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My lovely Lady wants to use my .223 bolt action rifle for hunting Antelope this Fall. Do you folks have any experience with hunting in this caliber? I have only used it for varmit hunting. I have loaded some really nice shooting rounds with the V-max bullet and am perfecting one with the Nosler Ballistc tip bullet. I have always used a .270 for Antelope, but the Lady is not much for Recoil and shoots the .223 rifle well.

But is it enough gun for the job?? She will be shooting a maximum of 300 yards or so, as that is the max distance she has been practicing at.

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It isn't a matter of legality, as we can use any rifle cartridge or large pistol catridge for big game here in Montana. I am concerned about a clean kill with a good shot, and am wondering if this round is capable of such. Thanks.

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With a thin skinned animal like a Pronghorn, as long as the shot placement is good, it should make a clean kill with a good round. With those critters, you definitely need long range capability though which could be stretching the .223 as it might loose too much energy before hitting the target. Remember an Antelope has 8x binocular vision and can see you usually before you see them unless you are constantly glassing before moving. 300 yards seems pushing it with them. I've had to take way longer shots otherwise I would have been busted. They'll spot a coyote at 300 easily let alone humans. You'd have to consult the ballistics for the different rounds you loaded as far as energy and ranges go.

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Fortunately our Super Ultra Mega Top Secret hunting spot has yielded many fine animals at ranges of 75 to 350 yards, if you know when to show up. But yes I am also worried about the power of this round even at 250 yards. Guess it is time to hit the books, for me!

I just really want to make sure She can make a clean, one shot kill. She has no problem with accuracy, but I just look at that tiny little bullet and wonder.

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I have been doing a bit of research on this. There are bullets designed for deer sized game and are reported to work well. Most recommend 200 yards as max in order to get good bullet performance. The Barnes copper bullets look good. I will be using the Hornady TAP 75 gr load this year in my Saiga .223.

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AR slide fire! :) Seriously though. I've seen deer taken out with 5.45 surplus and hornady. They do run a bit. Maybe 50 yards or so. If a plain surplus 5.45 can im sure all the specialty 223 can.

 

Btw the one I saw with a 5.45 caused quite a lot of soft tissue damage. Practically liquefied both lungs.

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Good to hear! Her other option is my FN .308, that weighs a Ton compared to the Remington, and she has not really shot it much although it has very mild recoil.

She shoots the .223 well, and shot placement comes first! I will try some heavier bullets and see how they shoot.

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We tried some Hornady 75 grain bullets, they shot aprox. 8" low and 8" left, as the rifle was sighted in. We tried a box of Federal 64 grain soft point bullets, and they required no sight adjustment, right on the button!

The Lady also shot the FN .308. She did well, after "Scoping" herself on the first shot, but she didn't quit! She is a lil'toughy! I think she would prefer the .223 but she shot a few 1.5" groups at 100yds with the .308. and we taped Dope Charts to the stocks of both rifles for her.

Either rifle, she will be limiting her range to stay in her comfort zone to ensure a "Good shot or No shot" hunting plan.

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Robrez-What platform is the bolt action? I've found that a lot of the "whisper" series of calibers are much softer shooting for the ladies and can put a whole lot more hurt on an animal (aka drop it right there so you don't have to find the bastard) as well as have better buck in the wind. The whisper series in a bolt action is nice because you can really push the boundaries when running supersonic as well as the OAL of the round.

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When I lived in Alabama, we used to take white tail with our ARs out to 300 yds. If you get a heart/lung shot, they usually don't go far. Shot placement is the key here.

 

A friend of mine had a 7.62x39mm bolt gun, and he took 200yd shots with US made ammo often. Ruger still makes the M77 Compact model: http://www.ruger.com/products/m77HawkeyeCompact/models.html

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