Best All Rounder Caliber for Pest Hunting?

[Stix]

Strsightdhooter & sungazer...just to follow on from your line there...
I think the drop off is slso due to the 6.5 craze...
Now that 6.5cm brass is cheap...lots of people are also hunting with them as well as target stuff...
And you're right about the used market sungazer...its a bit like resl estate i rekon...over inflated prices for sure...!!!
I wouldn't risk buying a used 243 with unknown barrel condition given the cost of a variety of new ones...

[sungazer]

I agree Stix the 6.5 market has gone through the roof and I can understand why. It has to be at the expense to some degree of the other caibres both bigger and smaller. Really I thin that DEWLP could ease the restriction on Sambar to 6.5 these days. There is so little difference between a 270 and the big 3 6.5's It is probably wiser though to err on the side of caution. There are sadly a lot of unskilled hunters and shooters. It could be taken up to 30 cal really to be on the safe side a lot of hunters using the old 8mm or larger.

Its not really the fault of the shooters they really dont have a lot of opportunity to get time behind a gun. With more urban shooters rather than country the demands of family life and the lack of ranges.

[Potatoes]

I chose .223 for my all rounder. I chose it for small to medium game and given that it was used as the basis of round for killing viet cong its enough for modest pigs and goats. Im loading 55gr and 70gr options. I considered 243win and decided against for several reasons;

I wanted cheaper ammo and components so i could get my round count up. 13.5c per round of superoo is good value.
The 243 is a bit louder
243 barrel life was a concern

I do like how the 243 has a better selection of good game projectiles though, but for my next im going 30 cal. I guess you could always make up a batch premium rounds for the 223 as well, like barnes or something but i havent tried them. I’m glad i went 223 in the end.

[bigrich]

Hey potatoes, you can get a 60 grain Nosler Partition for the 223, whilst not cheap, these premium projectiles would lift the penetration potential of the 223 on medium game . Just a thought

[straightshooter]

Once you have witnessed the effectiveness of ADI 62 grain (SS109) projectiles on game you won't bother with anything else.

[SCJ429]

I chose .223 for my all rounder. I chose it for small to medium game and given that it was used as the basis of round for killing viet cong its enough for modest pigs and goats. Im loading 55gr and 70gr options. I considered 243win and decided against for several reasons;

The US Infantry soldier was firing 10,000 rounds for every enemy hit it Vietnam. If they carried more ammo they could hit more things according to the spray and pray techniques they employed. That is why they wanted to use the 223, not because it was more effective than the 308.

[Oldbloke]

223 if just one.

[sungazer]

The SS109 with take your sub MOA gun and turn it into a 2MOA gun. I have 2000 of the these and have done a heap of testing with them. I could shrink the groups but to about 1moa but it required seating longer than magazine length. So I thought it better to have 2 223 one a pure magazine SAMI type setup and another that could shoot heavier longer bullets and perhaps still be magazine feed just from a different type of mag.

[SCJ429]

Once you have witnessed the effectiveness of ADI 62 grain (SS109) projectiles on game you won't bother with anything else.

What is the SS109 most effective at shooting?

Have you found them more destructive on a fox than a 50 grain Vmax or TNT?

[sungazer]

They are most effective at shooting thin mild steel. I haven't tried them on animals they dont meet the accuracy requirements for head shooting Kangaroos.

[Potatoes]

The US Infantry soldier was firing 10,000 rounds for every enemy hit it Vietnam. If they carried more ammo they could hit more things according to the spray and pray techniques they employed. That is why they wanted to use the 223, not because it was more effective than the 308.

I agree it isn’t more effective than a 308 but we are talking about why i chose 223 as an all rounder here. For my reason why I didn’t go 308 see points 1 and 2 of my initial comment ie noise and cost.

[SCJ429]

I agree it isn’t more effective than a 308 but we are talking about why i chose 223 as an all rounder here. For my reason why I didn’t go 308 see points 1 and 2 of my initial comment ie noise and cost.

I agree that the 223 is cheap to shoot and a great practice platform. It is also a good hunting caliber at closer ranges and with excellent shot placement. The 243 is loud especially with shorter barrels but you probably won't see a deteriation of hunting accuracy until about 2500 to 3000 rounds. Many hunters wouldn't shoot that in a lifetime.

I do think that the 243 is more capable and more flexible but most people will end up with a 223 at some point.. Why not start out with one.

[bladeracer]

I chose .223 for my all rounder. I chose it for small to medium game and given that it was used as the basis of round for killing viet cong its enough for modest pigs and goats. Im loading 55gr and 70gr options. I considered 243win and decided against for several reasons;

I wanted cheaper ammo and components so i could get my round count up. 13.5c per round of superoo is good value.
The 243 is a bit louder
243 barrel life was a concern

I do like how the 243 has a better selection of good game projectiles though, but for my next im going 30 cal. I guess you could always make up a batch premium rounds for the 223 as well, like barnes or something but i havent tried them. I’m glad i went 223 in the end.

I think the vast majority of enemy combatants are killed by artillary, aircraft, explosive ordnance, and machineguns, 5.56x45mm probably contributed a small percentage of the total, and most would've died from injuries rather than the bullet, militaries have little interest in clean ethical one-shot kills that hunters require. The VC in particular would've died from wounds that GI's regularly survived due to immediate evacuation to excellent surgery facilities.

[Ferrisweil]

Maybe the question that needs to be asked to the OP is “how often are you likely to see pigs?”.
If you take pigs out of your list, then a 223 is probably the go.
Does the OP know for a fact you’ll be getting all these ferals, or is it more of a wish list?
These questions might make the decision a bit easier?

[bigrich]

Maybe the question that needs to be asked to the OP is “how often are you likely to see pigs?”.
If you take pigs out of your list, then a 223 is probably the go.
Does the OP know for a fact you’ll be getting all these ferals, or is it more of a wish list?
These questions might make the decision a bit easier?

a very sound and logical statement

[SCJ429]

They are most effective at shooting thin mild steel. I haven't tried them on animals they dont meet the accuracy requirements for head shooting Kangaroos.

I have never used them but ex mil bullets are usually very hard and do not expand well. Perhaps these are differant. They would be hard pressed to shoot better and have a better terminal performance at the Speer TNT price point.

[Member-Deleted]

Yes good point Ferrisweil I have a bloke near me just bought several rifles one for every job he says and hoping to break into shooting ferals for the farmers his first problem is access to farms then the second is he's had a tin on a post out at 175 yds for 5mths and yet to put a hole in it his excuses wrong ammo, I moved ,too windy, dirty barrel so Ferrisweil you're close to the money what is the caliber we really need for what we can actually shoot we've all walked up on larger animals than we are catering for so get closer and shoot accurately it doesn't take much to bring an animal down if shot in the right place so buy what you fancy use it to your best ability and all should be good

[Blr243]

My 243 does all those tasks. With care I have taken red deer and Himalayan thar too. Can’t bring myself to shoot hares and rabbits I never see them in problem numbers ,,, just sitting there minding their own business so I leave them alone and carry on looking for something more stimulating

[bladeracer]

My 243 does all those tasks. With care I have taken red deer and Himalayan thar too. Can’t bring myself to shoot hares and rabbits I never see them in problem numbers ,,, just sitting there minding their own business so I leave them alone and carry on looking for something more stimulating

I was at a property yesterday where we're having hay cut and baled, the owners don't live on-site and we buy their hay so it's easier for us to organize it. There were two hares in the paddock. I like hares, they seem almost regal compared to rabbits. I have shot and eaten them in the past but I prefer to leave them alone.

[Ferrisweil]

I’m lucky that I have access to a dozen different properties ranging from 50acres to 100,000acres. We can choose from hares all the way through to deer, so my “golf bag” needs more than 1 club. Hahaha
Having said that, if one rifle would do it all, it would prolly be a 243 with different loads, hence my original suggestion as the “all-rounder”, but I guess horses for courses here and it all depends on an individuals “options” are as far as quarry and locations.

[straightshooter]

They are most effective at shooting thin mild steel. I haven't tried them on animals they dont meet the accuracy requirements for head shooting Kangaroos.

Who said anything about head shooting?
Accuracy is comparable to any average non competition grade projectile most of which struggle to achieve true sub MOA standards with rigorous testing rather than in a fortuitous 3 shot group.
If a rifle 'likes' some projectiles and doesn't 'like' others then what does that tell you about where the problem may lay.
In my case I have a 'tight' custom 20" 1 in 9 barrel with a dimensionally appropriate ball seat and probably won't experience those kind of issues until round count reaches perhaps 5000 to 10000.
Try reading through this older thread to get a handle on effectiveness on medium game of what might be called usual and appropriate bullet placement.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8317

[SCJ429]

That is great Straightshooter, you are saying that they are inaccurate and pencil through game and if you have a match grade barrel on your 223 you can get them to shoot acceptably. I do find this amazing. What sort of hunting have you done with this projectile and what was the results?

If you cannot get some Speer TNT to shoot 1/2 MOA is a good factory barrel after some basic load development, then you aren't trying. On top of this they perform extremely well on foxes and the like.

[sungazer]

The SS109 bullets have a steel pin placed in the core of the lead. That steel pin in not always in the same position it may be off centre so the bullets have more wobble as they spin. The weight distribution is not always symmetrical

All the other non match grade bullets that you are referring to have solid lead cores this is much more consistent in weight and weight distribution within the bullet.

I bought them too test as there was a lot of talk about them some years back and they were cheap so I thought ok also a good plinking round. But I dont really think they are a good plinking round unless you are talking about cars and 44 gal drums which is still fun with a good group of friends.