5.56/.223 ammo results

[ryguy]

I have successfully hunted whitetail with .223 for the past 5 years. All the deer I have taken have been with a 70gr Barnes tsx bullet out of an 11.5” BCM AR Pistol. I have no reason to doubt the round I’m using, however thought I would shoot a few different weighted bullets to see what kind of expansion I’m getting. The results are as followed..

From left to right: 70gr Barnes tsx out of a 20” Noveske, 70gr tsx out of a 11.5” BCM, 62gr ttsx 20”, 62gr ttsx 11.5”, 55gr federal law enforcement soft point 20”, 55gr 11.5”






All bullets were shot through a 1 gallon jug into wet newspaper, at 40 yards.

Barnes 70gr tsx with 24gr Varget
Barnes 62gr ttsx with 25.1gr Varget

Overall I’m not disappointed with the expansion from the little 11.5” BCM. I also think I can load those 62gr a little hotter for more expansion.

Hope you all found this interesting!

 

[dsdmmat]

Nice

 

[technicalgadget]

Great job, this is excellent information!

 

[Saltwater60]

Very cool project.

 

[Fightingfish]

I have successfully hunted whitetail with .223 for the past 5 years. All the deer I have taken have been with a 70gr Barnes tsx bullet out of an 11.5” BCM AR Pistol. I have no reason to doubt the round I’m using, however thought I would shoot a few different weighted bullets to see what kind of expansion I’m getting. The results are as followed..

From left to right: 70gr Barnes tsx out of a 20” Noveske, 70gr tsx out of a 11.5” BCM, 62gr ttsx 20”, 62gr ttsx 11.5”, 55gr federal law enforcement soft point 20”, 55gr 11.5”






All bullets were shot through a 1 gallon jug into wet newspaper, at 40 yards.

Barnes 70gr tsx with 24gr Varget
Barnes 62gr ttsx with 25.1gr Varget

Overall I’m not disappointed with the expansion from the little 11.5” BCM. I also think I can load those 62gr a little hotter for more expansion.

Hope you all found this interesting!

Interesting, indeed. Thanks for posting it!

A few questions.
How did you stack the newspaper behind the water?
How deeply into the wet newspaper did the bullets tend to penetrate?
With your deer, how quickly are they typically down for the count? DRT, or some chasing?

Thanks again for posting this. Terminal ballistics fascinate me. I’m no hunter, but my brother has been hunting since he was a kid...just never was my thing, but I respect the F out of people who put their own meat on the table.

 

[ryguy]

I took an empty box approximately 12” wide by 18” long and filled it with newspaper, paper, and magazines that had been soaked in water and tied tight with twine. The box was then placed directly behind and touching a 1 gallon plastic jug. I did not measure penetration, however I would guess that most bullets made it approximately 4 to 6 inches into the paper.

During the hunting season, I have had a mixture of DRT and short track jobs. I’ve never had a deer go further than 65 yards before crashing.

 

[Marine Cpl]

Thanks for this.

 

[technicalgadget]

I am not a hunter, but I though hunting deer in NYS was not be done with .22 bores?

 

[ryguy]

I am not a hunter, but I though hunting deer in NYS was not be done with .22 bores?

From NY DEC website:

 

[tapper3]

@ryguy

Nice test and thanks for posting. I have only shot 1 with a .223. A 55 grain Winchester soft point at about 50 yards out of a Mini 14. One shot, dropped right where he stood. Actually surprised the hell out of me.

I picked up some Hornady 72 grain hollow points I was thinking of trying but looking at your posted photos I think I will stick with the Winchesters.

 

[meketrefe]

thanks for sharing.

I have done similar tests and got similar results. The 70 tsx is too stout for this type of game and impact speed.
the 62gr TTSX will do a better job on average but the ones that will be more consistent will be the bonded ones
like the partition or the 64gr power point.

But still the 223, BO, etc.. are a tad shorthanded to assure clean kills.
For a more ethical hunting the 6.8 is as simple as it gets and it is a fast killer even for a tad larger game up
to mule deer.

This is the 85gr TTSX from 12" inch wilson barrel that come out zipping at 2850-2900fps.

 

[meketrefe]

I am not a hunter, but I though hunting deer in NYS was not be done with .22 bores?

The 22 is good for small game.
For small to medium you can us it too and although it is a poor choice it is not illegal.
The biggest hindrance is the limited assortment of good hunting bullets for anything on the large side or hard skin/body animals.
likewise the blackout is limited by light for caliber slow moving bullets. the juice is not there so it is not a matter of just caliber but
the right bullets matched to the type of animal and weight at the proper speeds upon impact.
The 6mm is much better and it starts where the 22 caliber ends in terms of hunting projectile choices.

 

[ryguy]

Old news, but here is an interesting video on 77gr TMK’s out of a SBR. Think I gotta pick up a box..