I hunted deer for years with no more than a 222 and never lost a deer to it. A 223 is not bad for deer for an experienced shooter. Now for most all other run of the mill average shooters, maybe a bigger caliber would be better but I would agree to stay away from Mini 14's and I would stay away from the 7.62X39 also. I would look at a savage in 243 or 270 or even 25-06. I also agree the package scopes suck that come with the savages. If you want a 223 and a semi auto then I would definately go with an AR based rifle. They are completely modular and user friendly and can be tuned to shoot very well. They are not the jammomatics that people tend to try to say they are. And remember that $600.00 on a rifle is still at least a couple hundread dollars shy of having good glass on top of it.