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

Won’t help this year but I ordered the 79s to try in my 22cm next year, would be nice to throw back into the California rotation.


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Yeah, my thoughts exactly, would like to find something suitable if we go non lead here, which I assume will be sooner than later… we like to copy Cali, but we wait a few years so they can act like it’s their idea so we get more virtue signaling points.

On a better note, got off the ocean today, cleaned up the boat, started driving home and checked my phone before I was out of town to make sure I didn’t miss any calls… and I did, and it was the number I was hoping to see… turned around and went and picked up my tikka!

Ordered a case of 73 eldm for plinking while I was in there. Now I have to wait painfully until Wednesday to shoot because it’s rifle elk starting tomorrow, and I’m not going to be that guy shooting a bunch during their short hunting season… I know I hate it when people do it during archery season around where I’m hunting, so I’ll just wait.
 
Bear creek just dropped a line of 6 ARC uppers. Just FYI. Going to be tempting for sure.



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Please do yourself a favor and find a better rifle than BCA.
 
I’d love to see some data on what these non-lead DRT 79 gr loads do on game. Anyone try them yet? They seem like they’d be a much better approach than most of the other non-lead options, and the BC is actually a little better than the 77 gr TMK. I saw a post in the 6.5 thread of someone who used the 135 gr .264 on a Roosevelt elk. The wound channel looked impressive. Would be interested to hear about lower end upset velocities.

The 79g DRT is a slick little bullet. I had them loaded up in the .223 for deer season here in CA, but ended up punching my deer tag during the early archery season while scouting for that elk hunt (where I used the 6.5 135g DRT). They have a good BC and have been very accurate in the .223 to 700ish yards I've played with them. They have to be loaded deep in the case for Tikka, but a crunchy load of Varget or max load of 8208xbr both made ~2800fps in my 20" 223. I will have them loaded up in the 22 creedmoor for CA going forward.

79g DRT / 77tmk / 88eldm

79g drt.jpg
 
End user installing them is a little odd yeah. Hard to imagine it will have the same repeatability as being seated by a machine. I'll have to look for some tests or uses showing wound tracts to compare. Do you have a preference in bullet weight for your rifle or do you kinda stick with what's shooting well?
I settled on 60 grain with the Hammers 'cos they gave me good velocity with a higher BC than the 52 grn. If I went up in weight I lost too much velocity on the longer shots and I wanted to ensure good petal upset. But, hey, Im talking heresy here amongst the 77 TMK people :). Anyway I wouldn't dis the TMK 'cos I was a very early user and know their worth.
 
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Hi mate. Interesting to hear. Which 80 grain Berger specifically?
They are made here in NZ. He is using Berger jackets and his own core mix which is not the "usual" wire lead that most makers use. They are excellent but he cant export because of a constraint put on him by the before mentioned jacket maker.
 
After several days of hunting and a couple of missed opportunities I walked into this guy standing head on to me. 86 yards. Rokslide special, .223 77gn TMK from Black Hills Ammo. Placed the bullet just below his chin. Absolutely destroyed his neck. The damage biased right side.
I saw the hit, watched him fold up. He turned off instantly. I checked his neck for an exit in the field and there was nothing. Just the tiny entry hole. The bullet probably hit the spine and traveled down his neck a bit. Got him home and processed so took a couple pics of the damage while working.

You can see the small hole where he lays. High on the neck. Right where I wanted it. There was a little damage to the front of the back strap where i like to cut on that side.
 

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I’ll add a few 77 TMK kills. Not 223 however, 22 creedmoor.

Deer 1 : 180 yard shot. 2790 impact velocity. Deer dropped instantly. Shot was high and needed a finishing shot, well might not have but we got over to it within 2 min.

Did lose some meat from high hit and devastating damage.

Angle for this shot entered high, spine, and exited top of shoulder blade opposite side.

Entrance :
db579edfccb936cdb4310492a048c76f.jpg


Exit :
a5367094e6ab19e8e410cec13a97941c.jpg


Hole : literally

2b1f27d18d28e27e3837bc6a6074b7be.jpg



Deer 2 : 206 yard 2730 impact velocity

Downhill quartering to shot. Shot in shoulder no exit. Deer went maybe 60 yards. Down in maybe 30 seconds
People talk about loosing meat. Didn’t keep maybe 5 pounds tops from shoulder of unprocessed meat, maybe 3 lbs processed.

Entrance :

a90380e1a6d64fce994b8d511f8c3bec.jpg

1ce722ced01c9cdaa29da3a25338ec54.jpg


Internal :
37644947c521b3729dbda1c283bf2908.jpg


Deer 3 : 625 yard 1920 impact velocity

Quartering to again. Deer went in a small circle and went down within seconds. Bullet exited body and caught under opposite hide.

Entrance :
6c7b72caf399918d338fe69d25c12fb0.jpg

d278fb986213ffa4547aa6148379c490.jpg


Exit :
babea8f10a6e99f4d7b444f0ac21f8fa.jpg


Internal entrance :
c31caba0aa6c734f743bb5cfcb2b90d3.jpg


Internal Exit :
6ff6649b2a01a5cef84d1ab2e0875d09.jpg


aba8d570c1c3ac09e7b446ef2db2723e.jpg


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Tmk at 3k out of a 22 creed is too much! I’ll stick with the 223. The most destruction I have ever seen a bullet do. Below is the entrance, 100 yards, off the shoulder but still obliterated it, took out 3 ribs. Picture is with shoulder still attached and that is the entrance. Bullet remains found in offside hide, got full penetration.


IMG_0223.jpeg
 
Bummed to report my first loss with the 77s. Doe at 190 yards. Broadside. Shot was right behind shoulder in the crease. I saw the impact through scope. She bucked up on her back legs like a heart shot and ran into the thicket behind her. Searched for 2 hours and no blood. Did find the bullet jacket on the ground where she was standing. Jacket has hair in it. No blood to be found. Thoughts ?
670c8b8046230ee580df9ba211621263.jpg



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