223 too light for wolves?
- Thread starter tipper
- Start date
Ballistic silvertip?
Winchester was way ahead of their time bringing out the ultimate werewolf bullet!
.223/5.56 is fine for wolves. If your gun can stabilize the heavier stuff, use the heavier bullets. Hornady 60 grain soft points work well. Winchester 64 grain soft points also would work. 69 grain bthp's or 75-77 grain bthp's would work well too. I personally know the 69 grainers are excellent.
I have a .243 so if I went out looking for wolves I'd take that. But I also have a .223 for coyotes and if I was out with that and a wolf showed up within 200m I'd shoot without any doubt a hit in the vitals would kill it.
A wolf is one of the toughest animals to kill lb for lb . 223's will work as will 22-250s with heavier bullets, but an accurate 243, 6mm Rem,240 Wby or 25-06 would be my choice. A coyote is much smaller and easier to stop. A 223 is fine on coyotes. If you are in fact getting multiple chances at wolves I would give serious consideration to a 6mm cal rifle.
This thread is very similar to the old argument of the 30-30 and moose. Of course, a ship load of moose have been killed with the 30-30, probably more than have been shot with any other calibre. If a shootable moose showed up and our only rifle with us was a 30-30, the vast majority of us would shoot the moose. But not many of us would choose the 30-30, over other heavier calibres, to go moose hunting with.
That's exactly the way I look on shooting wolves with any 22 calibre centre fire rifle. If I were going on a wolf hunting adventure my rifle of choice would be my light, accurate bolt action in 243 Winchester calibre. I would have it sighted in for 250 yards with 90, or 95 grain Nosler partition, or one of the Barnes premium bullets with the fancy names.
Our BC wolves are big and tough. In times past I have wounded two wolves, each of which took a tracking job to finish them off. With one the snow was about a foot deep and I tracked the wounded animal for a good quarter mile before I got up to him. Had there been no snow I may not have been able to track him in the tough terrain.
And the rifle I shot him with was a 30-06, using good hunting bullets.
Anther time it was fall of the year, and I shot a wolf with a 270 Winchester, with 130 grain bullet. It too, took tracking, plus circling around in the bush, to be able to get another hit on it.
I likely would have lost both of those wolves if I had hit them in the same place with a 22 centre fire bullet.
That's exactly the way I look on shooting wolves with any 22 calibre centre fire rifle. If I were going on a wolf hunting adventure my rifle of choice would be my light, accurate bolt action in 243 Winchester calibre. I would have it sighted in for 250 yards with 90, or 95 grain Nosler partition, or one of the Barnes premium bullets with the fancy names.
Our BC wolves are big and tough. In times past I have wounded two wolves, each of which took a tracking job to finish them off. With one the snow was about a foot deep and I tracked the wounded animal for a good quarter mile before I got up to him. Had there been no snow I may not have been able to track him in the tough terrain.
And the rifle I shot him with was a 30-06, using good hunting bullets.
Anther time it was fall of the year, and I shot a wolf with a 270 Winchester, with 130 grain bullet. It too, took tracking, plus circling around in the bush, to be able to get another hit on it.
I likely would have lost both of those wolves if I had hit them in the same place with a 22 centre fire bullet.
Personally I don't own a .223 so my experience with one is nil. But I do own a .243 which I bought for coyotes and wolves. For them I use 65 gr. Hornady Vmax, but my favorite are Nosler 70 gr. BT varmit. For Timber wolves and deer I have 95g. Nosler partitions. Have also shot one with a Ruger carbine in 44mag, that tends to anchor them to the spot where hit as well.
A lot of fellas use the .223 with success, I suppose you will just have to try it out and see. But from a psychological perspective it appears like you are already convinced the .243 is what you need. Decision time on your part.
A lot of fellas use the .223 with success, I suppose you will just have to try it out and see. But from a psychological perspective it appears like you are already convinced the .243 is what you need. Decision time on your part.
A .223 will do it... but I am firmly in the "go larger" camp... I do alot of shooting with .223's and have a number of excellent loads worked up... including the 60 Partitions... which would definitely do in a wolf... and if I was coyote hunting and got a shot at a wolf with that load, I would take it confidently... on the flip side of the coin, I have also seen how tough wolves can be... after 50 yards of tracking, I start to feel bad, and I feel worse every yard I go... so when I am specifically targeting wolves, I carry a .243, .260 or 7mm-08... yes, a properly placed shot out of any centerfire will do the trick, but in reality, in the bush, things don't always go as planned.
Alberta Woodsman
CGN Regular
- Location
- In a holler some wheres
Considering I have killed a wolf DRT bang flop style with my 222 rem with a 40gr V-max on top at 250ish yards, you should not have a problem.
Well also consider I got lucky and hit him in the head.
Well also consider I got lucky and hit him in the head.
I don't think 5.56 military rounds were designed with "humane kills" in mind, merely disable-rs. Am I wrong?
Alberta Woodsman
CGN Regular
- Location
- In a holler some wheres
You are correct on both accounts. For the meantime they are pests, in certain areas the deer and elk pop. Have been reduced to nothing from wolves. In my own area we have problems with them killing livestock. So yes there is an imbalance in certain ecosystems. I would not want to eat the meat, but wolf pelts are very valuable and some areas and county's have bounties on em.
- Location
- Southern Vancouver Island
Yes, you are wrong. 5.56mm military ammo isn't made with hunting bullets, so it's not entirely relevant, but they don't make it to wound people so more people will leave the battle carrying the wounded. The intent of shooting an enemy is to stop him fighting. Professional armies don't entertain the delusion that they can reliably choose the effect of small arms ammunition like setting phasers to stun. The 5.56mm NATO round was introduced because it is relatively easy to shoot accurately, fairly controllable in a rifle firing fully automatic, easier to supply and carry in large quantities than the larger calibre it replaced, and lethal enough.
And the military uses full metal jacket bullets to comply with international conventions that hold anything else to be less humane.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
You might find the following interesting. If the text proves too long to hold your interest, skip down to the photos at the bottom of the page which demonstrates the terminal performance of a tumbling 55 gr FMJ bullet fired from a .223 rifle.
http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/.223+Remington.html
Personally I think a .243 is the perfect wolf cartridge, but too many around here are taken with .22 centerfires to call them unsuitable. If I was going to go wolf hunting tomorrow with a .223, I have some 45 gr and some 53 gr TSXs on my bench, that said a .30/06 isn't too much for a wolf.
