What Can the 223 Remington Really Do?

- The USA is a nation of riflemen, hunters of big game, deer, elk and the best selling centerfire rifle in the USA today, the 223 Remington. (soft music) Guess so many things that 30s and sixes are like the starting point for a good elk loose cartridge. And the 243 is a good starting point for a whitetail and mule deer cartridge. And the 22250 is probably the best coyote cartridge. What is this puny little Remington 223 for? Well, let me count the ways in this episode of Ron Spomer Outdoors. Hey, we

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If you would like to join us on Patron, go to patron.com/RonSpomerOutdoors. We would love to have it. Now the 223 is indeed the biggest selling center fire cartridge in the United States and probably Canada and maybe even the world, but why is it so small? It's so insignificant. It's just not

what

anyone would consider a great hunting cartridge for anything other than rodents. So why is it so popular? Well, a little history will help demonstrate that and some of the versatility of this cartridge as well: the 223 Remington evolved during the 1950s in the search for a new official military round for the US, we had the 308 Winchester, the 7.62 NATO as it was called in the 1950s. military, we considered it a little heavy and bulky, so we could lighten the load a little and they had certain parameters that had to be met.

They started with the small Remington 222 cartridge, which had been a popular and deadly accurate target round and varmint round since its creation in the 1950s, but it didn't produce the velocity and power they wanted, so they lengthened it a bit. a bit. And in the process, they came up with something that Remington released to the public as the Remington Magnum 222 that didn't have much of a lifespan because soon after they downsized it to get the right details needed for the new AR 15 style rifles and they came up with

what

then they called 223 Remington. And at Remington itself, while the military was still testing all this, they guessed what pump action rifle in 1963, that Remington was a 740 or 760.

I don't remember the number, but it was a pump action that was the first 223 rifle. So that Remington jumped over or ahead of the military and actually released it first as the Remington 223. Then the military finally accepted it as the 5.56 NATO is now known. The difference between these two really isn't so much in the shapes and dimensions. They are almost identical. The 556 is a little narrower in the shoulder, probably because they want a little more caper to make sure it pulls out easily. And it also has a slightly longer throat chamber because the military used some longer bullets than the commercial version had.

So they had to stretch it, take it out a little bit and they also made a little thicker brass. Basically, SAAMI came out with that Remington 223 and gave it 55,000 PSI as the maximum average chamber pressure. The military version, which 5.56 NATO is at 58,000 PSI. So you won't want to shoot the 5566 and 223 camera, but you can do it the other way around. It's probably smart to still use the ammo specified on the head stamp as the same as what your rifle has in the barrel. But I think that's why the 223 became so popular: it was a military rifle.

And think about all the soldiers who first learned to shoot rifles in the military, they are shooting an AR-style automatic rifle. They transitioned to civilian life and are familiar with the 223 or 556 and also that style of rifle. So what they call modern sporting rifles, the AR 15 style, which is semi-automatic of course, are extremely popular and are used a lot for flashing and target shooting and I think that's why they're so popular. That's why the 223 is so popular. And there are other reasons why we will cover them all here. I made a list of what I think are some of the benefits and what the 223 Remington is really good for.

And we'll focus a lot on the hunting aspects, which might surprise you. So 223 is, I think I'm probably right in the middle. I always call those cartridges Goldilocks. Unlike the 22250, it doesn't burn out the barrels as quickly. It's really easy on the barrels, obviously not as easy as a 222, because there is always a volume of powder compared to the diameter of the bullets. So you can see, by looking at these guys, that you're burning a lot more gunpowder, that's more heat. You're going to burn your throat much sooner with the 22250. So in the middle of the road, it's not as fast as the 250, but it's a little faster than the 222.

It strikes a good balance and of course, there's virtually no recoil when they shoot this. And I think that's another reason why it's so popular, it's a low-impact, low-recoil, easy-to-shoot, inexpensive animal; It's a lot to go through, but you still end up with that question: what is it for? Here is my list. Hey, if you want to see more details on some of these videos, we can't show everything about guns, ammo, hunting, handloading and how to do all of this on these public channels. So we start RSOTV.com where we can show you those details so you want to check it out, thank you.

Training, now if you are going to start with a new shooter, you don't want to have a lot of recoil. You don't want to scare anyone 223 Remington, why not? The 222 is no longer common, it has replaced it, so it is excellent for training and learning to shoot. You can work on trigger control instead of flinching. Plinking, well, once you learn how to shoot, it's a lot of fun. and I think that's why so many .223 rounds are fired. They just like to shoot balloons, jugs, cans, and targets at different distances; It's just a fun rifle to get out and shoot.

And it's pretty inexpensive, obviously with that small powder capacity, you're probably using 25 grains of powder to propel those bullets, but it's relatively inexpensive. Now, it's obviously not as economical as a .22 long rifle room fire, but if you're a handloader, you have your case that you can load over and over and over again, so there are some savings there. So varmint hunting is where it really took off in the civilian market. It replaced the 222, which was a great fox and coyote varmint rifle. And it's used a lot on rocks, groundhogs, rabbits, all the rodents that affect your hay fields and stuff, and they eat alfalfa and you need to reduce that population.

Why go through all the expense and noise of a 22250 or 220 swift and burn out the barrels? Get a 223 head and you'll be able to do a lot of work with less recoil; Less extension is simply a great cartridge to take care of varmints. . But what if we got a slightly larger animal? I think he is an optimal predator, hunting about two foxes, bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, any of those animals that threaten the chickens in the barn like we have here, we have to hunt raccoons from time to time here and a coyote too . So it's not as good as the 22250 for long range, but I think up to 250 or 300 yards is pretty good.

You're doing to drive a green bullet 50 at 3,300 feet per second, maybe even 3,400 feet per second, with a 26-inch barrel, a big varmint, and a predator around. You can hunt Javelina with this thing. Javelina is related to pigs, but they are not as large. They look mean, big and ferocious, with lots of hair and those big clicking teeth, but they're actually a pretty small animal and I've handled them pretty well with 223. They're just not as hard to kill as bowhunters. I can tell you. So it's good for them, also for the pronghorns, which are not a very large game animal and probably weigh a hundred pounds.

So the 223 won't be as effective at long ranges as, say, a 243 Winchester or a 25-06 Remington, but it has more than enough power to get the job done if you choose your shots carefully. And now what happens to the deer? Whether or not this is suitable for deer is always debated and even people think that 243 is probably a starting point for a good deer cartridge. I'm not going to like 223, but man, there are so many people in so many places effectively using 223 for white business hunting and even for Mueller honey, that it can hardly be ruled out, obviously not ideal, but again, the right bullet in the right place.

And since they have such minimal recoil, I think anyone can shoot them very accurately. So, yes, if it's legal in your state and it's not legal in some states, but it's not legal in others, the 223 is a very effective deer hunting rifle at 200, maybe 250 yards. So a great option for that. What about even larger animals? Will wild pigs emerge? That's a good idea, is it a predator or a vermin? I don't know, it's kind of an in-between thing. I'll tell you what makes a good bacon and ham. Wild pork is delicious. So you might consider it a big game animal, but will the 223 handle it?

Absolutely, is it ideal? Again, no, especially when you get larger specimens, but I have taken hogs with 50 grain bullets at this speed. It actually came out of a 221 fireball instead of the 223. So the fireball can handle the 223 can and I put a 50 green varmint bullet behind the shoulder of an 80 pound hog and took it out just fine, I ran and fell. one note, they ran out of air like they always do, but if you're up against a big angry boar, I wouldn't want it 223. But if you can pick your shots, usually when you're doing extermination work on these wild pigs that are damaging property You usually just walk in and take them out.

You are not engaging in cannon to tusk combat with a big caliber, the 223 will get the job done just use the right bullet. Now what about the really important hunting? Lots of people use that 223 on moose, moose, caribou, wow. Now generally these are people on a budget, maybe they have a sustainable use in the north of the country where they live off the land that many Alaskans and northern Canadians will take moose with the 223 in the immediate, extremely popular there. . And of course, the trick is to place the bullet in the right place, wait for its side shot, and place it behind the shoulder, above the heart, or through the lungs.

And you'll probably get your moose, your moose, your caribou. Now, if you are a quasi-recreational hunter coming west to hunt elk, don't take a 223. Yes, you can get the job done when you live, while putting meat on the table. But if you've invested a lot of time and money into elk hunting, you have a week to get the job done and you may not get close enough for a 223 shot. You may not get the perfect head position. of pork. Can you do the job? Yes, is that ideal? No, so it has versatility, friends. If you are looking for the 224 family of cartridges, the Remington 223, despite the three odd ones in the title, is one that will shoot you and is a great Goldilocks cartridge right in the middle of the pack.

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