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

[Ndbowhunter]

I believe Phil Shoemaker wrote an article in one of the Wolfe publications about the 223 and most popular gun was mini-14. Moose were commonly taken with it. Not sure if I have that article squirreled away.

Post August and actually before that if their after bear when subsistence moose opens up most any aluminum boat with a jet drive in western Alaska has an AR with 55gr fmj or 55sp loaded mags. Handy, and around beats a giant boomer in the boat. And honestly if ur shooting moose for meat or ‘boy... what’s the use of a bigger rifle?

 

[BAKPAKR]

My daughter shot a whitetail doe today with a 77 gr TMK from a 223. The shot was at around 80 yards. It hit a little far forward and broke the onside shoulder, made a 50 cent piece size hole as it entered the rib cage, did a lot of damage to the front of lungs, and made a quarter size hole as it exited the ribs ahead of the offside shoulder. The deer ran about 75 yards but left a very good blood trail. I have no complaints about the performance of the 77 gr TMK.

 

[RedRidge]

Went out today and verified zero with the 77 grainers. Going to hopefully add to the data this year. I just hope I can find some more boxes.

 

[Fatcamp]

Went out today and verified zero with the 77 grainers. Going to hopefully add to the data this year. I just hope I can find some more boxes.

I haven't found any. Considering begging.

 

[RedRidge]

I haven't found any. Considering begging.

haha yep. I had one box of 50. Think I shot about 7 today. Used 62gr in between to verify ranges prior to using the 77s.

 

[Lawnboi]

Went out today and verified zero with the 77 grainers. Going to hopefully add to the data this year. I just hope I can find some more boxes.

Great time to reload! Just grabbed another box of 500 77tmk

I also did some more verification, leaving Saturday for Montana. 100 yard zero confirmation went 3/3 in a 3/4” dot followed by shooting some steel out at 567. Everything is lining up to go well.

 

[RedRidge]

Great time to reload! Just grabbed another box of 500 77tmk

I also did some more verification, leaving Saturday for Montana. 100 yard zero confirmation went 3/3 in a 3/4” dot followed by shooting some steel out at 567. Everything is lining up to go well.

Good luck, report back if your successful. I do reload I just haven't started down the 5.56/.223 lane for reloading. Supply and demand might drive me to though.

 

[Lawnboi]

Good luck, report back if your successful. I do reload I just haven't started down the 5.56/.223 lane for reloading. Supply and demand might drive me to though.

You can load 223 for dirt cheap, especially compared to recent prices. Great way to get some cheap trigger time. Even with the expensive 77tmk I can load in new Lapua brass for less than most current factory 70+ grain offerings.

 

[koppertop]

For those loading the 77 TMK or similar, what powders are working well?

Bought a 223 in early spring for easy access to lots of cheap factory loads......take a guess how that’s been working out for me.

 

[204guy]

For those loading the 77 TMK or similar, what powders are working well?

Bought a 223 in early spring for easy access to lots of cheap factory loads......take a guess how that’s been working out for me.

lots of options, off the top of my head- varget, cfe223, rl15, tac, H335, big game, etc.

 

[Rickt300]

I have a bit of experience with the Hornady 75 gr. HPBT of both pigs and deer. I found it a bit "tough" for rib cage hits on deer, getting exits but not a lot of damage. On hogs which I hunt at night I found it effective only with CNS hits as the hogs often ran far enough to make recovering them impossible with chest hits, blood trails being almost non existent. Switch to a 308/708 and all those issues go away. Sure if you hunt in open country the 223 makes and OK deer rifle if the range is not pushed past 200 yards but if you hunt in thick thornbrush country you want blood to follow especially if there are deer tracks everywhere. To say everyone shoots better with the smaller cartridges is pushing past reality, Many shoot very well with just about any rifle up to the point where recoil does bother them. For me that is in the area of a light 338 magnum and even with it for the first ten shots I can hug MOA with that rifle. I easily can keep rifles in the 308/280AI/30-06 category into less than or equal to MOA level of accuracy for at least 40 shots.

If you have a 1/9 twist try the 75gr hpbt that Hornady makes.

It has a higher bc then 77gr smk from my shooting and supposedly very good on game.

 

[Lawnboi]

For those loading the 77 TMK or similar, what powders are working well?

Bought a 223 in early spring for easy access to lots of cheap factory loads......take a guess how that’s been working out for me.

Varget for now, but just grabbed 8lbs of xbr since I can’t find varget anywhere. Hoping to get a little more velocity. My throat is pretty short and I can’t fit enough varget in the case with the bullet .020 off the lands to create any pressure signs

Lots of powders out there but I’m doing my best to stick with temp stable as this rifle gets shot at -20 to 90 degrees. Xbr, varget, ar comp were all on my list of powders to look for.

Unfortunately right now small rifle primers are harder to find than loaded 223/5.56. If your planning on loading I’d highly recommend finding some components first

 

[Rickt300]

Just back from a quick antelope hunt with the 77 TMK. Mature doe at 117 yds. broadside facing left to right that went about 25 yds after the shot.View attachment 118562View attachment 118563

And you consider that good bullet performance? How would you say that is "better" than the same hit with a 145 gr. Speer SPBT?

 

[Rickt300]

Yet match bullets are perfect for the job especially the heavy for caliber ones? Though the pictures you post show a lot of damage and "adequate" penetration for open country hunting I don't see any real improvement over say my 260 Remington pushing 100 gr. partitions at 3200 fps. In fact if the onside shoulder is hit I am pretty sure this would limit penetration and make even uglier wounds.

Deep penetration, narrow wound channel. It kills fine however bullets such as TSX’s and on the other side- varmint bullets are what have given .22’s the “marginal” label. The 77gr TMK, 75 and 88gr ELD-M, etc produce exceptionally good wound channels.

 

[Rickt300]

Funny I have said the same thing about heavier and bigger Sierra bullets. Any bullet can fail when at the limits of it capabilities.

There isn’t a 300lb ungulate alive that will stop a 77gr TMK in the humerus.





That’s pretty solid.

 

[Rickt300]

Oh wow a 62 grain bullet at 2000 fps and the animal you hit is 350 yards away? I doubt that the damage done even if it expands will be spectacular. How much harder is it to handle a rifle that will put twice that mass on target at further yardage and the same fps?

Doh! Right... it was late, wasn't thinking about the expansion threshold velocity issue. (Checks load..) Oh heck, that should be more than fine then for my purposes, for the 62gr Remington HogHammer it stays above 2k out to 350yds.

 

[TheGDog]

Oh wow a 62 grain bullet at 2000 fps and the animal you hit is 350 yards away? I doubt that the damage done even if it expands will be spectacular. How much harder is it to handle a rifle that will put twice that mass on target at further yardage and the same fps?

You'll note I said "more than fine for my purposes" meaning I don't ever have to shoot that far, typically. I've only been taking the .223 Rem into this thicker spot where the shots are all close quarters. 50yds tops.

 

[fish impaler]

62 gr tsx, 300+ yards no problems with expansion. Nothing for scale but exit was about 1.5” dia. Gf shoots .223 significantly better than any of my larger rifles.

 

[Rickt300]

I just picked up and 8lber of xbr to try to squeeze some more velocity out but don’t feel like working up a load again. I’m setting my max at 400 yards anyways so it dosnt matter. My throat is fairly short in the tikka, as of yet I havnt been able to cram enough varget in a 223 case to cause significant pressure.

Going to shoot a 10 round group for zero, bang the 8” steel plate at 400 and continue to practice positional shooting with the 223.

We shall see how it goes in Montana first week of November.

I use 26.0 grains of LeverRevolution and get mid 2926 fps under the 75 gr. Hornady HPBT and not much compression.

 

[Rickt300]

You'll note I said "more than fine for my purposes" meaning I don't ever have to shoot that far, typically. I've only been taking the .223 Rem into this thicker spot where the shots are all close quarters. 50yds tops.

Hope you don't run into an issue with weak blood trails, I am taking my bolt 223 out tonight to sneak up on piles of soured corn in the dark for hogs and I will make sure and hit the spine from the shoulder blade out or in the head around the ear. Using the 75 gr. Hornady HPBT. I prefer them laying right where I hit them.