RE: 223 for deer?
.22's are not deer hunting calibers!
At the right range, a steel ball bearing, a slingshot will knock them over like a hammer too! That doesn't make it right!
BB, your 3 shot kill, is not exactly a rave testamony for the .22's, and ethically, it negates everything else! How many were wounded and never recovered?
We owe it to a fine game animal, to at least kill it with the proper equipment! Not to mention all the fodder that we give the anti's by using a less than humane caliber!
You wouldn't use a 25 pound bow to bowhunt with, so don't use a varmint gun for deer!