Which of these marginal calibers? .30 Carbine vs .223?
 

A .30 Carbine or .223 for deer hunting? Okay, I know these two calibers are questionable at best and always bring out some very strong opinions. I DO NOT hunt with either one of these(I use .45-70 and .303 Brit:happy0001:). But just for fun, if these were your only two options, which would you use for deer hunting?? Not limited to military ball of course.

ive heard of people using a .223. you need good shot placement and it will get the job done. I think it could take a deer down better than a.30 carbine though. i wasnt familiar with the ballistics of it so i googled it. said it had half the energy of a 30-30 winchester. i wouldnt use either really but i go with the .223. i'd try to make a heart shot or head shot.

Between those two go with the .223. The .30 caliber carbine is pretty pitiful powerwise. Neither would be my choice but the .223 is easily the superior of those two.

Neither, if you feel that they are marginal (I do). My father used an M-1 30 cal. carbine in the 60's and killed a deer with it. Then he got smart and upgraded to a 30-06 (which I still have).

Neither! But if I had to use one it would be the .223!

I agree.

Biker

A 223. is a far superior cartridge!!! The 30 carbine is just about useless for anything.

The .30 caliber carbine, but only at bow range. LOL !!!



I do like the .223 as a Predator/Varmint round though !


I always want to use enough gun..........I owe it to the animals I hunt.

The .30 Carbine has approximately the energy of a .38 special. Not exactly what I would want to take deer hunting. The .223 is much more powerful, but still on the small side for deer. If I had to take one, I would take the .223 loaded with a 60 grain Nosler Partition or a 64 grain Power Point. With good shot placement, either will take a deer at reasonable ranges.

I remember reading an article that I believe stated the .30 carbine had more energy at 100yds than a .44 mag did at 25yds, something to that affect, and just how the .30 is often states as being too light for deer, but almost no one would 2nd guess using a .44mag on a deer up close.

I have hunted whitetails with both of these cartridges, using an AR-15 in TX, and a .30 Carbine Ruger Blackhawk (ok, so it was a handgun, not a rifle). Both perform well as long as I keep things within reason.

From a rifle, I suppose I would rather have a .30 Carbine than a .223rem. As much as I love the AR-15 platform and it pains me to say it, but I'm also a big believer in using "bigger bullets". Given the choice between 55grns and 110grns, I'd prefer 110, and given the choice between 30 and 22cal's, again I'd choose 30cal.

However, that's assuming I'm keeping my shots WELL within 100yrds, closer to 50yrds. I'd honestly give the .223rem a longer max range than the .30carbine, since the .30 carb sheds energy like a prom dress, but inside 50-70yrds, I'd give the .30carb the nod.

You are confusing the .44mag and the .357mag. The .30carb IS more powerful than a .357mag, but doesn't stand up against a .44mag. A .30 carbine DOES have as much energy at 100yrds as a .357mag has at 25yrds. A .30carb should be pushing 110grns at 1990fps, or 967ft.lbs muzzle, then has about 607ft.lbs. at 100yrds. The .357mag pushes a 158grn bullet @ 1450fps, 738ft.lbs. muzzle, 622 at 25yrds...

The .44mag actually has more energy at 100yrds than a .30carbine has at 50yrds (.44mag = 745 at 100yrds with a 240grn bullet, 1500fps muzzle velocity, .30carbine has 760ft.lbs. at 50yrds with a 110grn bullet with a 1990fps muzzle velocity).

Then combine this with the fact that the 110grn .30carb is only hitting 1990fps FROM A RIFLE, and a 240grn .44mag is pushing 1500fps with ease FROM A REVOLVER.

Yes, the .30carb outclasses the .357mag, but no, "it ain't no .44mag!"

B.S.!!!!!! LMAO!!! Where do you guys come up with this crap? The 30 carbine has 967ftlbs of energy at the muzzle and 373ftlbs at 200 yards versus the 44 mag. it has 1650 ftlbs at the muzzle and 661 ftlbs at 200 yards. There is no comparison! The 223 with a 64gr.sp has 1357 at the muzzle and 760 at 200 yards. both absolutely smoke the 30 carbine. Like I stated before the 30 carbine is absolutely useless as a hunting cartirdge.

Here is a link for the balistics charts incase you need to look for your self.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/rifle_ballistics_table.htm

I've killed deer with both in my younger days. The only positive I can say about the 30 caliber carbine is that a M1 carbine is very light to carry. End of list. Shooting deer with it was like poking holes in them with a 30 caliber sharpened stick. They died,..... eventually. 30 cal hole going in and virtually the same size going out. Very little, if any, expantion.

Lets be honest. The M1 carbine was originally concieved as a weapon to be issued to truck drivers and other rear echelon military personel. I guess they figured why waste a M1 Garand on a guy that wasn't going to be in frontline combat. But on the other hand they needed "something" a little more accurate than a handgun in case they had an encounter with the enemy. And that's about all it is too. A little more accurate than a handgun. With the standard military ball ammo they were using knock down power must have been feeble. Take my advice if you every get charged by anything large and dangerous (be it human or animal) and all you have in your hands is a 30 caliber caribine; aim for the head. It's your only hope.

Thank You! .30= crap, .223= crap +

Was Robert Ruark that said "Use enough gun"!

I ain't going to speculate on marginal calibers!

+ 1 for what Robert said then !!!

"right tool for the right job" IMO

I'll take the 30 carbine over the prarie dog gun for under 50 yards :s13:

The 30 cal carbine is exactly what it was designed to be. Something to replace the pistol in a desperate situation.

I like the 223, especially with the new bullets they are putting out in 22 caliber like the Barnes..

me and my kids use a 223 fer deer every year. they drop like a rock most the time, but sometimes will stagger 20 yards before falling over.
55g rem corelokt.

I love the 22 debate! I'd take the 223 in any platform over 14"of bbl under I'd go to the carbine.

Ummmm this is kind of 1 of those peaches and nectarine things. If my 357s were accurate at 1450 from my pistol they'd be close to 1800fps from my carbine and 50gn heavier than the carb. with nearly the same BC in a similar appropriate hunting bullet. By which I mean soft points,RNFPs or SWCs in both 30 carb and 357. Look at the muzzle numbers you'll find the 357 pretty close to the 30-30. I will conceit the 100yd numbers to the 30-30. From my 48th Lyman.