Back afew years we used to shoot tin can around here at 65 to 85 yrds. We would just toss them on a hill side and open up with our reolvers, all with iron sight. We never got close to hitting all of them, but we did hit a good number of them. I now shot T/C`s as much as I do revolvers, but mine are all scoped. If I were to hunt with a .223 with iron sight I would try to find a 10 in barrel. I prefer the 10 in. barrels for off hand shooting and the loanger barrels for shooting for a rest.