I'm sure I'm gonna get some flak for this one but here it goes...
After finishing my AR build, in which hunting was not in my realm of concern for it, I heard a few discussions about hunting whitetails with .223. The one I heard and believe is the most credible was on Tom Gresham's show last Sunday, he had stated that it was a perfectly ample cartridge to do the job, with the proper bullets of course. Also keeping in mind that the deer in md are not very big.
I then read my hunting guide book for this season and saw in the rifle regulations that there is no caliber restriction, just that 1200 ft/lbs of muzzle energy must be obtained. I found some data about a few loads, Nosler I think, where they had some creating over 1300 ft/lbs with the heavier soft point bullets.
So does anyone here hunt with a .223? Or have a resource where I can find some more information pertaining to velocities and barrel lengths? I have a 14.5" pinned barrel so it may be a little short. But I figured it was worth asking and the discussion.
Thoughts?
After finishing my AR build, in which hunting was not in my realm of concern for it, I heard a few discussions about hunting whitetails with .223. The one I heard and believe is the most credible was on Tom Gresham's show last Sunday, he had stated that it was a perfectly ample cartridge to do the job, with the proper bullets of course. Also keeping in mind that the deer in md are not very big.
I then read my hunting guide book for this season and saw in the rifle regulations that there is no caliber restriction, just that 1200 ft/lbs of muzzle energy must be obtained. I found some data about a few loads, Nosler I think, where they had some creating over 1300 ft/lbs with the heavier soft point bullets.
So does anyone here hunt with a .223? Or have a resource where I can find some more information pertaining to velocities and barrel lengths? I have a 14.5" pinned barrel so it may be a little short. But I figured it was worth asking and the discussion.
Thoughts?