.223 for bear, deer, elk and moose.

Joined
Jul 17, 2023
Messages
22
Howdy! First post after reading this entire thread. If it wasn't for a good friend of mine attending a recent shooting school by Form, I would still be mildly choking on some of this info in here.

That said, I dove right in and am the proud owner of a Tikka in .223. Nice rifle. Not the only bolt .223 I have but certainly a favorite after a range session.

The post above about groups and a comment on AAC ammo having a bit more pop got me to post up my experience with that ammo. I bought some AAC 77gn OTM to practice with in the Tikka. I was pretty happy with the groups to start, at 1.25-1.5". I was hitting gongs at 200, 300 and 400 yards easily with this stuff. The potential for very good accuracy in this rifle became pretty clear. I thought that ammo popped pretty good too. I read, "perfectly fine to shoot 5.56 in a bolt gun chambered in .223", here. OK then, lets give it a go, even if I have avoided doing that forever.

I found 3 split cases in 40 rounds fired. I pawed through another 160 unfired rounds, all in the same lot, and found two with damaged case mouths and one with a slightly bulged shoulder. I seem to recall maybe shoving one into the chamber a little harder than normally necessary while shooting at the bench that first day. I'll shoot the balance of it in my 18" Wylde barreled rifle.

Aside from that I do plan to attempt to fill a deer tag here in the hills with the Rokslide Recipe come November. I'll post bullet performance results here.

AAC 77gn OTM
aac.jpg
 
Joined
Dec 30, 2014
Messages
8,471
Howdy! First post after reading this entire thread. If it wasn't for a good friend of mine attending a recent shooting school by Form, I would still be mildly choking on some of this info in here.

That said, I dove right in and am the proud owner of a Tikka in .223. Nice rifle. Not the only bolt .223 I have but certainly a favorite after a range session.

The post above about groups and a comment on AAC ammo having a bit more pop got me to post up my experience with that ammo. I bought some AAC 77gn OTM to practice with in the Tikka. I was pretty happy with the groups to start, at 1.25-1.5". I was hitting gongs at 200, 300 and 400 yards easily with this stuff. The potential for very good accuracy in this rifle became pretty clear. I thought that ammo popped pretty good too. I read, "perfectly fine to shoot 5.56 in a bolt gun chambered in .223", here. OK then, lets give it a go, even if I have avoided doing that forever.

I found 3 split cases in 40 rounds fired. I pawed through another 160 unfired rounds, all in the same lot, and found two with damaged case mouths and one with a slightly bulged shoulder. I seem to recall maybe shoving one into the chamber a little harder than normally necessary while shooting at the bench that first day. I'll shoot the balance of it in my 18" Wylde barreled rifle.

Aside from that I do plan to attempt to fill a deer tag here in the hills with the Rokslide Recipe come November. I'll post bullet performance results here.

AAC 77gn OTM
View attachment 584324

Good info. I was hesitant to firmly recommend against AAC branded 556 in a tikka based on them showing overpressure in my tikka but I think with your post there is sufficient evidence to steer clear for that application now.
 
Joined
Jul 18, 2023
Messages
481
I ran through @ 400 with a friend's T3x with zero issues. Have about a hundred left and i checked some with a magnifying glass with no visible flaws. Perhaps Black Hills Shooter had a monday morning batch or a newb at the factory? Whatever the reason, the fact that one batch had issues is pretty unacceptable. Whoever is in charge of quality control needs a talking to. That's very bad for business at the least.
 
Joined
Jul 17, 2023
Messages
22
I ran through @ 400 with a friend's T3x with zero issues. Have about a hundred left and i checked some with a magnifying glass with no visible flaws. Perhaps Black Hills Shooter had a monday morning batch or a newb at the factory? Whatever the reason, the fact that one batch had issues is pretty unacceptable. Whoever is in charge of quality control needs a talking to. That's very bad for business at the least.

If I recall, you posted some MVs to me that showed they were on the hot side. Average above 2800fps.

Anyway, sorry for stinking up this thread with bad ammo stories. I'll be sure to post something about 77 TMKs and dead game animals later in the year.
 

ianpadron

WKR
Joined
Feb 3, 2016
Messages
1,764
Location
Montana
If I recall, you posted some MVs to me that showed they were on the hot side. Average above 2800fps.

Anyway, sorry for stinking up this thread with bad ammo stories. I'll be sure to post something about 77 TMKs and dead game animals later in the year.
Your info is much appreciated!
 

Formidilosus

Super Moderator
Shoot2HuntU
Joined
Oct 22, 2014
Messages
8,472
Howdy! First post after reading this entire thread. If it wasn't for a good friend of mine attending a recent shooting school by Form, I would still be mildly choking on some of this info in here.

That said, I dove right in and am the proud owner of a Tikka in .223. Nice rifle. Not the only bolt .223 I have but certainly a favorite after a range session.

The post above about groups and a comment on AAC ammo having a bit more pop got me to post up my experience with that ammo. I bought some AAC 77gn OTM to practice with in the Tikka. I was pretty happy with the groups to start, at 1.25-1.5". I was hitting gongs at 200, 300 and 400 yards easily with this stuff. The potential for very good accuracy in this rifle became pretty clear. I thought that ammo popped pretty good too. I read, "perfectly fine to shoot 5.56 in a bolt gun chambered in .223", here. OK then, lets give it a go, even if I have avoided doing that forever.

I found 3 split cases in 40 rounds fired. I pawed through another 160 unfired rounds, all in the same lot, and found two with damaged case mouths and one with a slightly bulged shoulder. I seem to recall maybe shoving one into the chamber a little harder than normally necessary while shooting at the bench that first day. I'll shoot the balance of it in my 18" Wylde barreled rifle.

Aside from that I do plan to attempt to fill a deer tag here in the hills with the Rokslide Recipe come November. I'll post bullet performance results here.

AAC 77gn OTM
View attachment 584324


Just as an FYI, that’s not a “5.56mm” issue, that’s a screwed up load or case issue.
 
Joined
Jul 18, 2023
Messages
481
Waiting for my backordered 6x SWFA, I mounted a borrowed SWFA 10x and ran the first 23 rounds through my brand new Rokslide Special. AAC 77gr. 3 shots to get near zero. Then a ten shot group just under 2 1/2". Though I thought I'd lightened the trigger to the max when I switched stocks, it's still pretty hard. (The trigger on the rifle I borrowed was lighter and similar to my other rifles. I'll look into that)
Then another ten shot group @ 1 1/4". Pretty sure I had some 3 shot groups @ 3/4" or so but we all know about that :) . Very pleased so far.
Will run a few Black Hills TMKs through it to see where zero is in relation to the AACs.

Had one round chambered a little hard (not much but noticeable).

Will see if I can post some pictures.
( well, that wasn't impressive but you'll figure it out)
 

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