Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Common Murder Weapons and Their Alternate Uses [View all]spin
(17,493 posts)42. The AR-15 in .223 is used in many states for deer hunting ...
although many hunters feel that it is underpowered for that task.
Is The .223 Rem. Deadly For Deer?
With the right bullets, the .223 Rem. can be a freezer-filling cartridge for deer hunters.
POSTED BY: Richard Mann
October 27, 2011
A lot of deer hunters believe the .223 Rem. is not enough of a cartridge to be called deer ammo. There is some logic behind this. After all, deer are sometimes lost to hits from cartridges as large as the .30-06. Truth be told, those lost deer are more than likely due to bad shooting as opposed to bad or little bullets. Regardless of what cartridge you deer hunt with, your bullet needs to penetrate deep enough to pass through vital organs. It should also expand or deform in a way to maximize the destruction of those organs.
The .223 Rem. is legal for deer hunting in a lot of states, and has proven to be effective when proper bullets are used. The down side to the .223 Rem. is not velocity or bullet diameter; a .243 Win. is no faster, and its bullet is only .02 inches wider in diameter. (That's a difference of less than the thickness of your credit card.) Bullet weight is the .223's weakness. Because most bullets shed weight as they expand and penetrate, bullet expansion combined with weight loss limits penetration. For .22 caliber bullets to be effective on deer, they need to expand wide so they can maximize tissue destruction, but they also need to maintain their weight so they can drive deep....emphasis added
Bullet makers have addressed this with what some call "premium" bullets for the .223 Rem. Bullets like the Nosler Partition and Barnes TSX, which are loaded by Federal, and one of my favorites, the 62 grain Fusion load, are perfect examples. These bullets will double in diameter when they expand, but lose very little or no weight at all. The result is a bullet that will penetrate as deep as any .30-30 Win. bullet, and often damage more tissue because of the higher velocity.
Velocity is important because a higher velocity means more displaced and damaged tissue. A bullet sort of makes a splash inside the liquid-filled tissues of a deerlike when you throw a rock into a pond. Throw the rock slowly and you get a small splash; throw it faster and the splash is bigger. Muzzle velocities from a .223 Rem. are fast1,000 fps faster than a .30-30 Win. However, because of the low ballistic coefficient (BC) of .224 caliber bullets, they slow down quickly. (Note: The .223 Rem. actually has a .224-inch diameter.)
However I will agree that an AR-10 in .308 would make an excellent weapon to hunt deer or even moose.
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
169 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
you need a semi automatic to hunt ducks? .. i thought you used shot guns for birds
srican69
Aug 2013
#4
Target shooting is just practice for shooting people. Hunting? OK, but how many gun nuts use their
Hoyt
Aug 2013
#5
You can do that will pellet guns or even lasers. But, not as "sexy" and lethal I suppose.
Hoyt
Aug 2013
#74
If you use your guns solely for hunting, great. Somehow I doubt that, unless you hunt like Zman.
Hoyt
Aug 2013
#75
and how to make a standard copacity magazine to high capacity with no modification
Duckhunter935
Aug 2013
#77
Do you shoot targets resembling people; or practice "sniping;" or go to gun stores with names like
Hoyt
Aug 2013
#103
Yeah, but as we've seen, there aren't a lot of folks into guns who actually hunt regularly.
Hoyt
Aug 2013
#104
ok then, special permit with an up your ass background check for a 15 round clip
arely staircase
Aug 2013
#132
Ironically enough, hammers killed more folks than assault rifles last year accourdingto the FBI.
marble falls
Aug 2013
#9
I'll dig for it, but I think the category is blunt objects for homicides (not just deaths)
aikoaiko
Aug 2013
#21
The anti-gunnies are shying away from the goal of banning all guns these days.
aikoaiko
Aug 2013
#34
If rifles (catagory) is less, it stands to reason assault weapons(sub-catagory) is also less.....
marble falls
Aug 2013
#158
re: "I do want to take all the emotional and unfactual "statistics" out of the discussion."
discntnt_irny_srcsm
Aug 2013
#160
Facts are trumped by emotion in the gun control crowd. Sadly that makes finding solutions ...
spin
Aug 2013
#37
The chances of national gun registration passing in the current political environment ...
spin
Aug 2013
#112
With a little modification to the firing mechanism and selector, it's the same as a M-16.
leveymg
Aug 2013
#66
Tell me, how many people have been murdered by full autos in the last 20 yrs?
Eleanors38
Aug 2013
#167
I have a damaged lower I will allow you to "easely convert" The mag well has been removed
oneshooter
Aug 2013
#166
The AR-15 is used for hunting. Many states allow deer hunting with the AR-15 but most limit ...
spin
Aug 2013
#33
Is the goal another AWB? In 1994, Democrats lost control of Congress for the first time since 1954.
AnotherMcIntosh
Aug 2013
#46
Yeah, but people felt better right? And that is the quick solution so many seem to want (nt)
The Straight Story
Aug 2013
#49
It's odd that those who would readily ban firearms because of emotional words (e.g. "assault"), seem
AnotherMcIntosh
Aug 2013
#54
Yeah, but they don't give you that war zone lethality that gun folks seem to like.
Hoyt
Aug 2013
#105
Seriously, I don't see ARs a big concern, it's gun guys that covet them that are a concern.
Hoyt
Aug 2013
#140
As deeply as I respect Mr. William Pitt; I'm afraid I have to admit I don't get the point he's
cherokeeprogressive
Aug 2013
#145