Thanks for this thread. The use of the 77 gr TMK has confirmed things I knew for higjer caliber bullets of the same match type construction. Glad to see the bullets just devastate even though they weigh much less than half as much.
It specifically helped comfirm a decision I made to build a lightweight 6mm BRA to shoot 95 -105 grain vldh. As a Berger fanboi I may try TMK now. It is for lightweight backpacking and 650 yard shots in AZ coues country, although now I would but hesitate to use it on elk as well. I considered a .224 but the ballistics for long range didn't do it for me, I was only comfortable to 450ish. And, I already shoot a lot of 6mm. For the curious, it is on a Howa Mini Action, 20" proof carbon fiber barrel, stock still undecided.
1) it's about bullet construction and teminal velocity. I just didn't realize it translated all the way down to the humble 77 tmk. I have this discussion all the time trying to talk guys out of their big boomers they can't shoot worth crap.
2) match bullets with proper tip construction are devestating and result in very fast kills.
3) match bullets are accurate and only accurate bullets are interesting...
4) putting the right bullet in the right spot at rhe right speed is the only important thing. And, it's far more important than total energy. Match bullets in smaller rifles do that better than big boomers.
5) big boomer magnums create recoil that moves the point of impact dramatically and flinch induced trigger pulls more it even more. The sauce isn't worth it. The ratio of guys who are bad shooters with big boomers seems higher than smaller. They have more inexplicable misses than any other hunters I talk with. They should step down to a more managable rifle.
6) the "break shoulder with hard bullet" so I don't have to track them is an old voodoo religion that won't die. I put Bergers in the lungs and critters die.
5) the "elk are nearly bulletproof" myth is based on bad shots, on top of big magnums, on top of old bullet technology, on top of their ability to walk a long ways while mortally wounded by bullets that were not immediately devestating. Bone isn't as hard as most people think when facing a high velocity projectile. A good match hunting bullet is highly unlikely to deflect off even the hardest point of shoulder knuckle.
6) I shoot the lungs. My small sample of three elk that were double lunged with 180 vld just stood there at 500, 600, and 1000 yards like they were hypnotized, got another bullet for good measure and then tipped over dead. The caribou at 435 did the same. For some reason, when smacked with an "exploding" match bullet, they didn't run at all. Curious if others notice that. Deer fell over dead. One ran 30 yards while it was dead.
7) I was surprised that the pictures of the .224 on this thread look almost identical to all the deer, elk, and caribou I have seen shot with 180 vld, maybe just a little bigger exits at times. The elk and caribou we hit inside 200 yards blew baseball sized holes out the opposite ribs. The deer were the same out to 700.
8) I need a .223...
