.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.

[SquatchHunter]

That gaping hole in the rib cage. Oof. Not gonna recover.

 

[carsonkeys]

Am I the only leftie having a terrible time finding a LH .223 T3X non-CTR? Or is CTR the only LH option for a .223?

 

[Raygun15E]

Am I the only leftie having a terrible time finding a LH .223 T3X non-CTR? Or is CTR the only LH option for a .223?

You’re not the only one… not one in the U.S.
It seems CTR left hand .223 is the only version being imported. Searches turn up shops in Canada, UK, NZ, etc with T3x lite (ss), but none here in this country.


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[SouthPaw]

Am I the only leftie having a terrible time finding a LH .223 T3X non-CTR? Or is CTR the only LH option for a .223?

If its the weight that is scaring you...I got the 20" lefty CTR, removed the 0moa rail and replaced the bottom metal with T3 bottom plus a waters mag. These mods shaved a lot of weight. With a SWFA 3-9 in Sportsmatch rings it's 8.8 pounds with great balance and easy to carry hunting.

 

[amassi]

Am I the only leftie having a terrible time finding a LH .223 T3X non-CTR? Or is CTR the only LH option for a .223?

I hate to say it and state the obvious, but with the prevelance of tikka take off parts and great prefits from 1/2 dozen companies your an afternoon away from turning that ctr into an ultralight.

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[Antares]

I hate to say it and state the obvious, but with the prevelance of tikka take off parts and great prefits from 1/2 dozen companies your an afternoon away from turning that ctr into an ultralight.

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I’d guess the CTR barrel would have better resale value than most take-offs too.

 

[mtnwrunner(Trandy)]

Am I the only leftie having a terrible time finding a LH .223 T3X non-CTR? Or is CTR the only LH option for a .223?

Nope, impossible to find. I did get the CTR lefty, got the swfa 3-9 and it is an absolute hoot to shoot.

If "someone" could come up with the tikka .223, right and left, swfa 3-9, sierra 77 tmk, .......well, they would sell a shitload.

Randy

 

[cod0396]

That gaping hole in the rib cage. Oof. Not gonna recover.

I saw a picture earlier in the thread where the TMK left a 4"+ hole in the ribs. It's pretty amazing that a little .223 bullet can cause such carnage.

 

[cod0396]

Well I took my first deer with the 223 and 77 TMK combo last night.
Results were on par with what has been proven in this thread.
I took a shot on a whitetail from a treestand. Deer was roughly 100 yards and very close to broad side with his front leg/shoulder back covering his vitals. My shot was right on the money. Broke the shoulder and destroyed the onside lung, with heavy fragmentation taking out the heart as well. No exit wound but a few small holes in the cavity from fragments. Under the offside shoulder against the ribs had some blood shot as well.
Deer had a classic jumping reaction and ran 15 yards then stopped for a few seconds. He then turned around took 3 steps fell over and expired within seconds.
View attachment 468442View attachment 468443View attachment 468444View attachment 468445
Gun:
Ruger Ranch 5.56
Load:
77 TMK
23.5 grains of 8208 XBR
Nosler Brass
CCI BR-4 primers
COAL 2.260

A big thanks to all the positive contributors to this thread.

Just out of curiosity, was the heart directly in the path of the TMK?

 

[C.payne]

Just out of curiosity, was the heart directly in the path of the TMK?

My entry looked to be higher than center heart so the damage must have been from a large fragment.
Edit: I was shooting from an elevated position in a treestand though as well

 

[Formidilosus]

Another elk, Tikka 223/SWFA, 77gr TMK combo. 360 yards.

 

[BLJ]

@C.payne. Any idea of what your getting for muzzle velocity? Thanks.

 

[stealthgoat]

I have only shot them (77tmk) at 100 yds so far, but in two 1:9 rifles accuracy was very good. Even tried them in a 1:10 rifle and shot a .75 10 shot group??

Killed a deer with one of the 1:9 guns. Seemed to perform as expected. 100yds

What was elevation?
Daughter's 1:9 rifle shoots 69gr really well out to 500 yards, but we never bothered trying the 75 / 77gr because of slow twist ... thanks

 

[N2TRKYS]

If my rifle won’t shoot the 77s, do y’all think the 69 grainers would have as good of performance? Assuming, of course, my rifle likes the 69s.

 

[BjornF16]

If my rifle won’t shoot the 77s, do y’all think the 69 grainers would have as good of performance? Assuming, of course, my rifle likes the 69s.

already been answered in this thread…page 67, post #1334

.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.

Adding another data point. Held on the shoulder from about 30 yards. Broke shoulder and got top of the heart. Deer ran 20 yards.

www.rokslide.com

 

[N2TRKYS]

already been answered in this thread…page 67, post #1334

.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.

Adding another data point. Held on the shoulder from about 30 yards. Broke shoulder and got top of the heart. Deer ran 20 yards.

www.rokslide.com

Thank you very much.

 

[C.payne]

@C.payne. Any idea of what your getting for muzzle velocity? Thanks.

I am getting 2660 fps out of the 16” barrel. Accuracy has been great as well.

 

[carsonkeys]

I hate to say it and state the obvious, but with the prevelance of tikka take off parts and great prefits from 1/2 dozen companies your an afternoon away from turning that ctr into an ultralight.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

Bold of you to assume it would take me a single afternoon to accomplish this

 

[BLJ]

I am getting 2660 fps out of the 16” barrel. Accuracy has been great as well.
View attachment 468606

Thanks. I’m using different brass and primers, but otherwise my load is the same in the same rifle and I’m at 2564 across a Magnetospeed. I’ve been trying to figure out why.

 

[C.payne]

@BLJ
Ya that’s interesting.
I have probably 40 rounds through my cheap Caldwell crono and have averaged 2660.
I don’t necessarily trust my crono but have verified the dope out to 500m and it seems spot on with that velocity and running a .415 BC.