Hunting with 5.56/.223?

wlawson1024

Button Buck
I've read some articles about people starting to use AR style rifles to hunt deer, have any of y'all done this? Been thinking about taking mine into the woods this season. Love to hear some thoughts/opinions.
 

CRC

Old Mossy Horns
A good expanding bullet of 62 grains or more should work.

There are bullets out there now being made specifically to shoot deer with out of .223/5.56

Also the heavy target bullets, like the Sierra Tipped Match Kings, look like they should work on a deer at close range fine.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
There probably are at least a half dozen or more threads here on that exact topic. The search feature will reveal them.
 

appmtnhntr

Twelve Pointer
I've read some articles about people starting to use AR style rifles to hunt deer, have any of y'all done this? Been thinking about taking mine into the woods this season. Love to hear some thoughts/opinions.
Hunting with AR platform has been great for me. Light, quick, and handy.

Please be selective with your caliber.
I know you CAN kill a deer with a 223, so I won’t say you shouldn’t, but there are plenty of options out there to get good deer killing package in your AR. I shoot 6.8, 450 bushy, and 7.62x39.

6.8 is about the lightest thing I’ll shoot for deer around here.
 

appmtnhntr

Twelve Pointer
Hunting with AR platform has been great for me. Light, quick, and handy.

Please be selective with your caliber.
I know you CAN kill a deer with a 223, so I won’t say you shouldn’t, but there are plenty of options out there to get good deer killing package in your AR. I shoot 6.8, 450 bushy, and 7.62x39.

6.8 is about the lightest thing I’ll shoot for deer around here.
And to add....

There’s a big difference between “going deer hunting with my AR”, and “going hunting with my Deer AR “

Good trigger. Good barrel. Good optics. Good round. Good ammo.
 

Packfan

Eight Pointer
62gr federal fusion MSR (a fraction shorter than the standard fusion bullets) are rough on a deer. They don’t bleed a lot but they also don’t run very far, if at all, if you do your part. Great guns for small kids with the short LOP that can be obtained with collapsing stocks. The LOP is actually about the same as a cricket .22.
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
There probably are at least a half dozen or more threads here on that exact topic. The search feature will reveal them.

Here's one:


and another:


and a couple more:




You ought to get a good feel for members' opinions and experiences on the subject after reading those.
 

SharpShooter

Ten Pointer
I shoot deer with my ar using a hand loaded 70gr Barnes tsx over a stiff load of varget. If you do your job with shot placement the bullet does it’s job. Don’t expect a whole lot of blood but 20-80yd tracks. I’m shooting through a 1 in 8” twist barrel. In my 22-250 with a 1 in 14” barrel I shoot a 50gr Barnes tsx that does a good job. Less blood but still produces dead deer
 

Combat Diver

Eight Pointer
I've taken three deer along the coast with 5.56 shooting 77gr OTMs. Looking forward to taking my 3 grandkids out this coming season. Each will use their own AR I've built them. Use a proper bullet placed in the broiler room and you'll have venison.

CD
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I've taken three deer along the coast with 5.56 shooting 77gr OTMs. Looking forward to taking my 3 grandkids out this coming season. Each will use their own AR I've built them. Use a proper bullet placed in the broiler room and you'll have venison.

CD

I have wondered what the terminal performance is like with the 77 OTM. That bullet is the most accurate one I've found, but I wasn't sure how it's construction would fare on the other end. I guess it did the job?
 

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
A 5.56 or 223 will kill em just fine.... only drawback is if you don’t anchor em in sight of the shot, tracking can be an issue it’s little to no blood. I moved up to a 6.5 Grendel for that reason. No I am in no way saying that it’s not a perfectly good round for deer, just that I’d go for instant drop shot placement unless the area is wide open to make tracking a nonissue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

41magnum

Twelve Pointer
I've used 50/52 grainers on whitetail AND mule deer since the 80's out of a .222 Rem which is bout 100 fps slower than yer .223.
I put the lead in the neck mostly and rarely the base of the ear, but they ALWAYS drop like lightning struck.
If that Rem 700 would've stabilized 63 grainers I'd have used those, but anything over 53 gr it doesn't like.
 

Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
Why would anyone shoot a 556 or 223 and handicap themselves deer hunting.....
One of these days a 300 pound deer will come out at 300 yards and you will wish you were shooting a 338 super ultra platinum mag with the new Hammer bullets loaded with shazam powder.....
It is so fast and powerful it will kill it DRT yesterday before you pull the trigger....
 

FishHunt

Old Mossy Horns
Search this forum and you'll find several threads on the subject and loads of opinions pro and con.

Off the shelf ammo, Federal Fusion 62gr will do the job cleanly if you make a good shot.

<>< Fish

 

surveyor

Old Mossy Horns
Using a 223 has the same nuances as using a crossbow, atlatl, sling shot or thrown stone.

Know what your weapon can do, and what you can do with that weapon.

For the record, for years before and during the Øbama presidency <spit> (when I had to sell off a lot of stuff) I used a 222 rem, 50gr Sierra handloads and absolutely slayed the heck out of deer.

But I was comfortable with the gun and rarely took shots I couldn't near guarantee CNS shots on (i.e. clear, no brush, not running, and <300 yards-ish.) Even pulled a two-fer off my back porch.

I did graduate up to a 223 CZ because I wanted the faster twist so I could use 64gr PP.

I see no problem using a semi auto 223 for hunting, but I used one enough for my Uncle so I'm content with the bolt gun.
 
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