i must be getting old
 

for some reason I think these groups are pretty good for a 223 from an ar-15. interesting it shoots 40's and 65 about the same.
https://i.imgur.com/fxY2K18.jpg?1

Decent, especially if the AR is a 16" barrel, like a M-4 carbine, and using a GI trigger. From my experience, the biggest difference is the use of good commercially bullets. GI or NATO 55gr FMJ are only good for about 3MOA.

oh!crap I knew I left something out. it's a 10.5" ar-15 pistol with a rise trigger. I am having issues with the trigger right now.
they let us hunt deer in the last season with a pistol, crossbow, spear or muzzle loader.
not sure the 223 will be moving fast enough with the 65's at 2450 to do the job. I did shoot some barnes tsx 53's at 2800 that might work.

the 53gr barnes would likely get the job done well. a few others worth mention are the 62/64gr gold dot/federal fusion (same thing essentially)

I had a good friend that used the federal fusion load in a 22" .223 for his daughters first hunt. They found a bedded 2x2 mulie at 362yds so he dialed her in and told her where to shoot. she sent it and he thought she had missed so he had her get setup for a second shot just as he was getting ready to tell her to take the second shot the deer started flailing and just rolled over dead. she nicked the heart and got one of the lungs.

he said the bullet held up pretty well and it was a clean kill. he thinks the energy was low enough at that distance that it didn't send the deer into the death sprint. so given your shorter barrel you should have similar results inside of ~150yds.

i'm thinking of replacing the barrel with a 300 blackout in a 10.5 or 12.5". just think it would be a better deer round especially with barnes ttsx 110 bullets.
anyone have one of these?

60 yards from my front door.
https://i.imgur.com/UkQLWTW.jpg?1

Shucks Bob:
I've seen much better groups you've shot.

That's way more than enough velocity.
Heck, a .22 LR has killed more deer than all centerfires combined.
Even a bull elk once for me too.

Only thing I've shot with a .223 was a prairie goat at 100yds.
Rib shot, hit one going in, deflected out the far short ribs taking the
near lung and liver. He didn't make it 30 feet. Near as I could measure
was 13" inside the body travel. That was a 55gr C/L.

Don't see that barrel we shot at that evening.

A few notes on the 300. if you do go that route make sure you get the "black tip" 110's (think its the tac-tx) as it's designed for the velocity threshold of the 300 blackout. the ttsx needs more velocity to function correctly.

However more importantly is if your like me and Murphy likes to loom above you be warned that a 300blk will (I repeat) will chamber in a 5.56. and as you can guess the outcome isn't pretty. I ditched mine for said reason. not worth the risk especially having young kids now.

If your going with a 10.5 or longer don't discount cartridges like the 6.5 grendel or 6.8 spc. they will require different bolts and mags however. they both offer a significant boost in terminal performance even from a 10.5-12.5" barrel. The new kid on the block also sounds interesting the .224 valkyrie. however muzzle blast from those lengths may be pretty gnarly.

And when speaking of wildcats the 25-223 would likely be about perfect. especially loaded with an 80ttsx. it's just a straight neck up and barrel away. you can even use a redding S die opened up with appropriate bushings so no custom dies necessary. going a little more custom there are some great options called the 6.5pcc and .277 wolverine and 7.62x40wt which are variants based on the .223 case. these all are capable of outperforming there bigger brethren from short barrels. (ie. 6.5 grendel and 6.8 spc) they do require fireforming though.

but in all honesty with the modern bonded/monolithic bullets I feel you'll be fine with a straight .223 especially for those sized deer and distance.

George the barrel rusted away years ago and has been replaced at least twice.
you're right George I have shot smaller groups but a group you can cover with a dime from a pistol taint bad.
ss thanks for the info many good points. I guess I could use the ar for ground hogs and armadillo's and use my 6br for deer.
the 300 blackout seems so efficient , burns all the powder in 9" where as the 223 needs 20.

Bob: I thought you said that drum was heavy steel and
couldn't be hurt even by shooting it.

SS/Bob: I have a like new reamer for .25/223 if interested.

There's a LOTS of powders around that will burn fully in 6" or such barrels.