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edit...

Secondly, "ballistic tip" is not a synonym for "varmint bullet".  Ballistic tips are employed to increase BC and aid expansion.  But the bullet's construction determines if that expansion is explosive - as is the case for varmint bullets - or controlled - as is the case for bullets designed for larger game, where weight retention is desired for greater penetration.  There is absolutely nothing about a ballistic tip that makes a round inherently suitable for varmint hunting.  Otherwise you wouldn't see ballistic tip large game ammo.

Nosler lists two types of Ballistic Tips on their website. Plain Ballistic Tips for hunting, and  Ballistic Tips Varmint.
The hunting Ballistic Tips are only made in 6 mm and larger. The 223 variety are made for varmints, not hunting larger game such as deer. If so, it would be listed on their website.
Look at their website to see the difference in their construction. There is a HUGE difference in structure and therefore expansion and penetration.

http://www.nosler.com/bullets.htm

Hunting bullets have a much more controlled rate of expansion while varmint bullets expand violently very quickly.
Not good for deer hunting!
Here is there page for the hunting type Ballistic Tips (starting at 6mm and larger):

http://www.nosler.com/index.php?p=11&b=5&s=5

223 Nosler Ballistic Tips are VARMINT bullets, not designed for hunting larger games such as deer.

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Since the recommendation was against ballustic tips in general, and was not confined to Nosler offerings, my point still stands.  Try comparing Hornady's V-Max & A-Max bullets, for instance.  The former is indeed a varmint bullet in .224" as it is designed to expand violently.  The latter, however, is constructed with a thicker jacket to provide controlled expansion, and is made in weights up to 80 gr.  Both are ballistic tip bullets, but only one is designed as a varmint bullet.

Until you research how the bullet is constructed and what it was designed for, taking the word of Jimmy Ray or Joe Bob on the internet is a mistake.
Check out the manufacturer's websites, educate yourself as to what the bullets were designed for, and act accordingly.
There is a difference between plastic tipped bullets and Ballistic Tip bullets. And differences in those categories.
The only way to find out you are using the right bullet is to do research.
Then you only have to worry if the manufacturer is just using marketing BS or is really selling as good a product as they advertise.
I can vouch that Nosler Ballistic Tips in 308 are excellent and accurate hunting bullets. From Nosler's website, there is no way I'd use 223 Ballistic Tips for deer.
As far as A-MAX being used for hunting, the bullet structure does not look as it is well designed for hunting.
A cross section from the Hornady website:

A-MAX®

Features:

   * Ultra-low drag tip
   * Aerodynamic secant ogive delivers flat trajectories
   * Excellent uniformity and concentricity
   * Jacket precision drawn for unequaled consistency
   * Delivers consistent accuracy at all ranges

As far as the V-max goes (again from the Hornady website):



V-MAX™

Features:

   * Premium polymer tip and streamlined design for ultra flat trajectories.
   * Match grade jacket design provides maximum accuracy at all ranges.
   * Explosive expansion, even at low velocities.


The Hornady website DOES NOT advertise either bullet for hunting deer.

ETA I strongly suggest you also look at the Nosler website to see the differences in how the Nosler Ballistic Tips are made between calibers. I can't post those in this thread.
http://www.nosler.com/bullets.htm

Actually, no...there is no difference between "plastic tipped" and "Ballistic Tip" bullets.  The latter originated as a Nosler trademarked term to describe their polymer (plastic)-tipped bullets.

Differences between "categories" of "ballistic tip" bullets are exactly as I described...in the geometry and construction of the rest of the bullet.  Hence my statement about the blanket assertion that "ballistic tip" = "varmint bullet" being invalid.

I wouldn't use Nosler's .223 ballistic tips for deer either, but not because they're ballistic tips.  I'd avoid them because the underlying bullet is not constructed for maximum weight retention and controlled expansion.  I would not hesitate to use a ballistic (plastic) tip bullet that was so constructed and of one of the heavier weights (say, 62 gr. or heavier).

My point about the A-Max was that in spite of it's ballistic tip, it is NOT designed as a varmint bullet, like the V-Max is.

At no point have I recommended any existing ballistic tip bullet in .223 for medium-sized game hunting.  What I've said is that there is nothing about the use of a ballistic (polymer) tip in a bullet design that makes it unsuitable for medium (or large) game.  They are used on many, many bullets designed for large game.  If a company put one on top of a heavy .224" bullet designed for controlled expansion then it would be just as suitable for medium-sized game as any other heavy .224" hunting bullet.

remington psp (pointed soft point), 62 grain if memory serves

What do you all think about the 55gr sierra gameking for deer?  I think federal loaded it.  It was HP so i just assumed it would expand too quickly.  Does anybody have experience or knowledge about that bullet on deer?

Call Sierra. They have a phone number especially for questions concerning their products.
1.800.223.8799
http://www.sierrabullets.com/index.cfm?section=techservice

Do you think a 223 will break a deer shoulder?

That's the problem. It probably would but may not go any deeper, depending on the construction of the bullet.
You have to have penetration to destroy organs. That's why heavier bullets are used on larger game.
Killing a deer with any rifle is not hard to do.
Dropping them ASAP is the goal when you hunt. You have to have some penetration and expansion to kill the deer.
A solid bullet may pass right through without really tearing up many organs, letting the animal run off and die.
A soft point designed for expansion may pass through too but it will open a MUCH LARGER wound channel.
We're not bushmen who will wound an elephant with a poison arrow, then follow it for three days waiting for it to die.
We want to drop the animal ASAP.

I got my deer! One shot , one kill , no steps. 60g federal nosler.

I hope you took pics.  I'd love to see them.

I contacted Sierra and they recommend their 65 gr. Spitzer Boat Tail for use on whitetail.  I asked the guy how he thought the round compared to .270 (the cal. i normally use) and he said "with good placement the Deer won't know the difference."  

Will report back with results.

My .270 bolt action is out of commission and I hadn't planned on hunting this year (didn't think I'd have a place to go) until today.  I went out and bought some 55gr Remington Premier Accutip in .223 to use in my midlength AR (figured the Premier would perform better than the cheaper basic core lokt ammo).  When I got home, I realized that these are the Accutip V (supposedly similar to the Vmax) and not the same Accutip that they put in larger calibers.  Of course Bass Pro doesn't accept returns on ammo.

Can this stuff be used on smaller (125lbs would be pretty big in the area I'll be hunting) deer at shorter ranges (I can't imagine taking a shot outside of 150 yards), or did I just spend $50 on 40 plinking rounds?

Put one down with some Privi 68gr Match yesterday. Neck shot shot straight on at 75-100yds.  The deer collapsed DOA. Bullet tumbled and yawed doing plenty of damage.

I would say try Federal Fusion 62gr.

Well, I've never been a fan of the 223 for deer hunting - I've been strongly against it - but I've had two shot with my 60 gr Nosler Partition reloads and both have dropped.
I took one just at dark tonight, hit her broadside, a little higher than I would have liked but she dropped within 30 yds.  Range was round 90 yds or so. She weighed a little over 90 dressed.

I was by myself so I didn't get any pictures of the inside damage. It broke no ribs going in but broke at least two on the way out by the feel inside.
I'm not too sure how it would do past 200 yds or more. Or how it would work hitting a big bucks heavy shoulder bones But it worked at 175 yds for a boy shooting my rifle and at 90 for me.
I'm reluctant to try it on a doe past 200 yds. I may if I have the chance and my son is there with his 308.
We sometimes hunt wheat fields with ranges well over 400 yds. I'm thinking from what I've seen that 300 may be the outside max for the 60 gr Partitions. I'd sure like to recover one but they have blown through on both kills.

danc46, scepticism is not a bad thing, but being a blind sceptic certainly has it's shortcomings.  I'm glad to see you were willing to give a proper .224" game bullet an honest day in court.  I hope to see you post some more pics.  

I would NOT recommend using that bullet on deer sized animals.




 
 

Past experience was not good with a 223. I used it on coyotes and one deer some 25+ years ago. The coyotes would run off sometimes but I didn't really care about that. The one deer I shot with it went down, layed there long enough for me to think he was a goner, then jumped up  and took off with a stagger.
We never did find him.
That is the reason.
But bullets like the Partition made it a much better round than was available years ago. But I still have serious reservations because of the heavier bones of larger deer and the kinetic energy at further ranges.
I'm going to have to recover one of the bullets to be really determine if it held together or blew up.
I'll say it's OK (with the right bullet) to use for smaller deer and shorter ranges but there are better choices of caliber available.
ETA - IMO Nosler 60 gr Partitions are great bullets in the 223 if you are going to hunt deer with one and if used with certain limitations such as shorter ranges and smaller deer!
I don't think I would recommend it though if you are going after a big trophy buck!

25 years ago!!! Cmon dude!!!... You were probably using ball ammo! If you can remember. The bullets that are designed NOW for the 223 and hunting work.

I was using Sierra 55 gr soft points,not ball. 30 years ago coyote carcasses were bringing $35 for the hides. That is equivalent to $80 or more now.
I wanted them to drop so I could get the money.
As far as what the manufacturers' say about their bullets today, I'll take that with a grain of salt. I have to see for myself.
And that means recovering the bullets is possible. Weighing them after they hit and seeing how much weight they retain and and how bullet spread they have are the BEST indicators of how good a game bullet they are.
I emailed Federal and asked them to rank their three best bullets in 223 for deer hunting. They replied only "60 gr Nosler Partition". Partitions have a good reputation for game taking so I gave them a try.
Perfect shots on every kill is a pipe dream.
So you need the best you can get.

While I wouldn't say the .223 is the best deer cartridge out there. But will the .223 get the job done. You betcha!

I got my first AR 15 about 3 years ago and wanted to see how it would do against deer sized game. I knew the size of the bullet was already going to make it challenging so I looked for the heaviest grain ammo I could find. I ordered up some 77 grain Black Hills match hollow point from Midway USA

I shoot an 18"  heavy barrel with a 1 in 8 twist and can shoot this ammo Sub-MOA at 300 yds. I know hollow points aren't ideal for shooting big game but I figured the heavier bullet would make up for the lack of penetration usually associated with a hollow point. Boy was I right. The only problem I had, was not getting a pass through shots. This would lead to little to no blood trail. But I had this same problem with my 30-06. It's all about shot placement. With a well placed shot to the vitals you didn't really need a blood trail.

All the deer below were hit in the vitals and it looked as if somebody just turned their vitals to jelly. I managed to retrieve one bullet. It flattened out nicely, to a diameter about the size of the tip of my pinky.

Well my brother and I were on orders from our local farmer to thin the herd, so that's what we did. All the deer were shot under 100 yards and the one that ran the farthest only went 40 yards. All but two dropped right where they were shot.

My recommnedation would be to get the heaviest ammo you and your rifle can shoot accurately. This will usually depend on the length of your barrel and the twist rate associated with the barrel. Soft tip or ballistic tip bullets might help with the penetration and may help to obtain a pass through while expanding enough to cause some damage. The hollow points i used when shot in the vitals had good penetration and energy transfer. This resulted in massive damage but did not pass through. The bullet I retrieved was just under the skin on the far side. The bullet went through the ribs on the way in and out and managed to take out both lungs and the heart before becoming lodged under the skin.

I know the .223 will get the job done on deer, but I'm looking at getting another upper in either a 6.8 or .458 or .50 to hunt hogs and ensure full penetration/pass through.

What I have seen work time and time again with quick kills is Wolf 55g HP and Brown Bear 62g HP. Those things get inside and fragment and tear the hell out of anything. I know they are not for big game but they do work. Thats all I am gonna say about that.

I concur on the 62gr. HP(although I used Wolf, I'd bet a dollar it is the very same bullet).

I dropped a buck 2 years ago with one, he went nowhere.

11/13/09  First doe down.  I shot her twice 2nd shot was not necessary.  She was dead on her feet after travelling 15 yards.  I wanted to make sure she didnt cross the property boundry where I would have had to get permission to go get her.  Rifle was 20" 1-8 twist SS WOA NM barrel FF tube Nikon 4.5-14x40mm Load was 69 grn SMK over 23.5 grns of Benchmark.  Book says velocity is 2770 fps I dont have a chrono. Distance was 246 yards.  From first shot to her not moving anymore was maybe 40 seconds.

I snapped this pic before the deer came while light was good.  I have watched these deer for months I knew they would come out here.  She was standing next to the vertical  pipe in this pic






Here is part of the short blood trail



Here is some more of it



Would have been easy to follow if I needed to



Here she is 246 yards as measured with Bushneel Yardage Pro 1000


Entry wounds





Exit wounds





Spleen and lung damage



I would say pretty effective The first shot hit back on the ribs and passed at angle through the lungs exiting behind the offshoulder total penetration was about 15 inches  second shot went straight through total penetration around 10 inches

Update 11/17/09

So I decided to go shoot a doe this morning and I went to the same cornfield that I shot the doe on Friday evening in.  45 minutes before legal shooting hours as I start to turn onto the oil access road, a 160 Class 10 point is standing in the road.  Talk about temptation!  I got out of the truck and loaded up my rifle, same rifle as before only this time ammo was 55 grn Remington Corelokt. I started to make my way down the service road on foot to get to the area I wanted to set  up at.  I had only gotten to the start of the cornfield when deer started blowing and stomping at me.  By starlight I could see deer bounding everywhere.  I figured that if I tried to push onto where I wanted to be, that there would be no deer left in the field by legal shooting light so I moved into some thin brush in the fence row and waited.  In a few minutes I had enough light to see deer all around me, yet I had to wait another 25 minutes or so for legal light,  When legal light came there were 25 deer within 200 yards of me.  I picked out the biggest doe I could find (left range finder at home) guessed her range as 150  settled the cross hairs behind her shoulder and squeezed off my first shot.  I heard the WHOMP of the bullet impact and watched her run out of sight to the west.  Most of the deer did not react to the shot. I waited about 5 minutes and watched a young 7 point chase a doe around.  The doe stopped about 75 yards in front of me and I raised my rifle again and fired aiming directly behind her shoulder,   I had only wanted one doe but didnt want to pass the perfect broadside shot she offered,  I watched her run about 40 yards on her hind legs and then kick over.  At this point deer were running everywhere away from  me, to me, in front of and behind me.   Also some deer didnt seem concerned at all and continued to munch on corn while observing the pandemonium.   I watched a third doe run straight to me from over 400 yards away, she slammed on the breaks faceing me at 60 or so yards and I placed a bullet in her chest,  She ran to the west for 20 or 30 steps and piled up.   When I went to collect the deer I figured out the first doe had made it out of the cornfield.  I  found a little blood and began walking in its direction.  I saw her rise up in some tall grass on the edge of the field and bed down.  There is a tall pile of road material maybe 30 yards from her and I figured if I climbed to the top of the pile I could look down on her in the grass.  I got 3/4 of the way up and it collapsed, I slid down and as I did I saw her jump up and run.  She had already travelled 300 yards from where I shot her originally. She made it another 200 yards or so before I reached the top of the pile and flopped down prone resting the rifle on the magazine like a monopod. She stopped running and began walking stiffly with her tail helf out straight and stiff parralell to the ground,  She was going straight away from me offering me no shot, but to immobilze her with a spine shot to the base of the tail. Iwaited hoping something better would comeshe stopped at around 200 yards and looked back at me,  Some weeds were obscurubg her head but I could see the neck so i shot her through the neck dropping her instantly.First 3 shots were offhand last was rested on the magazine.

Doe 1 after final shot



gut shot wound 4.5 inches higher would have been double lung
i caught forward edge of stomach.
Entry


Exit  


Neck Entry



Neck Exit


First round impacted l4 to 5 inches lower and 3 to 4 inches further back the desired ( I completely blew it )  round punched through forward edge of stomach and took out a chunk of ribs near the sternum on the exit.  This deer left a blood trail but not really alot of one.  Second round to neck near base of skull had expected results.  Unexpected was that the bullet apparently full penetrated a vertbrea.  Will know more when we skin out the neck.
More pics to come

Deer 2
This shot wa a broadside shot at about 75 yards I hit forward and low of my intended impact point.  (I will not be shooting offhand at deer anymore this season )  

Only pic of deer in field



Close up of entry

bullet took out both lungs and heart.  Damage was not as much as I expected but sufficient.

Close up of exit




Hope to find what is left of bullet in that leg

Heart and lungs after shot



Deer #3 60 or so yards shot face on into the chest.


Entry wound almost forgot to take this pic had started gutting when I remembered


took out one lung I didnt find out where the bullet ended up at



If you have seen the video of the Elk on Youtube being gutted and the green shower...... well thats what happened to me on this deer  I felt like a complete idiot gut shoot one deer and cut stomach will gutting another,  I think camera documentation brings on these kind of flub ups.  Anyway I make no excuses, this is what happened.  I appologize for the lack of quality pics on this set.  I was a bit upset about gutting shooting deer #1 and then distracted by being covered in the poop of deer #3.  I will only shoot one deer at a time for the rest of the season. I will also make sure I have a rest and that I take better pics.

oh yeah here is two more pics

3 deer on the tail gate


This deer refused to leave the field she was there feeding when I left.



These results are pretty much the same as what I have experienced in the past with Rem 55 grn Corelokts.  I dont like this bullet in any caliber to be honest with you.  That being said It will work if you put it in the vitals and not in the guts like I did on deer #1

11/30/09 UPDATE

This evening I got asked to go on a wounded deer recovery.  The shooter had shot a doe and watched it go down, but when they went to recover it they could fine no sign.  I came out to help and brought the AR along.   The doe was jumped up and ran onto an adjoining property. I shot at her 3 times as she ran but at good distance and in heavy cover I scored no hits.   She was much closer to me than the shooter so I reached her first.  She was in neck high grass  and leaped up about 40 yards in front of me.  I had little to no shot in the tall grass, but I gave her ago anyway.  I heard a load wump and she went completely out of sight, When I reached where she went down, she sprang up again some 50 yards away.   and ran straight towards some oil field equipment and then alongside it. I had to wait until she was about 120 yards to shoot and then all I could see her rump as she was moving along at a good clip.  I shot her in the left buttock the bullet shattered the femur and travelled crossways through the intestines and then through the rib cage on the offside,  It ended up in the outer layer of skin, not quite making a  complete exit.  There was an orange sized hole through the ham and then intestines were shredded blood was oozing out everywhere inside the abdominal cavity,  The first shot had hit the paunch and ended up lodged in the stomach which had been blown apart.  I recovered piece of the 2nd bullet next to the hide. it primarily only the jacket and a small sliver of lead.  A sizeable piece of lead was stuck in the meat between the ribs.  I shot her a thrid time in the head, just to make sure she was done for. Distance for head shot was about 15 yards  small entry wound and thumbsize exit, The bullet went in below the eye and exited out the offside jaw.  Lot of bone damage not really an impressive head shot as I did not hit the cranial cavity and the bullet mainly penetrated only bone, which it crushed very well.  I am trying to get pics up but my computer is not
recognizing the camera for some reason.  Oh yes.... The shooters hit on the deer,  They shot  the front feet nearly off.  They were severed completely dangling only by tendons, and she ran over 500 yards on the shattered off stubs, just above the ankles.     While my shots were not great they were the shots I had and any hit on a wounded deer is a good hit.  will get pics up ASAP.  OH YES THE BULLET WAS 69 grn SMK handloads.

Ok so I started downloading pics and realized I dont have half the ones that I took I dunno what happened I will see if I can get some more

This is the reason I got the call. The round was 243win  95 grn Winchester Ballistic Silver Tip I was told the distance was 400 yards.


The skinned out Ham


Opened up Ham and smashed femur


2nd pic of ham


Shredded guts


Head Shot the skinned out head was much more impressive entry side beneath eye had detached the ocular socket and the upper portion of the jaw at exiot was in 7 pieces again lost pics



Recovered bullet the core seperated from the jacket when I removed it

the other smaller pieces were behind the base of the bullet




Update 1/4/10  These deer were shot week before christmas.
Here are the three deer I shot with the 75 grn TAP FPD provided by Krpind.  (thanks dude)

First deer was very small about 70lbs.   I shot this deer at 25 yards it was standing there feeding and something spooked it as I squeezed off the shot.  It leaped forward and my shot hit it in the guts.

This pic is of the first shot exit wound.  Several feet of intestine were "carried" out the hole.



I shot the deer a second time towards the forward edge of the rib cage at about 45 yards.
This is a pic of where the second round entered the rib cage after passing through the meat on the shoulder.


This is the damgage done one the inside of the rib cage



2nd deer was around 200 yards  deer travelled about 30 yards after the shot.  The second deer was also around 70 lbs

Entry on shoulder


Tissue damge between shoulder and ribs


entry side of ribs



exit side of ribs




destroyed lungs



Third deer was a larger around 160 lbs.  Distance was 300+  yards, my brother was running the range finder and called out 235 I nearly shot under the deer.  We ranged the hill she was standing on again later on and got measurements from 300 to 330 yards.  I am not sure what happened, I paced off 305 yards.  She ran for nearly 100 yards after being shot.



I hit her in the very bottom of the sternum.  You can not come any closer to missing a deer and kill it than this.  There was no entry or exit wound just a gash across the sternum.  My camera is screwed up so I lost alot of pics out of this entire series.  

This is her heart.


This is a piece of a lung


There was no damage inside the rib cage at all other than the ripped open sternum

This is a 4th deer that I put down after my nephew had shot it originally.  He made a good shot but when it got back up I hit again just to make sure.
Exit through the neck.

All I can say is BARNES TSX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I tried hunting with a .223 back in the nineties with rem core lokt crud.   After putting 4 into the bread basket of a little buck and he didn't go down I decided that would never happen again.     Well  FFWD to this year and I again have an AR.   Started reading about people killing mule deer with 52 grain barnes and thought I would give it a try for my son in Youth Season.




here my seven year old took this six point buck during the youth hunt back in October. Handload of Barnes 70grain TSX and Varget. Gun is YHM 1:7 twist upper on a Bushmaster lower. Leupold Mark AR scope 1x4. Before any of you start to think that I shot it for him, forget it. We practiced several times even out to 100 yards. He could actually keep about a 4 inch group at 100 yards with no problem on a rest. I felt comfortable letting him take any shot 50 yards and in. This guy stopped about 50 yards out, he dropped the hammer on him and the deer actually circled towards us and piled up about 30 yards out. The shot was slightly quartering to and he hit him just a little back( I had told him to shoot dead center shoulder). You can see in the pic where it exited. When we skinned it the hemmoraging was quite extensive for such a little bullet. In fact my father thought he may just start deer hunting with a .223 and barnes bullets.

Thanks for putting up that picture of your boy and the deer. Made my day!

wife used the 62gr fusion load this year for a small doe works fine but depends on how big your deer are
around here bucks can be in the 300+ weight range and with that size even if you have good shot placement and
a kill shot if he runs with no blood trail you might never find him but that can be said for any caliber, i guide for a living half the year and
have nearly lost several deer b/c hunter was using light for caliber fast expanding bullets that did not exit and left little blood trail

Any feedback on any of the new 2010 factory 223 hunting loads yet? Which ones look to have potential???

Here is a series of pictures of a doe shot by a young man with a 60 gr Nosler Partition at a distance of a little under 100 yds. It was not a good shot (he was aiming for the chest) but he broke the back on the deer which killed it on the spot. Not immediately, but it did drop where it was standing.









The shot was in the middle of the back, just in front of the tenderloins. Here is a view of the wound from the inside.



If you're going to use a 223 to hunt with, use the heaviest bullet you can get (IMO) and shoot accurately out of your rifle.
And be sure the bullet is designed for controlled expansion and deep penetration.
The heavier the bullet you have, the deeper it will penetrate at longer distances. And with controlled expansion, the more hemorrhaging and organ damage it will cause in the animal.

I've killed a handful of deer w/.223's and .223ai's. Bullets ranged from 55gr Vmax, 55gr FMJs, and 75gr Swifts. I've never lost a deer, nor needed a follow up shot. All game expired less then 50yds. Most 20-30yds.

This past season, took a decent 9pt on opening day at around 930am. 75gr Swift phucked him up. Blew half the heart off and turned the lungs into mush.

That's quite a picture. It looks like the cattle are about to bare their fangs and chow down on the deer!
Can't tell for sure, but I'd bet that buck was deep in rut and must have smelled to high heaven from the way the cattle are gathering around.

How many yards was the shot???

Cattle are pretty  carious creatures. They seems to always want to investigate me while I'm walking through the pasture.

Shot was maybe 40-50yds away. Deer aint hard to kill. Poke them in the lungs with something and they're going to die. This deer traveled less then 30yds after I shot em.

Would you mind elaborating on the handload?  How many grains of Varget and do you have an idea of how fast the bullet is travelling?  One last thing... Is that a 16" barrel (looks like it).  
I purchased some 70gr TSX's but haven't purchased the powder yet.  Not much reloading data out there for this bullet (I admit I don't have the latest version of the Barnes reloading manual).

Thanks very much.

The bigger, the heavier the bullet, and higher the speed, the greater the penetration at longer distances IF the bullet is constructed for slow expansion. You have to have kinetic energy and good bullet construction to break through a shoulder bone if you hit one. Especially when shooting longer ranges.
Deer bone is damned hard. If you've butchered one, you know how fast their bones can dull a knife.
I don't care if someone comes along and yells "bullet placement" trumps everything.
You have to be a magician to put the bullet in the perfect spot every time when shooting at longer distances - especially with a lighter bullet.
There's a huge difference between shooting paper on a rifle range and shooting across a windy gully at a walking mule deer. Lightweight bullets aren't the best choice.

You can use load data for the 69 gr SMK to load for the 70 gr Barnes.  I worked up two loads.  One with 25.0 gr of Varget, the other with 24.7 gr of Reloader 15.  Federal brass, federal primers, 2.255 COL for both.  The RL15 load is a little faster and just as accurate.  I got 2750 fps with the RL15 load out of a 16 inch AR.  While these loads are not max loads, they are about all you can stuff into a case with the LONG 70 gr TSX's.  The usual warnings apply.  Start low and work up.  YMMV.

for those who make think a .223 is bad for deer then how is an arrow any better? i'm a bow hunter myself and it's rare to drop a deer on the spot even with a good shot. ... well, unless headshot, but most bow hunter find headshots cruel...... per archerytalk.com

i recently bought a bolt action .223 rifle to use for deer this season. i'm already looking for ideas as far as a load goes for the rifle. it's a Rem 700 with a 1x9 twist and 20" barrel

in PA i can only use an "all lead bullet or ball, or bullet designed to expand on impact" ( from PA game commission regulations)

so i don't know if i could get away with some type of hollow point or just try to stick with a soft point or partition type bullet. i'm going for good accuracy (obviously) say half inch to inch and a half groups at 100 yards. where my hunting spot is, the max i could shoot is right around 100 yards. i killed a doe this year at about 50 yards and i had a yearling and her momma come to 10 yards of me the day before, so they get pretty close.

i've read though this thread and have gathered that the WInchester 64 grain power point and Nosler 60 grain partition are good bullets for the job. so my question is what are you guys that are loading these and hunting with them using for a load. i'm looking for powder, charge (start and max) c.o.l. and what gun/barrel twist you are shooting them out of plus any chronograph data if available. and are there any other bullets out there that will shoot well out of my rifle? i'm looking at all options to find what my rifle will like the best.

thanks.

We have a reloading forum.  You can find what you are looking for here.  http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=6&f=42&t=242880



1/9 twist barrels will generally stabilize bullets weighing 70 grains or less.  The 62 gn Barnes TSX is my favorite, but I've had very good results with 64 gn Win Power Points and 60 gn Nosler Partitions too.



 

Lets keep this going! What else do you guys like in the 223 line of ammo!