I've taken or seen taken quite a few deer with .22 centerfires. When hit in the forward portion of the thorax they tend to act and die pretty much the same way whether it is a .222 with a factory 50 grain bullet or a .338 Winchester.

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I have never lived in a state that allowed a 22 center fire for deer. I can't fathom why any does.

PA which has some really dumb game laws, will let you hunt deer or bear with any centerfire rifle as long as it's manually operated. It's OK to hunt deer or bear with a centerfire .17 caliber bolt action rifle but you're not allowed to use a semi auto 30/06.

The Nosler 64 gr. bonded core solid base bullet is the best bullet for deer with a 220 Swift or about any 22 from the 22-250 up...

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Originally posted by Labman:
[QUOTE]I have never lived in a state that allowed a 22 center fire for deer. I can't fathom why any does.

Very obviously you have not taken several grandkids, great grandkids, nephews, great nephews out with .22 centerfires and seen how good they really work in real life as to how they fail on keyboards.

Any love for a Barnes bullet in 22 caliber for deer?

brair--I have never used Barnes bullets. It could well be they would work equally well as plain old cup and core bullets in .22 caliber, but in my experience there is no room for them to perform better. Dead is dead.

Strangely enough, partition bullets are penetrators and Im not impressed with them in 22 and 6mm and only a bit better in the 250-3000 and 257 Robts, those caliber do better iwth cup and core and bonded core bullets IMO...That said there is no better bullet than the Nosler partition in the 270, 30-06 and they get better as the hole in the barrel gets bigger, I love the 225 partition in the .338 and Ive used it a lot in calibers from the 270 and up..Just based on my personal experience, as always to each his own...

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Originally posted by cobrajet:
Just bought a M77 with a sporter weight barrel and I 'm looking for good loads with a 60 grain bullet, preferably the 60 grain Nosler Partition. I know I'm on the upper end of bullet weights for a 14 twist but I'd like to give it a go. Looking for a good bullet for whitetails. Thanks!!

You'll be throwing away your money trying to shoot a bullet that heavy with any accuracy. I have an older M77 in .223 with a 1:12 twist and it won't even shoot a 55gr bullet the way I'm looking it to do. I've been told that in order to get any serious accuracy I'm going to have to load something under 55 grainers. They've suggested 52 and 53 grain bullets.

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Originally posted by Jerry Eden:
Here's what I shoot in my Ruger 77 tang safety Swift. 38 grains of RL15 and a Nosler 55 Grain Ballistic tip. One hole 3 shot groups once a year when I shoot it on paper. An interesting note, the original barrel was throated in 1995. I bought the rifle in 1974. I sent I back to Ruger, they changed the barrel for me then, and it shoots lights out. Much better than the original barrel. A 60 grainer ought to shoot, with IMR 4064 or RL 15.

Jerry

My M77 was built in 1995 and has a 1:12 twist barrel. I spoke to Ruger about rebarreling with their later produced 1:8 twist and was told That they would put the gun back to it's original configuration where-in I would lose my tuned Timney trigger. No way Jose. My trigger is a dream~!

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Originally posted by dwcars:

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Originally posted by cobrajet:
Just bought a M77 with a sporter weight barrel and I 'm looking for good loads with a 60 grain bullet, preferably the 60 grain Nosler Partition. I know I'm on the upper end of bullet weights for a 14 twist but I'd like to give it a go. Looking for a good bullet for whitetails. Thanks!!

You'll be throwing away your money trying to shoot a bullet that heavy with any accuracy. I have an older M77 in .223 with a 1:12 twist and it won't even shoot a 55gr bullet the way I'm looking it to do. I've been told that in order to get any serious accuracy I'm going to have to load something under 55 grainers. They've suggested 52 and 53 grain bullets.

Dear lord, how long is it going to take for those currently preoccupied with "twist" to move on to something else? If a rifle shoots well with a given bullet then simply because current "fashion" dictates that it shouldn't shoot that well is no reason to claim otherwise. I'm yet to find a 60 grain bullet that wouldn't shoot about as accurately as any lesser weight in barrels of the (formerly) standard twist of 1-14" for most centerfire .22's. I even have an early Sako .222 with a "Hornet" barrel the measures 1-16" that shoots a 55 grainer (the heaviest I've had occasion to try in it) just fine, thank you.

On the other end, I recently acquired a .223 bolt gun with a 1-8" twist. It shoots a 40 grain Ballistic Tip better than it does 55 and 60 grain bullets -- which is of course counter to prevailing theory.

Of course you can shoot heavy bullets in any twist some of the time, YOU HAVE TO TEST IT IN YOUR GUN, WHAT SOMEONE ELSE CLAIMS OTHERWISE HAS BEEN READING TOO MANY GUN RAGS AND TAKEN ALL THAT TO HEART..TRY THEM, THEN YOU WILL KNOW ONE WAY OR THE OTHER..THEY HAVE MOSTLY WORKED IN ALL MY GUNS..

However don't shoot elk with any 22, 6mm, or sooner or later you will regret it..most never admit it...

Dear lord, how long is it going to take for those currently preoccupied with "twist" to move on to something else? If a rifle shoots well with a given bullet then simply because current "fashion" dictates that it shouldn't shoot that well is no reason to claim otherwise. I'm yet to find a 60 grain bullet that wouldn't shoot about as accurately as any lesser weight in barrels of the (formerly) standard twist of 1-14" for most centerfire .22's. I even have an early Sako .222 with a "Hornet" barrel the measures 1-16" that shoots a 55 grainer (the heaviest I've had occasion to try in it) just fine, thank you.

On the other end, I recently acquired a .223 bolt gun with a 1-8" twist. It shoots a 40 grain Ballistic Tip better than it does 55 and 60 grain bullets -- which is of course counter to prevailing theory.[/QUOTE]


While I don't fully agree with Mr Stonecreek about the irrelevance of twist, I do fully agree that some rifles will shoot most any weight (length) accurately at 100 yards, and perhaps beyond, but MIGHT, COULD, POSSIBLY be lacking in stability at distance.

True he is, test them in YOUR rifle and don't forget to fire a few groups at the paltry range of 300 yards to verify. Note: even rifles with the proper twist for the pill might not like a particular bullet.

I have a grandson who will be using a 223 Rem with 64 grain Hammer Hunter on deer this year and the 8 twist is plenty for that bullet.

Zeke