AR 223 70 grain barnes question

Rugerman8825 · Sep 28, 2019

Hay everyone, gotta reloading question . I'm wanting to use my AR for sika deer at fishing bay this year. Which from what I'm understanding, IS legal these days but needs to be able to hit the 1200 ft.lbs of energy. In all my reloading data I've got and can find ,they showing plenty of options with the barnes 70 grain tsx like I've got, but their all using 24- 26"test barrels. What load can I use out of my AR with the standard 16" barrel? Best I've got thru my chrono is about a little over1100 ft.lbs. any suggestions with what I've got?? Can't afford a new barrel,rifle or upper either.

Thank you

Swaim13 · Sep 28, 2019

I don't know the hunting laws so I am just going to treat this as a straight reloading question. I am guessing you are running at around 2700 fps? Whats the length and twist rate in your barrel? Have you worked up safely to know what your max load is?

Easiest ways to get more energy is to make the bullet go faster or use a heavier bullet. If you can increase the velocity by 100 fps, you should cross the 1200 ft lbs limit and still be well within book numbers. If you are using a 70 gr bullet, I am guessing you are using a 1:9 twist barrel. Some 1:9 twist barrels will stabilize a 75 gr bullet depending on the exact bullet. My R700 has a 9 twist barrel and will stabilize 75 gr BTHP but will not stabilize a 75 gr tipped matchking. I can give you a couple of 75 gr Hornady BTHP match bullets to try if you want to try before buying a box of hunting bullets.

steves1911 · Sep 28, 2019

2800fps out of that long tsx bullet is a tall order in a 16" tube. What powder are you using? Barnes shows a 5.56 load with 26.2gr rl15 got 2809fps in a 16.5" bbl.

Biggfoot44 · Sep 28, 2019

I'll bite , are you married to the idea of the 70gr TSX ?

The 50 or 55gr TSX work well for whitetails, much less Sitka , and no potential issues with arbitrary calculated ft lb .

E.Shell · Sep 28, 2019

Easy to lose deer in the marsh, not much margin for error. Make sure that whatever you use will anchor them or leave a VERY good blood trail

Speed3 · Sep 28, 2019

E.Shell said:
Easy to lose deer in the marsh, not much margin for error. Make sure that whatever you use will anchor them or leave a VERY good blood trail

Agree with this

I've seen one deer shot in the boiler plate with a 64gr soft point. No exit, no blood trail, when opened up tons of trauma. I wont use a 223 unless I have a good shooting rest and head shoot them.

Larger holes and energy are my "go to" for deer. Worst case, shoot out the front shoulders and they snow plow allowing for follow up shot

lazarus · Sep 28, 2019

Speed3 said:
Agree with this

I've seen one deer shot in the boiler plate with a 64gr soft point. No exit, no blood trail, when opened up tons of trauma. I wont use a 223 unless I have a good shooting rest and head shoot them.

Larger holes and energy are my "go to" for deer. Worst case, shoot out the front shoulders and they snow plow allowing for follow up shot

There are sure as heck worse ways to do it.

At some point I'll try some .223 deer hunting, because I can and I have a tendency to try anything at least twice.

That said, I'd use my 20" AR, not my 16". Partly to be more comfortably legal on cartridge performance. Also a bit to because the extra velocity is likely to do a bit more damage. Which would be good for a small round.

IMHO, my go to would be the 75gr Gold Dot. Seems to perform really well and the chrono data I can find it'll be close to 1300ft-lbs out of a 20". With a 16", you'll be slightly over 1200ft-lbs. The people who've talked deer performance are (mostly) impressed.

That said, If I can get some rifle shooting in on deer I am going to try my 6.5 Grendel again. Missed last year, not the rifles fault that. I am a lot more comfortable with a 6.5mm diameter 120/123gr bullet at 2400fps rather than 5.56mm 75gr at 2800fps.

Biggfoot44 · Sep 28, 2019

When ( if ) I rifle hunt in Maryland again , it will be AR-15 , Just Because !

When an AR goes hunting in my usual rifle hunting locals , it will be shooting 123gr SP . ( From 7.62x39 upper )

danb · Sep 29, 2019

Speaking of ARs for hunting... those Panzer and Rock Island VR series AR-style 12 ga have been calling to me. I tried the trigger on one today it was crap. But for $400 I have to wonder how it does with slugs and a scope at 75yds. The idea of deer hunting with a magazine fed AR style shotgun is appealing.

AR 223 70 grain barnes question

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