Bullet wont stabilise, barnes you will have to use 50gr.
I know you have this all figured out, but a blue duiker or sunni are about the size of a small jackrabbit. Hit him in the shoulder and you will certainly kill him, but you will also ruin him as a mountable trophy. Shooting the animal behind the last rib with a heavy for caliber deep penetrating SP like an A Frame and it will pass through completely and still humanely and quickly kill such a small animal. The hunter also has an animal that can go to the taxidermist as opposed to the gut pile. That strikes me as more ethical course of action.
I am with @ActionBob on this discussion. Lots of folks offering advice with respect to the lethality of a .223 or shot placement who have never seen a member of the tiny ten much less hunted them. The problem is not lethality but the destructive expansion of a light fast moving bullet.
Secondly, as Stuart from @Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS notes most of the tiny ten are taken as targets of opportunity while hunting other more traditional plains game. A bullet like an A Frame from a 30-06 will often work so long as the shoulder bone structure isn't hit.
I know you have this all figured out, but a blue duiker or sunni are about the size of a small jackrabbit. Hit him in the shoulder and you will certainly kill him, but you will also ruin him as a mountable trophy. Shooting the animal behind the last rib with a heavy for caliber deep penetrating SP like an A Frame and it will pass through completely and still humanely and quickly kill such a small animal. The hunter also has an animal that can go to the taxidermist as opposed to the gut pile. That strikes me as more ethical course of action.
This is a really large blue duiker taken with @spike.t and @PeteG on Takeri. The rifle is a .275 firing the 170 gr Oryx. Note the bullet placement. No bones were struck, the duiker died in his tracks, and the bullet made a 7mm entry hole and 7.1mm exit hole. Most of the reminder of the tiny ten I have taken with 300 gr solids from a .375. Again never an issue. I did shoot a Steenbock frontally on one of my early hunts with a 250 gr partition from a .338. We did not even try to photograph the ensuing mess.
Back to the OP's original question. If your wife loves that rifle and has confidence in it, then you might try something like a 64 gr bullet designed for deer. Shot placement will need to be precise. That fast a bullet, even if heavy for caliber, will be very destructive if it hits the shoulder bone. Again at that speed, it could have an explosive effect on the stomach. I did see a civit hit at close range with a 67 gr 5.56 and the results were very destructive. I have not tried a solid from a .223 on any African game.
As others suggest, a great dedicated Tiny Ten choice would be a .22 Hornet.
Blaser BD14 22hornet/6.5×57R/20ga would be ideal but alas the price is steep.....
Look at the shot placement guides for the small African animals. Many consider anything behind the shoulder (as we do in the US) to be a gut shot. A .30-06 with 180 gr. Partitions through the ribs may be behind the lungs, but results in an instantly dead steenbuck or duiker right there every time.
You have zero experience hunting the tiny ten, and yet you somehow assume that many, perhaps most of the people you are instructing who have hunted them have less experience than you?
This is fascinating. What if you used target non expanding ammo from 223? Those are cheap and most probably have cases of it.I am with @ActionBob on this discussion. Lots of folks offering advice with respect to the lethality of a .223 or shot placement who have never seen a member of the tiny ten much less hunted them. The problem is not lethality but the destructive expansion of a light fast moving bullet.
Secondly, as Stuart from @Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS notes most of the tiny ten are taken as targets of opportunity while hunting other more traditional plains game. A bullet like an A Frame from a 30-06 will often work so long as the shoulder bone structure isn't hit.
I know you have this all figured out, but a blue duiker or sunni are about the size of a small jackrabbit. Hit him in the shoulder and you will certainly kill him, but you will also ruin him as a mountable trophy. Shooting the animal behind the last rib with a heavy for caliber deep penetrating SP like an A Frame and it will pass through completely and still humanely and quickly kill such a small animal. The hunter also has an animal that can go to the taxidermist as opposed to the gut pile. That strikes me as more ethical course of action.
This is a really large blue duiker taken with @spike.t and @PeteG on Takeri. The rifle is a .275 firing the 170 gr Oryx. Note the bullet placement. No bones were struck, the duiker died in his tracks, and the bullet made a 7mm entry hole and 7.1mm exit hole. Most of the reminder of the tiny ten I have taken with 300 gr solids from a .375. Again never an issue. I did shoot a Steenbock frontally on one of my early hunts with a 250 gr partition from a .338. We did not even try to photograph the ensuing mess.
Back to the OP's original question. If your wife loves that rifle and has confidence in it, then you might try something like a 64 gr bullet designed for deer. Shot placement will need to be precise. That fast a bullet, even if heavy for caliber, will be very destructive if it hits the shoulder bone. Again at that speed, it could have an explosive effect on the stomach. I did see a civit hit at close range with a 67 gr 5.56 and the results were very destructive. I have not tried a solid from a .223 on any African game.
As others suggest, a great dedicated Tiny Ten choice would be a .22 Hornet.
I shoot a lot of 223. Been partial to the federal fusion for deer and hogs, but I want a big exit hole there. Seems If someone has a 223 already, they could find a non expanding bullet to take our tiny 10 without having to buy a 1500 new barrel for the Blaser.
I have personally never used 5.56 or .223 ball ammunition on game, so I have no informed opinion to offer. I will say that the former is lethal on humans, but I never considered mounting one. They very well might work just fine, though the velocity would cause me concern on a very small animal I intended for a full mount.
