the animal was able to move off and die and not be found. I do not use a large caliber to make up for bad shooting. I use it so I inflict the least amount of pain and suffering as possible to the animals I kill. I have a problem with those who say what does the caliber matter, it does matter. Just because you can kill with a small caliber does not mean you should use it on big game. Yes, you can kill a deer with a .223, you can also kill them with rocks, people can justify practically anything, however it is not the act of someone who is concerned about the quarry they hunt. In fact, I once saw a doe shot on the shoulder with a .223, the back end of the bullet was still visible in the hole, another hunter killed the deer. Then there is the "I only take head shots, or neck shots". I have also sen the result of those shots, deer running around with the front end of the face or the lower jaw shot off or holes through necks that did not break the spine or cut the artery. My job put me in position to see all kinds of results of hunters more concerned with themselves than the animals thery hunted, "gotta get one, no matter what". While I do not shoot deer on the shoulder, I shoot behind the shoulder, I assure you the .308 or the 45-70 rounds I use would not be stopped by the shoulder bone. What should have been a fatal shot did little but cause pain and fear. I use enough gun, I do not have to lament making an animal suffer needlessly, nor losing the animal. It is easier to do the right thing than to try to justify the wrong thing. You will use what you use, I am not going to get into a protracted fight over this, but you ask how a .223 is not enough gun. My experience and the experience of others tells me so.

Josmund

A 223, if not illegal, is il moral.

I know, your brothers work buddy's cousin killed a huge buck with a pellet gun so a 223 is all you need.

Why use a weapon which must be a perfect hit? Stuff happens on the deer woods.

Nomercy448

Don't feed the trolls fellas...

3 new players in this thread, just rocking the boat... Nobody in their right mind thinks a 223rem hollow point is suitable for deer - a 223rem can do the job with the right bullet, but the SMK isn't it, no sense in arguing it just because somebody came in and stuck a $hitstick in the pot, just to stir it up...