If you look at the Remington website, you will see that in 55gr bullets for the 223, they offer an Accutip, a PSP, a Power Lokt HP, and a Metal Case....no Core Lokts. The only "Core Lokt" bullet that they offer for the 223 is the 62gr Core Lokt Ultra Bonded.

In larger calibers, Remington offers a Core Lokt (which is a round nose, and a Pointed Soft Point (PSP) Core Lokt. But their 22 caliber PSP bullets are not Core Lokts.

Yes one season .223 made me nervous wreck, the .243 with TSX was solid and I wish I had jumped to 7/08 sooner. But each kid is different and they need to be comfortable 1st

I got to say I had my doubts about shooting deer with 223, shot my first deer in the head with it and was amazed that it killed it. Started loading NP's for it and shot the first one in the body and it broke both shoulders and passed through a 90lb dressed doe DRT. Since then my sister in law has been using for the past several years with good results. No lost deer, her last one was hit far back, and yes it ran 200 yards through nasty brush, but it exited and left a trackable blood/gut trail to follow.

I love shooting deer with my 300 wby, but it isnt at all necesary, the 223 will do the job just fine with range limitations.

matt

The military and NATO did in fact adopt the M-16 and 5.56 round in the mid sixties and subsequently by countless LE agencies(FBI,SWAT etc). There where many variables in their consideration, weight of the rifle and ammo were definitely part of the equation. The lethality of the weapon and round has been proven countless times in combat. I heard they tried the "7MAG" but it proved to be a little unhandy in close quarter drills. As for your other post, I think I'll continue with the "Aim Small, Miss Small" school of markmanship. It's been working fine thank you.

I personally believe that there isn't a deer in Texas that can't be killed with a 55gr SGK or 62gr Barnes TSX with the quickness. However to appease both sides, I will throw the 6x45 out there pushing 80-85grainers of your favorite flavor. You yourself said the shots won't be that far and there is virtually no recoil from that chambering.


Chupa

i think itll do fine. good starter gun for a young kid. .223 is used on people with the military all the time, plus its his first gun so i wouldnt spend a ton on it. Buy it and go hunting

Gunshop BULL CRAP. I would love to see some sort of documentation about the 5.56's wound first/kill second development (sources ect.)

You hear it all the time, and its nothing but a opinion, started by some dope in a gunshop.

To the OP, i would say your choince in caliber is fine, as long as you select the proper bullet. With the proper bullet and plenty of practice the .223 will serve you well.

It's really kind of hard to believe. Guys don't think twice about carrying an AR with them when they are hunting hogs.( a potentially dangerous and notoriously hard to kill animal). The military and LE agencies consider themselves well armed with their 5.56 mm rifles in most cases. But we still have people that think it's not "big" enough for a little scraggly whitetail doe. Really its amazing. I'm with you JWP58. Can you imagine all those Generals sitting in conference saying "Well, it wounds pretty good." I don't think so. Initial reports from Viet Nam, details small entry and massive exit wounds. There was actual talk about it being "inhumane". Either way it's lethality on a man has been proven countless times.

The arguement that "if it's good for the Army, it's good for deer" is seriously flawed. First, the miliary uses FMJ bullets. This results in entirely different terminal effects than hunting bullets, so we are really not comparing similar rounds.

Second, the military chose the 5.56 over the 7.62 because the ammo was lighter so that each soldier could carry more rounds, and have more "firepower". A firefight with an enemy who is shooting back is hardly analogous to a hunter trying to precisely place one round into a deer.

A soldier probably fires hundreds of rounds for each kill: Spray and pray....cover fire. Keep their heads down fire. Is that the way you hunt deer?

Now, to clarify: The 223, with proper bullerts, can be a perfectly fine choice for deer under limited conditions. But to conclude that it must be a good deer cartridge 'cause the Army uses it to kill people is incorrect, IMO.

IMO, I think it is safe to say, after 50 plus years of combat use, it will bring down a 70 lb doe, with a well placed shot. The military didn't send us into combat and say "Research shows, if you fire enough rounds, you can kill the enemy." The lethality of the 5.56mm ammo is well proven. I agree the terminal effects of the FMJ ammo may well be different from some hunting ammo. But is it possible that some of the bullets that are available to us now, may even be more effective?

With the correct bullet, I agree.


Combat use or no combat use...it is irrelevant.

Napalm, it quite effective for combat use, too.

I did use it last year as a caliber of choice for my South African Elephant hunt. Deadly round between the eyes at 2 yards on those manimals

Your answering your own thoughts and questions. When you have to sit and debate on a forum and use the words "properly placed bullet, type of bullet, weight of bullet, distance of shot" then your undergunned Carry on my fellow Americans

So will a 22 Short, ask any poacher

I don't use 100 lb braided line for perch either, but thats another subject altogether, ain't it?

I have killed well over 100 hogs with my .223's, and some over 250 pounds. Deer are light skinned, assuming your using good ammo a deer is an easy kill with it. My favorite ammo being TSX, or 77SMK's.


The military units who field mk262 (77 grain OTM) have reported very lethal results. (first report was around 75 out of 78 insurgents killed with it). FMJ is not good for hunting, and thats were alot of complaints originated from. Units using OTM are not complaining.

I think a .223 might be a little small. When my son was about 10 I borrowed a .243 that had the butt cut down to make it shorter and he did great on Junction, TX deer.

For hogs, I love my 7 mm STW that will reach out and touch them from 250 yeards or so.

You might but that's hardly a caliber for a 7 year old.

There are miles of calibers that can kill a hog at 250 yards and do it with low recoil. Keep in mind we are dealing with a child here, we are not debating whether it is the ideal round for all things to be hunted, but rather is it sufficient for a small beginning hunter to kill small targets with.


Chupa

Yeah I would never try to strangle a deer with fishing line, not me anyway

Ignore all the BS, it works just fine. Good luck!

Never designed to kill. Designed to wound and take out of action. If you can't do neck shots leave it at home. Not a hunting round.

The .223 for military use was designed to injure not kill.