Best .223/5.56 soft point/hunting bullet

[Cold_Bore_88]

Gents,

I am looking for some advice and experience using 223/5.56 softpoint and hunting bullets in my 11.5” SBR. Main use is for NV hog hunting. I am looking for something that won’t just punch through. What bullet/ammo do you recommend?

Preferably 62 grain+

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Gold dot 62gr or 64gr and Federal LE 55gr are all great choices. The 70gr Barnes is great too. If you’re not shooting monsters or if you only take head shots on them the typical 50gr varmint loads work well too.

 

[hlee]

You l’ve got a lot going against you there. What kind of velocities can you get with a 62gr with an 11.5” barrel?

 

[redneckbmxer24]

You l’ve got a lot going against you there. What kind of velocities can you get with a 62gr with an 11.5” barrel?

An 11.5 gets plenty of velocity to expand a SP out to 250-300 yards which is well beyond the distance of what most people are shooting hogs at night.

 

[Cold_Bore_88]

You l’ve got a lot going against you there. What kind of velocities can you get with a 62gr with an 11.5” barrel?

No idea. Ha! But I have shot 62s out to about 250 with a red dot and didn’t hold much.

When using helmet mounted NV and IR your shots normally aren’t super far.

 

[srt-4_uk]

I've heard these do extremely well

22 Caliber 64gr Bonded Solid Base (100ct) (BLEM)

22 Caliber 64gr Bonded Solid Base (100ct) (BLEM)

www.shootersproshop.com

 

[Steve_In_29]

No idea. Ha! But I have shot 62s out to about 250 with a red dot and didn’t hold much.

When using helmet mounted NV and IR your shots normally aren’t super far.

Hitting a target is no problem. The issue comes in with getting the bullet to perform as intended.

 

[sawgunner2001]

I can't help with a 62gr+ suggestion, but I can say that I once emailed Hornady and asked about expansion velocity for their 55gr SP and received a response that the minimum expansion velocity is 1650fps. That's the bullet I use in my bulk ammo. Sorry I can't help with a 62gr+ suggestion.

 

[Jgault]

I haven’t seen enough difference between the various 62-65 expanding bullets to justify paying a big premium for one over another, the Barnes or federal fusion seem to be the best but just a normal 62-64 grain soft tip works just fine, I’ve seen the 64 grain gold dot which expands as intended available at reasonable prices lately(at least reasonable in the current ammo climate, still about twice as much as it was).

 

[SBRSarge]

You l’ve got a lot going against you there. What kind of velocities can you get with a 62gr with an 11.5” barrel?

Here are some 11.5” Noveske Chrono results;

LE223T3 62 Gr Bonded 2575fps
Black Hills 223 62gr TSX. 2571fps
Barnes 5.56 62gr TSX. 2637fps
MK262 2429fps
Ranger 64gr Bonded. 2599fps
Black Hills 5.56 50gr (optimized). 2815fps


EDIT: This was from a 10.5 inch, not 11.5 inch Noveske

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I can't help with a 62gr+ suggestion, but I can say that I once emailed Hornady and asked about expansion velocity for their 55gr SP and received a response that the minimum expansion velocity is 1650fps. That's the bullet I use in my bulk ammo. Sorry I can't help with a 62gr+ suggestion.

General rule of thumb is that most expanding bullets are going to expand down to an impact velocity of 1800fps. Some will expand lower but most will work to at least 1800.

 

[bill_van]

Here in Texas, we use 55gr FMJBT for shoulder shots (head too) and they rarely go all the way through. This is out to ~100 yds at night. On the big ones, SS109 62gr works better than expected and does not over penetrate. Never really tried SP on hogs....

 

[smacha538]

62 grain Fusion

 

[Ndbowhunter]

it'd be hard not to recommend a 77gr tmk if that 250 mark is to be reached often.

or the other end of the spectrum with a 55gr hornady btsp and maximize speed.

 

[SBRSarge]

Here are some 11.5” Noveske Chrono results;

LE223T3 62 Gr Bonded 2575fps
Black Hills 223 62gr TSX. 2571fps
Barnes 5.56 62gr TSX. 2637fps
MK262 2429fps
Ranger 64gr Bonded. 2599fps
Black Hills 5.56 50gr (optimized). 2815fps

My bad, the Noveske used on the above chrono session is a 10.5 inch, not 11.5 inch.

 

[t-payne]

I've killed loads of hogs with the 62 grain gold dot out of my 11.5". They're my go to, with the 70 grain tsx being a close second.

 

[david walter]

I asked @psinclair this on the other board (24hourcampfire he’s scenarshooter) and he said the 55 grain Hornady for any 224 caliber up through 22-250 AI.

And he shoots a lot more animals in a year than I ever will in a decade.

 

[Woollymonster]

I have had very good luck with Sierra Game King 65 grain. They are not that sexy looking and the lead noses get a little miss shapen but, they group well and are deadly on hogs.

Also, Berger 77 Tactical OTM works well but are much more expensive and harder to find. I load Lapua brass with these and Ram TAC powder. Most accurate AR round I have ever shot. Better than Federal Premium Match.

 

[diggler1833]

I've had pretty good luck with the discontinued factory 64gr Gold Dots. Anything in the bonded 62-64gr range will do as well as the 5.56 is capable of.

I like more velocity vs. less, therefore I'm not a 5.56 SBR for hogs guy...BUT...realistically, how often are you going to be engaging past 100 yards anyway?

Back on track though, any bonded 62-64gr bullet should have enough ass behind it to make it through to the vitals. I've had 14-16+" of penetration on 230lb boars before.