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

[RockChukkar]

I’d like to try the tmk’s at some point, but I’m sitting on thousands of rounds of imi and cbc 77gr smk’s. I’ve been pretty much exclusively white tail hunting with an ar15 of some flavor for the last 15 years (mk12, mk18, block ii). Furthest shot was 416yds on a white tail with a mk12. Shot her in the neck and she was DRT. Silver dollar size exit. I’ve had nothing but great results with the smk’s. I will say the fast 22’s like the 22-250 or swift are ‘better’ killers IME Hydrostatic shock is a thing, like a lightning bolt. That being said I’ve never lost a deer with any 5.56/.22 cal rifle (knock on wood).

I did buy 500rds of PSA’s 77gr in house bullet load to try out. I’ll start with a coyote to see how they perform. If they work well I’ll buy more to keep out of the double sealed 262 stash.

 

[KHNC]

I’d like to try the tmk’s at some point, but I’m sitting on thousands of rounds of imi and cbc 77gr smk’s. I’ve been pretty much exclusively white tail hunting with an ar15 of some flavor for the last 15 years (mk12, mk18, block ii). Furthest shot was 416yds on a white tail with a mk12. Shot her in the neck and she was DRT. Silver dollar size exit. I’ve had nothing but great results with the smk’s. I will say the fast 22’s like the 22-250 or swift are ‘better’ killers IME Hydrostatic shock is a thing, like a lightning bolt. That being said I’ve never lost a deer with any 5.56/.22 cal rifle (knock on wood).

I did buy 500rds of PSA’s 77gr in house bullet load to try out. I’ll start with a coyote to see how they perform. If they work well I’ll buy more to keep out of the double sealed 262 stash.

I wondered about the SMK's too. People are always posting not to use SMK's for hunting. Ive killed 8-10 deer with my 308 with 168gr SMK's . Plenty of damage, entry and exit. Im sure the 308 will drop them fine with any bullet , but the damage was significant with the SMK. They are much cheaper and more available than TMK's as well. I have a box of 50 TMK's , but after they are gone , i will probably try SMK's. I wont be shooting elk or bears with them anyway. Deer should be no problem.

 

[RockChukkar]

I wondered about the SMK's too. People are always posting not to use SMK's for hunting. Ive killed 8-10 deer with my 308 with 168gr SMK's . Plenty of damage, entry and exit. Im sure the 308 will drop them fine with any bullet , but the damage was significant with the SMK. They are much cheaper and more available than TMK's as well. I have a box of 50 TMK's , but after they are gone , i will probably try SMK's. I wont be shooting elk or bears with them anyway. Deer should be no problem.

Having not tried them and purely judging by ballistic testing I’ve seen and internet hype.. I would say the tmk’s are ‘better’ than smk.. but the smk’s have never let me down in the 15yrs I’ve used them and I’ve been nothing but pleased with their performance. Killed my second largest buck with the 77gr smk.

 

[Lawnboi]

Back in action

 

[BLJ]

Having not tried them and purely judging by ballistic testing I’ve seen and internet hype.. I would say the tmk’s are ‘better’ than smk.. but the smk’s have never let me down in the 15yrs I’ve used them and I’ve been nothing but pleased with their performance. Killed my second largest buck with the 77gr smk.

Any info on the 69 SMK for deer?

 

[robtattoo]

The little Ruger got to eat this afternoon.
77TMK at 2677fps impact velocity.
41yd, absolute head on shot, center chest. He backflipped on the spot & didn't move another inch.

No autopsy pics, I'm afraid, but both lungs were goo. Heart was perfectly intact, although the major vessels & arteries leading to it were essentially gone. It pretty much just rolled out.
No bullet recovered yet, but it wasn't in the gutpile.

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

The little Ruger got to eat this afternoon.
77TMK at 2677fps impact velocity.
41yd, absolute head on shot, center chest. He backflipped on the spot & didn't mice another inch.

No autopsy pics, I'm afraid, but both lungs were goo. Heart was perfectly intact, although the major vessels & arteries leading to it were essentially gone. It pretty much just rolled out.
No bullet recovered yet, but it wasn't in the gutpile.

View attachment 639096
View attachment 639098

Damn nice buck, and that hunting rig is awesome.

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

Any info on the 69 SMK for deer?

 

[robtattoo]

Damn nice buck, and that hunting rig is awesome.

Thanks!

 

[RockChukkar]

Any info on the 69 SMK for deer?

I don’t have any experience with them.

 

[Thegman]

The little Ruger got to eat this afternoon.
77TMK at 2677fps impact velocity.
41yd, absolute head on shot, center chest. He backflipped on the spot & didn't move another inch.

No autopsy pics, I'm afraid, but both lungs were goo. Heart was perfectly intact, although the major vessels & arteries leading to it were essentially gone. It pretty much just rolled out.
No bullet recovered yet, but it wasn't in the gutpile.

View attachment 639096
View attachment 639098

Is that a TW? Nice set up.

 

[robtattoo]

Is that a TW? Nice set up.

Yessir, although somewhat modified. Thank you!

 

[Jay Ell Gee]

Yessir, although somewhat modified. Thank you!

That setup is pretty rad! Just needs a few cans of Krylon to cover the white!

 

[grfox92]

I know this info is probably in the thread somewhere.....

But, I have an M&P AR15. Best I can tell from specs on the website is has a 1 in 9 twist rate. What is the heaviest bullet I can stabilize? Would 73gr ELDM work?

Sent from my SM-G990U2 using Tapatalk

 

[PsRpOiGrRiAtM]

I know this info is probably in the thread somewhere.....

But, I have an M&P AR15. Best I can tell from specs on the website is has a 1 in 9 twist rate. What is the heaviest bullet I can stabilize? Would 73gr ELDM work?

Sent from my SM-G990U2 using Tapatalk

Most recent M&Ps have 1:8s, so you might be in luck. Which model is it?

 

[BAC]

For anyone who might care... OG Pmags fit and cycle the factory loaded BHA 77gr TMK just fine. Not sure why I needed to check that either.

 

[BAC]

I wondered about the SMK's too. People are always posting not to use SMK's for hunting. Ive killed 8-10 deer with my 308 with 168gr SMK's . Plenty of damage, entry and exit. Im sure the 308 will drop them fine with any bullet , but the damage was significant with the SMK. They are much cheaper and more available than TMK's as well. I have a box of 50 TMK's , but after they are gone , i will probably try SMK's. I wont be shooting elk or bears with them anyway. Deer should be no problem.

Remember, the topic and context of the thread is on the .223 (and .223-adjacent) rounds. SMK in .308/168gr is not really the same as SMK in .223/77gr; the people who have advised against SMKs for hunting in this thread have pretty specifically mentioned the .223 varieties.

 

[grfox92]

Most recent M&Ps have 1:8s, so you might be in luck. Which model is it?

All it says on the gun is Model M&P 15

Based on pictures on the website, it looks like the optics ready model. It was purchased new in 2020.

Sent from my SM-G990U2 using Tapatalk

 

[PsRpOiGrRiAtM]

All it says on the gun is Model M&P 15

Based on pictures on the website, it looks like the optics ready model. It was purchased new in 2020.

Sent from my SM-G990U2 using Tapatalk

I see it now--looks like it is a 1:9, which is news to me. That being said, 1:9 could stabilize some bullets up to 75gr (like the Hornady 73gr ELD-M and 75gr BTHP) so it's worth giving at least the 73gr a try, but if not, the 69gr TMK has also been showing good results in this thread for those hampered by twist rates.

 

[Lawnboi]

LRI/proof not disappointing so far, you know it’s going to be a shooter when it shoots like this for the first 10 shots.

The Magnus sounds real nice on there too.