Not that I would recommend it to anyone but a .22 hornet would be legal with 55gr bullet. Not saying wouldn't do the trick but would be pickey on the shot and have to have exact placement....
The links that you provided are the Hornady Tap with the .223 pressure and what Bulleye63 referred is the 5.56 Hornady Tap with the T2 bullet and these rounds are hotter.
agreed, here is a huge thread comparing the two.
http://www.ar15.com/mobile/topic.html?b=3&f=16&t=283506
I'd recommend shooting the heaviest bullet that the barrel will stabilize. Nosler's partition does hit hard but I've never found it's precision to be all that stellar. I can vouch for the neck shooting since that's what I primarily do given the right circumstances and like CHenry indicated such a shot will drop a deer, or most any other animal for that matter, on the spot.
I know two guys at my work that won't use a .223 again for hunting.. but one of the guys was using some monarch fmj's I gave him for sighting in/plinking.. lol. but yes I agree with above post's. use heaviest grain possible.
I shot one at 225 yards with a 75 gr BTHP. It dropped almost where I shot. I think a .223/5.56 is far more then enough to kill a deer. Shot placement.
The 5.56 TAP T2 rounds are only sold to LEO. Almost all online retailers won't even have these listed and for the most part, 90% of the non LEO shooters even know that it exists. The link you you have is for the regular 223 TAP round. That is not the TAP T2 round. The TAP T2 is loaded to 5.56 specs and has a slightly different shaped bullet.
Some of my SE Oklahoma friends swear by the .223 in late-model Mini-14 rifles. Their current ammo choice is Black Hills 69 grain HP - available @ Burke's in Broken Bow. You didn't say what kind of rifle you have, but twist rate of the barrel can make a lot of difference. Most of the current autoloaders are 1 in 7" to 1 in 9" and shoot heavy bullets well. If your rifle is 1 in 12" or slower it may not stabilize bullets over about 55 grains.
I have an Interarms MiniMauser in .223 that I use calling coyotes - not sure what the twist rate is on it, but I have used 45 & 50 grain bullets. I am getting acquainted with a fairly new Mini-14 - it shoots quite well with 55 grain bullets and I just tried some Speer 70 grain bullets and was quite satisfied with accuracy and that is what I will hunt with this winter. Not sure if I will deer hunt with it. I have experience with the Speer 70 grain bullet on deer in .22-250 - it is quite destructive on a deer's organs (heart & lungs), but I've never seen one leave an exit wound. However, the Hornady 60 grain bullet in a .22-250 will nearly always make an exit hole/blood trail even on a pretty large deer in my experience. I think I will like the results with the Speer 70 grain in .223 and I have about a box and a half of bullets left, so I guess I'm good on that. I also loaded some Nosler Partition 60 grain bullets for my .22-250, but I had the poorest accuracy with them of any bullet I've ever tried in a .22-250. I did carry my rifle loaded with those all gun season two years ago, but never fired a shot so I can't report on their performance on a deer.
Good Luck,
Cedar Creek
I have an Interarms MiniMauser in .223 that I use calling coyotes - not sure what the twist rate is on it, but I have used 45 & 50 grain bullets. I am getting acquainted with a fairly new Mini-14 - it shoots quite well with 55 grain bullets and I just tried some Speer 70 grain bullets and was quite satisfied with accuracy and that is what I will hunt with this winter. Not sure if I will deer hunt with it. I have experience with the Speer 70 grain bullet on deer in .22-250 - it is quite destructive on a deer's organs (heart & lungs), but I've never seen one leave an exit wound. However, the Hornady 60 grain bullet in a .22-250 will nearly always make an exit hole/blood trail even on a pretty large deer in my experience. I think I will like the results with the Speer 70 grain in .223 and I have about a box and a half of bullets left, so I guess I'm good on that. I also loaded some Nosler Partition 60 grain bullets for my .22-250, but I had the poorest accuracy with them of any bullet I've ever tried in a .22-250. I did carry my rifle loaded with those all gun season two years ago, but never fired a shot so I can't report on their performance on a deer.
Good Luck,
Cedar Creek
All shot with .55 grain SP Remmies. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive. I'll be using the same round this year. I have lots more pics of different deer, but won't bore you.
The R-P 55 grain is pretty much all I use in .22-250. Cabela's ran bulk sale on 55 grain .224, 100 grain .243, and 170 grain .30 cal Cor-Lokts about 8 years ago and I stocked up. I still use a few Sierra, etc. bullets but most are left over from the days when you really could find some good deals at gunshows.
Cedar Creek
Cedar Creek
Similar threads
