Thread: howa 223 at ranges

I have a Howa mini action also. It is cut down so the suppressor just about touches the stock. It has taken a lot of animals perfectly fine, hundreds of goats and a fair few deer.
I personally have a self imposed limit of 250 yards on deer as a little bit of wind drift or shooter error with the .223 is not ideal.
A good 55gr factory load is definitely the Hornady soft point stuff. The hunting and fishing branded ammo is just repackaged Belmont and I do believe the last batch of Belmont were made with Speer projectiles vs the usual Hornady 55gr. These do not shoot as well in my rifle as the Hornady ones and I have found they don't kill smaller animals such as goats as well as they are a bit hard.

I too am a fan of the heavier projectiles, 75gr eld and 77gr tmks. These are limited to hand loading however.

End of the day shot placement is key and as far as shoulder shooting goes not all projectiles are created equal and a shoulder bone on a big red deer is quite an ask for a little projectile particularly if it isn't of stout construction. Personally I would sooner slip it into the lungs.