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It should be pointed out at this time that handloading Barnes bullets in a .223 WSSM with a bore twist rate of 1 in 9 inches means keeping the grain weight under that of the tested 62-grain TSX bullet. My rifle, however, while not being known to shoot accurate groups with that heavy bullet, did return game harvesting accuracy. In most cases, it is best to stay with the published game plan for the .223 WSSM in a factory rifle and shoot the 53- to 55-grain or lighter bullets. As a final note, remember: it is always advisable to test on paper extensively before going afield.

Over the course of three hunts I elected to turn to the .223 WSSM, which resulted in two of my own goats, an assist on a third for a friend, and and an additional whitetail. In each case the fast moving .22 caliber got the job done, but not always within easy walking distance from the point at which the animal was first hit by the light bullets.

MORE POWDER AND MORE BULLET

When my partner Mr. Bressler elected to turn to his DPMS .243 on that cornfield hunt and subsequent hunts later in the season, he was eliminating the possible loss of an animal because of underachieving ballistics downrange as applied to lighter bullets and rifles. After spending almost two full years with the .224 caliber bullets in a variety of cartridges that ranged from high velocity to very high speed varmint type separators, I came to the conclusion that when you can use medium calibers that offer state-of-the-art ballistics performance, why even bother with the small stuff? The move to a .25 WSSM, 25-06, and, yes, even the 243 Winchester clearly illustrated a major step forward in performance. In terms of selection, about equal time was split between the .25 WSSM and .25-06 with an industry cull hunt using the 243 Winchester stuck right in the middle. It was a convenient series of hunts, and I managed to get a great deal accomplished in terms of some back-to-back comparisons.