.223 for bear, deer, elk and moose.

[Colby]

We killed three with the aac 77 tmk/ tikkas over the weekend.
I shot a buck at just over 100 yds bedded in the back of his neck. DRT no exit but neck was hammered.
Had a youth hunter shoot one broadside at 225 yds, hit a little too far back. Buck moved out of sight, we found it about 50-75 yds away dead. When we got it opened up liver was pretty much blown in half.
Third guy quartered away 250 ish yds, I wasn’t right with him when it got gutted but he said lungs were soupy.
Taking my daughter next weekend so hopefully add another one to the list.

 

[Pharmseller]

I had some RL22 in a 243 that did something very similar

And why are you busting spikes on opening weekend?

I was second shooter. First shooter was my nephew, he’s still fairly new to hunting. And I had to leave Tuesday afternoon, so Monday’s afternoon hunt…




P

 

[Pharmseller]

Okay, here’s the damage.

475 yards, 75 gr ELDM, mv 2915

Entrance, a little high on the left side, but just behind the scapula.



Double lung



Interior view. Entrance on the right of the pic, took out a vertebra, then broke two ribs on the exit.



Exit hole. I pulled the cartilage on the end of the scapula out of the way.



One of the cleanest bullet wounds I’ve ever seen. According to my ballistics app the impact velocity would have been around 2145 fps.






P

 

[Tartan]

I’m part of the gang now.

View attachment 607780

Ready to get it sighted in this weekend and I should have some animals down in 4 8 weeks.

Vertical grip, 150 rounds of black hill tmk, UM rings, and a mil nxs 2.5-10. Rokstock pending.

 

[pattimusprime22]

Ready to get it sighted in this weekend and I should have some animals down in 4 8 weeks.

Vertical grip, 150 rounds of black hill tmk, UM rings, and a mil nxs 2.5-10. Rokstock pending.

View attachment 613090

Which stock tikka 223 do you have there that came with the threaded barrel?

 

[Tartan]

Which stock tikka 223 do you have there that came with the threaded barrel?

It's cabela's version of the Veil. Got a screaming deal on it.

Tikka T3X Lite D-18 Bolt-Action Rifle with VSX Stock - .223 Remington​

 

[The Guide]

The 77tmk works especially well when you dial your wind the correct direction...

I usually hold wind instead of dialing it. The scope on the Howa Mini I just got has no wind marks so I dialed it (new Trijicon gets delivered tomorrow). I forgot to add the wind direction and it defaults to a 90⁰ wind and I had a 270⁰ wind... so I had 20" of wind push and 20" of dialed wind at 460 yards. 4 shots later and all the shots hitting way behind him, he decided it was time to run away. Running away right towards me! I took all the dope out of the scope since he was now ~250 yards away and dope was only inches. Now the rounds hit where they were supposed to. Hit him on the run and he stopped so I hit him in the neck.

Remember to put your wind in the correct direction if dialed and not held...

Jay

 

[wind gypsy]

Thanks for this info. I ran the same numbers for 400 of the Blitz Kings and SMKs and the comparable numbers are $0.60 and $0.62 per. When you add in taxes and the lower shipping costs, the numbers are $0.74 and $0.68 for Frontier 5.56 and 223 BTHP, respectively, and $0.71 $0.68 for the ADIs. Although I'm not a reloader, I will be saving my brass.

I'm not familiar with ADI, and admit that my first reaction would be to spend the difference (if any) with a "known" (at least to me) brand. But if they are the same, or ADI is better (whether due to the crimping issue, or otherwise), I'm more than happy to try the ADI. Especially a mix of both weights.

ADI is the manufacturer of Hodgdon extreme powders which have been the leading powders in precision rifle circles since I started paying attention.

They used to sell it under the Australian outback name and the fired brass from those old lots was more consistent than lapua and even had a little more case capacity! The new ADI stuff doesn’t seem quite as impressive but you’re getting good stuff for the money. I’ll say that my tikka didn’t like a recent lot of 69 smks but 55sbk have shot well in every lot.

I have also found 73 ELDm factory online for around a dollar and that stuff shoots great for me but I’d rather have the ADI brass.

 

[The Guide]

I guess I never looked really hard at 5.56 ammo before. Is the Black Hills brass that comes loaded with the 77tmk "crimped" brass? It has 4 little marks around the primer on the face of the case.

Jay

 

[Lawnboi]

I guess I never looked really hard at 5.56 ammo before. Is the Black Hills brass that comes loaded with the 77tmk "crimped" brass? It has 4 little marks around the primer on the face of the case.

Jay

Yes that’s a style of primer crimp. Most bull 223/556 comes with some kind of primer crimp. The brass is fine but you have to remove the crimp.

 

[xrangerx]

For what it's worth, Charlies Custom Clones has the Black Hills 77gr TMK in stock, $63 each (3 min order). A random popup with a $10 off code appeared too which helped with shipping!

 

[N2TRKYS]

I got my RS special sighted in yesterday with my 77 grain TMKs. Now just waiting on gun season.

 

[sargent]

Shot my bull yesterday morning. 171 yard shot with AAC 77 gr TMK.

I saw this in the hotel the day before hiking in for my hunt. Thanks for giving me a little more confidence in the set up and congrats on the bull.

 

[Formidilosus]

Worked well but the damage to the lungs was a little less than I expected after seeing the explosive pics in this thread.

All bullets show variability, however that is a smaller wound than any I have seen at that impact speed. That’s about the smallest of what they do below 1,600fps impact.

You are positive it was a 77gr Tipped Matchking (green tip), and not a Sierra Matchking (no tip)?

 

[sargent]

Another bull elk data point.

Tikka T3X lite .223, SWFA 3-9, and AAC factory 77 grain TMKs

The shot was 90 yards broadside (~2,530 fps on impact), about 1" behind the shoulder.After the shot, the bull ran straight up a steep, rocky knob. I briefly thought something like, "OH no, that little .22 bullet bounced off the elk!," but he went down after about 45 yards. He was lying on the ground within 10 seconds of the shot and lying still within 1 minute.


The bullet did not pass through, but seemed to liquify everything in the vital area. I lost a little meat from the very back of the entrance side shoulder. I was a little worried when I pulled back the shoulder that I was going to lose it all, but the inside of it was just covered with that red jello stuff (TMK soup?) and most of the meat was fine. If my shot had been 3-4" farther back I don't think I would have lost any meat.

With the shoulder and hide removed you could see a golf ball sized entry hole.

There was no blood trail to follow (unnecessary in this case), but there was TMK soup all over the place around the bull.

Overall, I was happy with the performance of the setup and look forward to using it on other animals. Thanks Roksliders for helping to open my mind to something that no one I know would have thought was a good idea. Let's keep this thread on track with lots of damage pics this hunting season!

 

[Thegman]

All bullets show variability, however that is a smaller wound than any I have seen at that impact speed. That’s about the smallest of what they do below 1,600fps impact.

You are positive it was a 77gr Tipped Matchking (green tip), and not a Sierra Matchking (no tip)?

100% positive

Velocity was running about 2,710-2,720 during load workup with Alliant 2000MR

Was right around 2,700 when I re-checked zero two days ago (colder weather may account for that, or just normal SD, or both?)

Impact should have been right around 2,000 fps or a bit above per Strelok and drop was right on per Strelok as well. No way it could have been sub-1,600 impact.

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it; you have magnitudes more experience with results than I do. I was wondering if I overestimated what I'd seen in all the pics, or it really was less than typical.

I'll be taking the rifle to Kodiak in a few days. If all goes well I'll increase my experience with it by a few animals.

 

[Marbles]

Natchez has TMKs in stock.

Natchez

www.natchezss.com

 

[Pharmseller]

Natchez has TMKs in stock.

Natchez

www.natchezss.com

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Brontosaurus]

Sierra 22cal 77gr TMK

Product Information Caliber: 22cal Bullet Diameter: 0.224” Bullet Weight: 77 Grains OAL: 1.072" Bullet Style: Tipped MatchKing Boat Tail G1 BC: 0.420 Part Number: 7177 or 7177C Quantity: 100ct or 500ct

www.bluecollarreloading.com

 

[PNWGATOR]

It's not the mature bull I was hoping to post on here, but another bull elk data point.

Tikka T3X lite .223, SWFA 3-9, and AAC factory 77 grain TMKs

The shot was 90 yards broadside (~2,530 fps on impact), about 1" behind the shoulder.View attachment 613886After the shot, the bull ran straight up a steep, rocky knob. I briefly thought something like, "OH no, that little .22 bullet bounced off the elk!," but he went down after about 45 yards. He was lying on the ground within 10 seconds of the shot and lying still within 1 minute.

View attachment 613887
The bullet did not pass through, but seemed to liquify everything in the vital area. I lost a little meat from the very back of the entrance side shoulder. I was a little worried when I pulled back the shoulder that I was going to lose it all, but the inside of it was just covered with that red jello stuff (TMK soup?) and most of the meat was fine. If my shot had been 3-4" farther back I don't think I would have lost any meat.
View attachment 613889
With the shoulder and hide removed you could see a golf ball sized entry hole.
View attachment 613890
There was no blood trail to follow (unnecessary in this case), but there was TMK soup all over the place around the bull.

Overall, I was happy with the performance of the setup and look forward to using it on other animals. Thanks Roksliders for helping to open my mind to something that no one I know would have thought was a good idea. Let's keep this thread on track with lots of damage pics this hunting season!

Well done and thank you for sharing your experience!

It’s funny how bullets work.

Had a good friend kill a 6x6 today with a 175 ELDX out of a 7PRC at 228 yards. He shot the bull three times. Twice through the lungs and once through the heart. Not a single projectile exited. Not a single drop of blood.