.308 or.223?
Stish asked:
I am looking to get a DPMS varmint/tactical model of the ar-15. I am stuck choosing between two great calibers how ever the .223 and the .308. I have seen the perfomance that .308 is capable of at longer rangers and have heard that the.223 performs similar to that. The thing that im stuck is this. I'm looking to use it for hunting coyotes,foxes,white tail and pronghorn. I know that the .223 is more than capable of taking down all of these animals at 200 to 300yrds as long as you hvae good shot placement. The question i have is that if i get the .308 and use it to shoot coyote..probably not fox tho...and used a solid bullet that doesnt expand much in the lightest grain i can find do you think it would blow the coyote up too much??
I am looking to get a DPMS varmint/tactical model of the ar-15. I am stuck choosing between two great calibers how ever the .223 and the .308. I have seen the perfomance that .308 is capable of at longer rangers and have heard that the.223 performs similar to that. The thing that im stuck is this. I'm looking to use it for hunting coyotes,foxes,white tail and pronghorn. I know that the .223 is more than capable of taking down all of these animals at 200 to 300yrds as long as you hvae good shot placement. The question i have is that if i get the .308 and use it to shoot coyote..probably not fox tho...and used a solid bullet that doesnt expand much in the lightest grain i can find do you think it would blow the coyote up too much??
June 4th, 2009 at 10:51 am
I think it will, go for the .223
June 7th, 2009 at 8:22 am
In some states, there are laws forbiding hunters from shooting large game, such as white tail and pronghorn, with calibers smaller than .25. Hence, the .223 might not be the best all round caliber for your intentions. Other than that, both are great calibers and there’s plenty of cheap military ammo available for the shooting range.
Perhaps you could go with the .308 and get the .22 conversion kit, so you could shoot foxes whenever the chance was available.
June 7th, 2009 at 8:24 am
You need a .308, because you want to hunt deer and antelope. A .223 is inadequate for them. Some areas do not allow their use on such animals and rightly so. You can find .308 loads that won’t tear up coyotes much. heavier bullets are designed for larger game, so they won’t expand much on coyotes.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:47 am
I would go with a 308 especially to deer hunt with. It wont blow up a coyote too much with a jacketed round. I shoot coyotes in NC with a 30.06 (core lokt round) while deer hunting and it doesnt hurt the hides too bad.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Solid .308 full-metal-jacketed bullets won’t expand at all shooting varmints. Probably you should use 147 grain solids.
Rule of thumb: .223 is a varmint caliber; .308 is a big game caliber which can be used on varmint.
H
June 14th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Honestly who cares about the carnage you inflict on a predator? If you want the skin then aim for brains and you won’t blow holes in the hide. I vote for the .308 if you are willing to try hand-loading you have much more potential with the .308 in the assault rifle than the .223. Plus you can take any game in every continent except Africa with the .308 at ranges up to and including 3/4 of a mile.