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

cjones87

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 22, 2015
Messages
176
Question for you guys using the 77tmk. Has anyone used them on prairie dogs? Reason i ask is i reload using the 75 amax/ elds. And they work great on prairie at distance and up close.

Going out next year with a couple buddies that don't reload and looking for a factory option for the heavy 223. Only thing I'm finding is hornady ammo with the73 eld. And federal with the 77tmk.

I would rather try the federal because it will likely be more consistent than the hornady ammo. But I'm worried that it won't expand fast enough on prairie dogs and they'll have alot of ricochets.

I saw unknown munitions makes 223 with the 75 eld but their outta stock at the moment.

If anyone knows of another factory ammo let me know please. Thanks for the help.
 

Kenny Hart

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 5, 2023
Messages
109
This whole thread has me rethinking a rifle for my daughters. Was worried about recoil, but I may have to kill a few pigs with the AR this fall to prove it to myself that all they need is a 223 Tikka and some 77 grainers!

Looks very impressive, much better than the few animals I've killed/seen killed with Speer Gold Dot bonded bullets....they were extremely effective but made such a small wound channel that I bumped back up to 308.
 

mtnwrunner

Super Moderator
Staff member
Shoot2HuntU
Joined
Oct 2, 2012
Messages
4,106
Location
Lowman, Idaho
Question for you guys using the 77tmk. Has anyone used them on prairie dogs? Reason i ask is i reload using the 75 amax/ elds. And they work great on prairie at distance and up close.

Going out next year with a couple buddies that don't reload and looking for a factory option for the heavy 223. Only thing I'm finding is hornady ammo with the73 eld. And federal with the 77tmk.

I would rather try the federal because it will likely be more consistent than the hornady ammo. But I'm worried that it won't expand fast enough on prairie dogs and they'll have alot of ricochets.

I saw unknown munitions makes 223 with the 75 eld but their outta stock at the moment.

If anyone knows of another factory ammo let me know please. Thanks for the help.
No prairie dogs but I shoot rockchucks fairly extensively. This year my closest shot was 108 yards and longest was 757.
Both with black hills 77 tmk and hornady frontier 75 grain match bthp. Both are devastating. 20230529_145846.jpg

Randy
 

Shraggs

WKR
Joined
Jan 24, 2014
Messages
1,592
Location
Zeeland, MI
I will figure something out with the stock, for now I will be the primary shooter and I have a year or two to figure it out.

I have told myself I was going to do this, but never figured out the details as I have trouble finding a place to do it. Peter's Heat Treat perhaps?

As it stands, I have a stainless T3x Lite coming from Eurooptic. I would love to nitride my stainless guns too, perhaps some day.
It may be easier for you to just cut the stock - either yourself or any good smith.

IMG_6338.jpeg

Tx3 fluted stainless 223. I took 3/4” off you can go more as the substrate for pad screws are pretty deep.

I squared this to the comb not the bore. The comb does drop slightly. I bought a thinner pad and shaped it so the high portion was retained. This yielded a slight negative position of pad to bore.

Longer screws and nylon washers or a thick pad and it can be adapted back for you.
 
Joined
Feb 2, 2020
Messages
2,709
Is the argument of not wanting to lose that much meat due to the carnage these bullets create not a valid point?

I'd like a 223 for a cheap trainer, but I likely wouldn't use it on an animal I wanted to eat. It just looks like so much meat loss.
 

Te Hopo

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 16, 2018
Messages
198
Location
New Zealand
Is the argument of not wanting to lose that much meat due to the carnage these bullets create not a valid point?

I'd like a 223 for a cheap trainer, but I likely wouldn't use it on an animal I wanted to eat. It just looks like so much meat loss.
Chest or neck shots have minimal meat loss.
I try and avoid shoulder shots as I'd rather pack out 50lb of meat over 30lb cause the shoulders are already minced.
 

Formidilosus

Super Moderator
Shoot2HuntU
Joined
Oct 22, 2014
Messages
9,992
Is the argument of not wanting to lose that much meat due to the carnage these bullets create not a valid point?

I'd like a 223 for a cheap trainer, but I likely wouldn't use it on an animal I wanted to eat. It just looks like so much meat loss.

Then you choose a different bullet. If a 223 is damaging too much tissue already, it is quite silly to go up in caliber and recoil, just to choke it down even more to get acceptable meat loss.
 
Joined
Jun 27, 2022
Messages
1,264
Unknown Munitions offers nitride coating.

Nitrided barrels rarely shoot great, it’s why you never see them on precision rifles. It needs to be done when the barrel is new and by doing that your surface hardening any burrs in the chamber and imperfections in the bore and significantly increasing the break in time. It’s a great choice for an action, terrible for barrel accuracy.

If you want accuracy and corrosion resistance SS barrels with cerakote is the way.
 
Joined
Dec 27, 2012
Messages
5,206
Location
Colorado
Question for you guys using the 77tmk. Has anyone used them on prairie dogs? Reason i ask is i reload using the 75 amax/ elds. And they work great on prairie at distance and up close.

Going out next year with a couple buddies that don't reload and looking for a factory option for the heavy 223. Only thing I'm finding is hornady ammo with the73 eld. And federal with the 77tmk.

I would rather try the federal because it will likely be more consistent than the hornady ammo. But I'm worried that it won't expand fast enough on prairie dogs and they'll have alot of ricochets.

I saw unknown munitions makes 223 with the 75 eld but their outta stock at the moment.

If anyone knows of another factory ammo let me know please. Thanks for the help.
I’ve shot a pile of Pdogs with both 77gr and 75gr HPBT, but not TMK. The frontier ammo from hot aft has been lethal on everything I’ve shot with it so far.
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2019
Messages
2,580
Location
Lowcountry, SC
Is the argument of not wanting to lose that much meat due to the carnage these bullets create not a valid point?

I'd like a 223 for a cheap trainer, but I likely wouldn't use it on an animal I wanted to eat. It just looks like so much meat loss.

Depends on the hunter. Silly red herring for 77 TMK from my perspective. Lung/heart shot isn't going to ruin too much meat for my taste. Have to kill AND find the animal to get any meat at all. Even losing a front shoulder is well worth it to me if it means reliable kills with no or short tracking required. And any real meat damage is unlikely if you just shoot somewhere in the 8-10 inch area around the crease.
 
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Reburn

Mayhem Contributor
Joined
Feb 10, 2019
Messages
3,407
Location
Central Texas
Is the argument of not wanting to lose that much meat due to the carnage these bullets create not a valid point?

I'd like a 223 for a cheap trainer, but I likely wouldn't use it on an animal I wanted to eat. It just looks like so much meat loss.

I know this will make a bunch of people clutch their pearls, but, Sometimes when we are killing whitetail does for mangament hunts we dont even plan on taking the shoulders. There just simply isnt enough meat there to mess with when your killing by the truckload. So in the shoulders is where we shoot them.
 

mt100gr.

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Jan 29, 2014
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2,996
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NW MT
I know this will make a bunch of people clutch their pearls, but, Sometimes when we are killing whitetail does for mangament hunts we dont even plan on taking the shoulders. There just simply isnt enough meat there to mess with when your killing by the truckload. So in the shoulders is where we shoot them.
Efficiency wins. Both in killing and processing.
 

ElPollo

WKR
Joined
Aug 31, 2018
Messages
1,601
I know this will make a bunch of people clutch their pearls, but, Sometimes when we are killing whitetail does for mangament hunts we dont even plan on taking the shoulders. There just simply isnt enough meat there to mess with when your killing by the truckload. So in the shoulders is where we shoot them.
As a public land hunter in the SW, it’s so hard to draw tags that I get very selective about the shots I take and I leave so little meat behind on carcasses that coyotes would starve. But I still like bullets that kill quickly and gave up on monos years ago.
 
Joined
Mar 16, 2021
Messages
3,570
Location
Western Iowa
Nitrided barrels rarely shoot great, it’s why you never see them on precision rifles. It needs to be done when the barrel is new and by doing that your surface hardening any burrs in the chamber and imperfections in the bore and significantly increasing the break in time. It’s a great choice for an action, terrible for barrel accuracy.

If you want accuracy and corrosion resistance SS barrels with cerakote is the way.
Granted, muzzleloader vs. centerfire, but my CVA Accura would beg to differ. 1-1.5" at 100 yards. Fully nitrided.
 
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