What is your favorite deer load in the M&P 15?

[Chew]

It is the wrong round for the job.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

I agree. Having a more humane caliber would be my preference. There are really affordable packages from Savage (Axis), Ruger (American), Howa, etc. that come in calibers more suited for deer if you're on a tight budget. The Savage Axis rifles are crazy accurate for any price. For not a lot of money you can have a dedicated deer rifle in a better caliber.

 

[Jst1mr]

.223 is especially wrong since you seem to be a bit casual about shot placement. (Shooting at a scope full of brown hair and all).

 

[cyphertext]

All of you naysayers do realize that there are rounds specifically designed for hunting today that were not available 20 years ago, right? Not all .223 rounds are varmint rounds.

I've taken hogs with my AR, and hogs seem to be a bit tougher than our smallish deer here in Texas. I wouldn't have an issue with using a .223 here on deer, especially shooting from a steady position in a stand, at an animal in a food plot or coming to a feeder 100 yds away.

It wouldn't be my first choice if I was taking a shot at a trophy buck on a hunt that I paid big money for, but for smaller bucks or does, it should work fine. Shot placement is key.


The Myth: The .223 is too Light for Deer - American Hunter

 

[mtrvl]

I would never shoot a deer with ANY .22 caliber bullet, out of respect for the animal..... unless my life actually depended on it. Just sayin'.

 

[vipermd]

I tend to be a bit compulsive about shot placement, and the lightest that I have used for deer was 165 Speer Nitrex 308. I have done crop damage and hunted for 45 yrs, all were one shot. Now for the nasty reality, I have recovered all but 1!!!, distance of shot was 30 yds- 450 yds all were double lung, some included heart ( 45% ). That said "dead" deer have run 40-110 yds. Of the 45 + taken over 200 yds 95% dropped in their tracks, ( Which I believe is due to the fact that they never heard the shot), shorter ranges tended to run farther on average. On dressing them all the bullets passed through and the damage( was incapable of supporting life) yet they ran!! 15 seconds of oxygen in a deer may allow them to run 100 + yards. The 62 gr barnes TSX is a excellent bullet and would work well, but it and any other bullet caliber combination requires more than " a scope full of brown hair". If 5 power is too high, dial it down or get something else, taking a bad shot really does not make sense. Be Safe,

 

[mtrvl]

QUOTE |:My .444, .303, 6.5x55, .308, and .30-06 deer loads just won't fit into my Magpuls, no matter how hard I shove.
I must be doing something wrong. "/ END QUOTE... You need to try a really BIG hammer.

 

[Doubless]

I have posted this on other sites, but here goes: I won't use a 223 on whitetails. Period. Two years in a row I had to help a friend find does shot in the boiler room with 60-grain Nosler Partitions. One ran 400 yards plus, we found the other over 600 yards away. Both were dead, but the very scant blood trail made it incredibly difficult, and both deer took well over two hours to trail.

IF I was dead set on a 223 for deer, I would use a soft/thin jacketed bullet like a Sierra, aim for the lungs, and hope for complete disintegration of the bullet and maximum shock to the CNS.

But as I said, I won't use one on deer. Period.

 

[15Krounds]

.223 is especially wrong since you seem to be a bit casual about shot placement. (Shooting at a scope full of brown hair and all).

Yes exactly, this was the whole point of potentially using the M&P 15 because it has the 1x Aimpoint on it. The deer I took with the scope full of brown hair was with a Savage .270 and did great to drop the deer in his tracks, however, I'd say I was very lucky to get him. I certainly have respect for the animals I kill and wish them a painless and speedy death. Unfortunately though, what happened last time ended up being a spine shot. I dropped him on the spot, but it took another head shot to put him down permanently. I also ended up ruining some backstrap and biting into a hunk of lead a few months later. Another reason I want to go with the TSX copper.

I appreciate everyone's thoughts. I'm still on the fence. At any rate, I'm pretty sure I'm going to use a Barnes TSX bullet no matter what caliber.

I don't really want to attempt to mount the Aimpoint on the .270, that wouldn't be ideal either.

 

[Mr. P]

my son's first deer - yes -that is a S&W 15OR

dropped him at approximately 200 yrds

Federal 60 grain

maybe all you "humane" hunters should buy your meat in the grocery store, where "no animals are harmed"....

 

[m444ss]

Favorite .223 deer load??

Hmmmm. My favorite M&P15 deer load is a 150-170gr .308 in an M&P10. (64gr .223 to shoot deer? Seems quite unnecessary, maybe even a bad idea.)

 

[m444ss]

Even so, why do it. Recoil sensitivity? Bigger is better, even if only a little bigger... My little girl can handle .243 and 7mm-08... and certainly .308 in my recoil-buffered M&P10... so, why shoot a deer with a .223??

 

[Mr. P]

Hmmmm. My favorite M&P15 deer load is a 150-170gr .308 in an M&P10. (64gr .223 to shoot deer? Seems quite unnecessary, maybe even a bad idea.)

I will have one, to go with my M&P15, eventually

in the mean time.....??

the boy gets the 223 and i'll use the 30-30

 

[cyphertext]

my son's first deer - yes -that is a S&W 15OR

dropped him at approximately 200 yrds

Federal 60 grain

maybe all you "humane" hunters should buy your meat in the grocery store, where "no animals are harmed"....

You are doing it all wrong... too little gun and I don't see a bit of camo on your boy!

 

[A.O.]

. (64gr .223 to shoot deer? Seems quite unnecessary, maybe even a bad idea.)

Why, never missed a shot, never lost a deer, never had to go more than about 50 yds to find one..64 gr sp 223 seems like a great Idea!!

 

[bonegunner]

Deer Load

Barnes TSX 70 gr

Winchester Power Point 64 gr

Shot Placement is critical for deer with .223

 

[Jaymo]

my son's first deer - yes -that is a S&W 15OR

dropped him at approximately 200 yrds

Federal 60 grain

maybe all you "humane" hunters should buy your meat in the grocery store, where "no animals are harmed"....

I wouldn't brag about shooting a dog-sized deer with a poodle-shooter.
I'm glad your son got his first "deer", but that deer should have been left alone to grow up.

If you can afford an AR and all the tacticool mall ninja gizmos, you can afford a deer rifle chambered for a cartridge that is appropriate for the job.

Just because a magazine article says it's a good round for deer doesn't make it so.
Remember all the Marshall and Sanow BS that was being pimped in the '90s as the gospel of stopping power?
Once it came out that the results were falsified, the M&S worshippers at the gun rags got very quiet on the subject.

Magazine writers have only one job, and that is to write articles that appeal to a specific demographic and increase magazine sales. Reality be damned.

If you want to hunt deer and hogs with a varmint round, go ahead. I have no respect for anyone who uses underpowered cartridges on game animals. Such "hunters" give all hunters a bad name and have no business hunting.

All the Texas hogs I've seen killed with 5.56 Poodle-Shooter are tiny excuses for hogs. Hogs in GA are MUCH bigger.

 

[AJB]

.223 isn't a legal cartridge for deer here in Indiana. I doubt I would use it if it was

 

[Rpg]

Happily, the 223 is not legal for big game here in Colorado.

 

[Walter Kleban]

223 on deer.

Not all deer are equal, I normally hunt whitetails in Michigan and Pennsylvania. For the last ten years it has been with a .243, before that a 30-06. The bucks are usually over 200 Lb. with the mature Does not much smaller. The .243 needs a good shot placement on these deer, a minimum of a heart lung with a good bullet. I use a 90 grain Scirocco 2. The first year I used the rifle I used a 100 grain Core-Lock, which was the small rifle version of what I had use for 30 years in my 30-06. The core-lock worked great on the buck I took at 150 yd, but blew up badly at the one I shot at 30 yd. I have been using the premium bullet since then and have take 12 deer, bucks and does with one shot kills. Small bullets need perfect placement to kill deer. The does I take are with base of head shots and none are over 100 yd. In case your wondering, I practice at 100 & 200 yd rifle ranges with a minimum 40 rounds once a month. If all you see is hair in the scope, you can't pick out the heart or head.

 

[Jaymo]

If all you see is hair, with a 5x scope, the deer is close enough for you to just point shoot (or "no scope" for the CoD fans among us).

I like .303 Brit with a 174 or 180 grain bullet and 6.5x55 Swede with a 140 grain bullet.
I really like Hawk Bullets.
Dead soft lead core/dead soft, pure copper jacket=perfect mushroom/deep penetration DRT deer.

When I bought my first 5.56 poodle-shooter, I thought it would be cool to take a deer with it and rub it in the faces of all the old farts who insisted upon using cartridges appropriate for deer.
I was going to show them.
And it worked great as long as I got a perfect cervical spine or brain stem shot.
For pump house shots, it failed miserably far more often than not.
It will do the job with perfect placement.
Trouble is, animals seem to revel in giving us far less than perfect broadside shots.

I don't take chances on losing meat or causing an animal to suffer.
Don't get me wrong, aside from eating the meat, the kill is my favorite part of the hunt. It's a huge primal adrenaline rush.
But I don't want any animal to suffer. Except spiders.

With so many cartridges that are exponentially better than .223 for big game, there is no reason to use it on deer/hogs.
If recoil sensitivity is a problem, you don't have to use .30-06, .444, or .45-70.
6.5x55, .260 Remington, 7mm-08, .257 Roberts, and .303 Brit are fantastic deer rounds that aren't hard kickers.
.30-30 has killed a helluva lot of deer.
.35 Remington is even better.
.243 with 100 grain bullets is very good for smaller-than-Northern whitetail.
Heck, a great deer rifle can be had for a lot less than an AR.
As someone else has mentioned, a .308 AR is a great choice, if you want an AR style deer rifle.