223 goat loads

[ogre6br]

brother played with the 53 grain barnes in a 222 when they first came out
10-15 years ago or longer- its been about that long since my brother was an active shooter- well pre port arthur time

Yes they worked and worked well- but gave no better end results (dead goats or small pigs) than the 60 sp hornadys he was using before trying the barnes
I spoke to hime last night about it and he said that if the shot was iffy and you wanted extra penetration from a bad angle use the barnes
BUT
My brother was a "own use" meat shooter and would prefer to stalk in and stick the barrel in their ear and fill the freezer rather than take any "iffy" shots- 99% of his shots were under 100 yards- I dont ever remember him taking a shot on a meat animal over 150 yards
and
at that range with propper placement any of the 55 grain projectiles or heavier will do the job

The remington 55 grain SP load, I think uses the core-lokt style projectile.
I love the core-lokts in my 6.5x55 so I cannot imagine they are a bad projectile in the smaller caliber if they are bonded the same way to the core for deep penetration like the larger caliber slugs are

But still keep the various 64 grain factory loads in mind as well- as far as I have been able to find out in the last couple of hours they are designed for harvesting small deer in the USA and Europe in states and countries where .224 cals are legal for the small deer species
Shit even a 64 grainer whould be overkill on a Muntjack (sp?) Deer which doesn't weight much more than a full grown buck hare or a dog the size of a shoe box
The 5.6x50 Magnum was built in Europe to make the power limit to enable the harvesting of Roe deer with a .224 Caliber- a v-warm to hot loaded 223 will come very close to factory 5.6x50 ammo

HTH- have been bored and googling a bit about this question

P

[andy303]

many thanks to all who replied i have now settled on 55grain sierras as they shoot a fraction higher that my standard 40grain fox&rabbit load its amazing how different pills shoot at different points on a paper target the 52 grain sierras were a good 65mm up and right of where the 40 grainers shot and the remington 50 grainers shot poorly in my rifle 50mm +groups so as said before its the 55s for me .I leave next week the 14th for a week long trip in the northern flinders so i'll let you guys know how it all went

cheers andy

[chris.tyne]

I tend to stay away from the various ballistic tipped projectiles these days if I have to use a .224 on larger game as I have had some dismal failures at various ranges but especially if they are closer than say 100mtrs and if you want a bang flop you have to little margine for error.
Head shoot them if they are that close I here you say,same deal when shooting offhand I will admit that I have hit the game a bit far forward and thats not good either.
A good soft point is what I use these days,found the 55gn Sierra gameking to be as good or better than most and give better penetration than the BT's which is always handy if the game is not ideally positioned for the shot,just my experiences your mileage may vary.


Regards Chris

[R.J.]

I agree with Chris, I would not use plastic tips on anything the size of a Goat. A softpoint projectile would be my first choice.

[kjd]

Hang on a second.
The reason why plastic tips are unsuitable in a 224 is because they are designed to be a varminting round. I don't know of any plastic tip projectiles that are designed for hunting larger game.
Vmax
Blitz King
Nosler Ballistic tips

all in 224 are highly frangible and are not meant for shooting anything bigger than a fox.

Its not because of the plastic tip but because of the design.

[R.J.]

Keith you are 100% correct. BTs arent designed for penetration. Simple as that.

[chris thomas]

Thats why the match grade stuff in .224 is also a good choice will drop foxes and rabbits in
there tracks and a little better penatration if you bump in to a pig or goat. If it's a varmint fox,rabbit rifle only Vmax type pill's are the go but if i was a one gun man i'd be running match pills

[Brad Y]

Some nosler ballistic tips are made for hunting, but not in 224 cal. The 55gr gameking is a very sensible option for goats in a 223. Ive found the nosler custom competition 69gr HPBT's very good for extra penetration. They sometimes zing right through a fox or bunny without expanding much, but for culling under destruction permit, they have been very good, where as ballistic tips sometimes leave shallow splashy wounds.

[kjd]

Brad didn't I say that?

Vmax
Blitz King
Nosler Ballistic tips

all in 224 are highly frangible and are not meant for shooting anything bigger than a fox.

Its not because of the plastic tip but because of the design.

[Brad Y]

Relax Keith, I was replying to RJ mate, just in case he didnt know that some larger cal ballistic tips were designed for penetration. I know this thread is about 224's but as a general rule BT's are designed to have a good BC and perform better aerodynamically, not just to be a varmint bullet. Amax are match bullets and things like an accubond or e- tip are hunting ones bullets.

[andy303]

iam back from my hunting trip ,i have posted the story in preditor hunting but just to say quickly in the end i used 55grain gamekings and they performed beautifully dropped them in there tracks i didnt get to try the 40 grain ballistic tips on foxes or bunnies because one there were no foxes seen and the 4 or 5 bunnies that i saw wouldnt sit for me cheers andy