I was reading the thread on the Nosler 60gr partition and started wondering again about the Winchester 64gr power point bullet. Does anyone have any experience with this bullet on deer-sized game? Just curious as they are much cheaper than the Nosler, and I always figured I'd use them if'n I was to shoot a few crop damage deer in the fall with a very accurate 223. Broadside shots behind the shoulder in the lungs would be the shot of choice.

Thanks for any insights (experience) anyone might share.

Hey'
I shot deer with a 6mm br,70 nosler ballistic tip.I prefer neck shots,with this weight bullet.
1geejay
www.shooting-hunting.com

A couple of years back, Finn Aagard wrote an article about his use of the .223 on deer. One of the bullets he used was this 64-grain PP by Win. He found it to be one of the best bullets for such use due to its strong construction and somewhat lower velocities vs the lighter projectiles in .224". While he did not exactly advocate using a .223 for deer hunting, he found it to be effective if this 64-grain bullet was used. Note this was before the advent of the Nosler Partition .224" in 60 grain weight.

Winchester designed this bullet specifically for deer. I didn't have much luck with it in the accuracy department, but if it will group in your gun it would make an excellent deer bullet. BTW, go ahead and shoot them in the shoulder if you need to because of the way the deer is standing -- there's no way the flimsy shoulder of a whitetail is going to keep this bullet from reaching the vitals.

While I don't advocate the use of .22 calibers on deer, with the 64 grain Power Point, they can and will do the job. When our son was younger (he's now 10), I loaded the 64 grain PP to 2800 fps in a .223 carbine, and he took a deer with it at 70 yards during a Texas Parks & Wildlife hunt. The performance was perfect: plenty of tissue damage and ample penetration. I've used this bullet on a few varmints and run it through anumber of expansion tests, and it is very consistent. But I am more comfortable in the fact that he now uses little other than a 6.5x55 (M94 carbine) with a 120 grain bullet at 2400 fps.

Thanks guys, your experience mirrors closely what I had expected in way of performance.

The best 223, 222 or 22-250 deer bullet is hands down the 60 gr. Hornady H.P. or S.P., I tend to favor the H.P., they leave nice quarter size exit holes much of the time and tear hell out of everything in between...I have killed a world of Blesbok, Springbok, Mule deer and antelope with them...

I have tried the 64 gr win pp in 2, 22-250's a 788 rem and a savage 110 only the savage would shoot them accurately. The rem has a 1-14" twist and the savage a 1-12". The rem shot patterns. The savage would go .5-.75.

My daughter used it on a whitetail doe at 250 yds. The doe was bedded facing us, she shot it at the base of the throat, the bullet penetrated far enough to take out the top of the heart.

When using a 22-250 for deer I prefer the 63 gr Sierra SMP, it has accounted for 18 deer since I started loading it for myself and three friends, if you put it into the lungs on a broadside shot and don't hit the shoulder it will exit and does a lot of damgae on the way. Just stay away from heavy bone. I have seen it break the shoulder and penetrate the lungs on 2 deer, but i have also seen it stop on the shoulder of one, 2nd shot put it down.

I use the 223 alot for damage permits and antlerless hunting. I've used the 64 gr win. with great results, also PMC makes a 64 gr. and fed loads a nosler partition and a 55 gr. trophy bonded. I mostly use a 55 gr. sp and only use broadside double lung shots. our deer run pretty small with an average doe going about 80 pounds. out of hundreds shot with the 223 I've lost one, think that was a bad hit due to deflection.
RR

This year after having been involved in an operation to "clear " all deer from a 5000 acre ranch to make it into a 100% exotic hunt only area I formed some new opinions on the 223. I used Winchesters 55 grain fmj in their 3131A ammo that you can get at Academy. This stuff is just like the M193 we used in Viet Nam. It tumbles and breaks up every time, provides solid penetration for neck shots and plenty of destruction for chest shots at ranges up to 150 yards. usually their are larger fragments that exit. The heaviest deer we took weighed only 110 pounds. This bullet performed well on shoulder shots also. My rifle was a 16 inch barreled AR15 with a 1 in 9 inch twist. By the way we will be back out there next year because in no way could 4 guys handle cutting up twice as many deer as we did, the place is still at over carrying capacity for the range, probably 1 deer for every 5 acres.

[ 01-12-2003, 21:47: Message edited by: rickt300 ]