Texas hunting with a 223
 

Hey gents just a quick question but would a 223 be sufficient enough for the majority of hunts out here in Texas, I almost feel like a 300 win mag would be over kill, Im in the process of building an AR 10 but with the way the money is right now and what I want to build it wont be finished until about next year. I mainly want to hunt wild hogs, I went on a wild hog hunt as a kid and used my 3030 it worked well, but would like to use something in an AR platform.

Get a quality heavier grain bullet, 75 grain for instance, and .223 will be fine for wild hogs.

I have been using 5.56 for deer and hogs for years. I have killed hogs over 300 lbs with 55 gr sp. As long as you do your part the 5.56 will kill anything in Texas.

Really appreciate the feed back gents, I almost felt like I was asking a dumb question but I've been hearing from a lot of self proclaimed experts that it wasn't big enough of a round to do the job. I had faith in it, but never hunted an animal other than cyote with it. Growing up in western PA I did almost all my hunting in the brush with a 3030 until I graduated to a 30-06 and then to a 300 win mag. Im trying to learn as much as I can about wild boar hunting because I've only been on one wild boar hunt and killed a 350lbs up in Tioga PA but it was a guided hunt and I was 12. I've heard rumor that the meat from the boar here in Texas is no good any truth to that?

There are better calibers than the 5.56/.223 for hunting, however, and no more expensive to buy or build. In many states it does not meet legal requirements for medium game hunting, although apparently it is legal in Texas, as it is in my home state of Georgia.

The 6.8 SPC, for example. This is a great hog/whitetail deer caliber.

If you will be using your rifle for high volume shooting the 5.56/.223 will be considerably less expensive for ammo, but the cost of a good hunting round will still be on a par with the 6.8 SPC.

In South Africa the minimum calibre is a 243 for buck the 223 is preferred for vermin. 22-250 looking into it for jackal (our type of coyote) farmers used to keep packs of dogs to keep there numbers down. Now days the packs are gone so the jackal are all over. One nights hunting 15 were shot, only reason they stopped ran out of amo. 223 was used.

I was just about to post the same question, so thanks for putting it out there. Here in Ca we aren't allowed to hunt medium game with .223, but I'm thinking of going on a Texas boar hunt this year. I've recently loaded some 65 gr .223 hollow points, I'm anxious to find out if they will do the job.

A 55gr sp .223 will kill a hog just a easy as any llarger caliber. All it takes is a shot or two to the ribs. Heck, here in Arkansas we hunt 'em with .22's sometimes.

.223
 

This is true, but if your rifling twist is slower than 1 in 10, a larger bullet may not stabilize. A 60 or 65 grain may work.
cottontop

Here is one from tonight
http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/a...3-26195216.jpg