# T/C Contender in 223 good enough for deer?



## jerome

I have a Contender with a 14 inch 223 barrel with a scope is it a good calaber for deer or should I use one of my other barrels ? I also have a 44 super 14 barrel and a 45 long colt thats 10 inch.


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## GunnSmokeer

*four questions*

1--what's the rifling twist rate on that T/C Contender .223 barrel?

2-- what bullet weight do you propose to use?  Heavy is better than light, when it comes to deer.

3-- What range do you expect to be shooting from?

4-- Do you want the ability to take quartering-away shots, or will you wait for a nice broadside or quartering-front shot?

Personally, I'd be OK with deer hunting with a .223 pistol if I had a steady rest and I would shoot only for the head or neck of the deer, or the heart. I'd only shoot from a distance where I know I can keep a 2" group (maybe call that 75 yards or so).

If I had my  scoped .44 magnum barrel on that pistol, I'd also limit the distance to 75 yards, but I'd take shots to the body, not the head. I know I'd have plenty of penetration even if the bullet hits bone.


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## Win1917

You have the all-time classic big-game handgun round in the 44. I'd take that without a doubt. It's just my opinion but to me there's too many downsides to using a bare bones minimum handgun round and little if any upside to it.


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## m1rt2n3

the 223 will do the job all day .


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## Forkhorn

The .223 will take deer if you can do your part with good shot placement. What range will most of your shots be? Are you shooting with optics or open sights?  Honestly I'd prefer the .44 over the .223 since you have both in 14" barrels. 14" in .44 will get that big bullet more velocity than traditional pistol length barrels, but in .223 It is going to cost you a bit in muzzle velocity. I like my .223 carbine barrel but love the Super 14 .44mag.


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## jerome

I thought about taking the scope off of the 223 and putting it on the 44 . The 223 maybe good enough but I'm just not comfortable with it cause theres just no room for error with that small a bullet . My thoughts have always been ( more lead more dead ) so I think with more practice with it may win me over .


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## shoot2grill

My nephew killed his first deer with a 223 yesterday  wish I had took a pic of that deers Insides im not sure a 7mag could have busted one up any worse.


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## shoot2grill

Im not sure about the barrel length its an h&r 223 ninety yard shot behind the shoulder demolished heart and lungs quarter size exit wound.


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## Forkhorn

shoot2grill said:


> Im not sure about the barrel length its an h&r 223 ninety yard shot behind the shoulder demolished heart and lungs quarter size exit wound.



Barrel on the H&R is usually 22".



jerome said:


> I thought about taking the scope off of the 223 and putting it on the 44 . The 223 maybe good enough but I'm just not comfortable with it cause theres just no room for error with that small a bullet . My thoughts have always been ( more lead more dead ) so I think with more practice with it may win me over .



.223 is a great and versatile caliber, but I agree with your thought process. If you shoot it and get confident in what you can do with it, then by all means use it, until then, go with what you know works for you.


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## John I. Shore

m1rt2n3 said:


> the 223 will do the job all day .



Yep, know many a folks that use a .223 for deer size game all day long.  

Good luck with it.

John I.
Messermacher


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## jerome

Thanks for the advise guys .


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## trial&error

Nope absolutely will not work.  Is the barrel for sale cheap now that it's useless?

If the scope was already sighted in on the 223 I'd leave it there and hunt with it.


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## Win1917

This has been an interesting discussion. Of all the "Which handgun to use for deer" threads I've seen I can't recall anyone recommending a 223 but it turns out it's acutally pretty common. What bullets are you guys using and what kind of velocities are you getting out of a 14" barrel?


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## jerome

I'm not sure why my daddy even had the 223 . but when he past away the contender was given to me .He had 3 barrels with it 44 super14 ,223 super 14 and 45 longcolt -410 thats 10 inch . And I've never used a 223 before so I have know idea what ammo is available for it .


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## Win1917

Your dad must've been a hunter because he chose 3 very practical hunting barrels. You could effectively hunt just about anything you'd want to take on with a handgun with those 3.


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## John I. Shore

jerome said:


> I'm not sure why my daddy even had the 223 . but when he past away the contender was given to me .He had 3 barrels with it 44 super14 ,223 super 14 and 45 longcolt -410 thats 10 inch . And I've never used a 223 before so I have know idea what ammo is available for it .



Make sure that you don't use the military fmj (Ball) ammo for hunting deer size game, I would go with the commercial soft point ammo.  Though I'm sure the ball ammo would surfice, I wouldn't use it.

Make sure you post pics of your first kill.  Good luck

John I. 
Messermacher


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## Buckhead

A former member of our hunt club used nothing but a 14" Contender in .223.  Killed several deer with it, including a nice 8.  I believe he used the Winchester 64 grain factory loads.  

I agree with the others on using the .44 barrel if you have one.  You should be getting close to 1,800 fps with a typical 240 grain load out of that 14" barrel.  I have a 10" barrel in .44 for my Contender.  A lot of recoil, but accurate and very effective.  I have a 2 power scope on mine and am confident out to 75 yards or so.


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## jerome

Thanks for the advise guys , and yes my daddy was all about the outdoors he use to hunt whitetail when I was growing up but after my mom and I both killed bigger deers than him he lost intrest and the last 20 yrs. he only hunted birds . As far as I know he never used the contender for hunting .But I'm going to break it in this year .I also have his BAR 30.06 that he had for as long as I can remember .This year they will both be with me every time I go into the woods !


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## trial&error

well if you want that nasty old 223 barrel outta your possession let me know.  There's a hundred dollar bill burning its way though my pocket.


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## jerome

If I do decide to get rid of it I would probably trade for another caliber ,I have never sold a gun that would be to much like down sizing and I wouldn't want my wife to get any ideas if you know what I mean !! lol


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