RE: 223 FACTORY LOAD FOR DEER
Black Hills has the 60 gr. Nosler partition and the 52 gr. BTHP match.
Federal has the 55 gr. Sierra gameking and the 60 gr. Nosler partition.
Winchester offers a 64 gr. power point.
If I were going to be using a .223 for deer, I would probably try these. I handload Barnes TSX bullets, but I don't know of any factory offerings.
However, for deer hunting, I think you're better off going with something a little bigger. The .223 likely won't penetrate completely, so if the deer doesn't drop quickly, you stand a pretty good chance of loosing a deer. I have never shot a deer with my .223, but I have killed 2 hogs with the 52 gr. BTHP match. So it will kill them, but you've got to have a lot of things going your way. I shot the hogs at less than 25 feet each at night. Although it dispatched the two hogs, I was also shooting them for eradication purposes only. I didn't care whether I found them or not, I just wanted them gone. I was also varmint hunting. If I am going after big game, I prefer to have a little more rifle, like my .25-06.