Best .223 bullet for deer?

[petey]

That's what I'm looking for gd. Thanks for the info. I figured a stout Partition or Barnes would be the best choice. Reloading of course, which is why I posted it here.

I'm not saying the Nosler BT won't work, and my current load puts 5 under 1/4" at 100 yards, but I think I want less of an "Explosive" bullet.

Yeah, they'll rip a hole in a coyote and take off a groundhog's head, but you may be able to retrieve just the base of the jacket when firing it into my sand box backstop.

I need a little weight retention here. Since I found my wonder pill for this gun probably more than 10 yrs ago, I've never really gone shopping for any other .22 cal bullets (other than V-MAX, but they are they same as the BT's)

As far as other guns I can start him out with, yeah I have plenty, but the stock is almost complete. Just need to do some final sanding, finishing, glass beding and start working up some new loads. I figured it the best choice compared to what he's already been shooting since Dec.

Turkey season, I cut down the stock on an old CVA single shot 20 gauge I had. Low brass and he was peppering the targets at 20-30 yards. I figured with the loads I had for him I'd keep the shots around 20 yards. He's hooked and has been talking about deer hunting since April. He's ready, stands are put together and need hung, he's got the gear and the right attitude (so does his dad) so now he just needs the perfect load and a lot of time behind the new gun to make dad confident in quick humane kills.

[Rapier]

Petey,
Good for you, building the gun and taking the boy out.

My hunting buddy used the same bullet, 55 Nos BT in his 222 Sako to teach his son and then his daughter to hunt deer. Between the three of them they piled up a pretty large number of deer. 99% were neck shots at 50-75 yards from a shooting house over food plots. The 222 is deadly at short range with the 55, as is the 223.

I have another buddy that hunts only with a Mini-14 and has done so for about 10-12 years now. He uses factory 62s (does not reload at all) and gets 6-8 deer per year. He shoots from a shooting house on a power line. Seventy yards to the right and 175 yards to the left. All one shot one kills. Most of his deer are behind the shoulder shots. So your idea of using a 60 or 62 gr partition should be golden.

I use a 22-250 myself, but with a fast twist barrel, I use 80s and 75. I know several fast twist shooters who use the 80 SMK. But that is all of no use to you if you are pushing pills out of a 1-12.
Best,
Ed

[petey]

My barrel is a bit slower twist 1/12 so I believe the mid 60 gr bullets are about as good as I'll get with it. Here's a sneak peek of the boy's new rig. Stock is cut to his LOP...just need to do a little final sanding, put the outer finish on it to bring out and darken the colors and bed the action. I may switch out the scope and put lower rings on it. I have a 50MM on it (since it was one of my varmint guns) so more than likely it'll get a smaller tube on it too.

He'll be shooting it by probably early next week, once I get out and buy some heavier bullets and work up some loads. In between us doing some archery hunting. (him just coming with me of course)