Thread: 223 on deer

Have been going down this rabbit hole a little bit after reading through this thread and have just yesterday picked up a 223 rifle, the first 223 I've had since the good old days when we were allowed the fun ones. I kind of planned on shooting the 73gr ELD match ammunition as I have not much motivation to reload anymore these days. One of the things I have noticed looking at a heap of different YouTube videos is that with ballistic gel testing the 73gr is pretty consistent at performing poorly (ie fragmenting and poor penetration) when pushed hard or up close when its still getting along reasonably quick, I guess its just soft and opens up rapidly at higher speeds. Makes me wonder if maybe there is a better option as an "allrounder" for the 223 if its just going to blow up at close range? Can anyone with real world experience using this projectile speak on its performance?