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

[H280]

@Formidilosus, would you hesitate to take elk with a 73 ELDM? I haven’t gotten my hands on any 77 TMK’s but this set up I’m running loves the 73 ELDM. I read earlier in the thread that it gets less penetration than the TMK. Was wondering what your thoughts are?

 

[Formidilosus]

@Formidilosus, would you hesitate to take elk with a 73 ELDM?

Nope. Shoot it in the front half.

 

[robtattoo]

Finally found an affordable Tikka replacement for my Ruger American. Now I just need to find a mag with a slightly longer internal length, or seat about 800 bullets a little deeper & hope like hell they're still accurate enough!

Damn this site's expensive.

 

[Tahr]

Finally found an affordable Tikka replacement for my Ruger American. Now I just need to find a mag with a slightly longer internal length, or seat about 800 bullets a little deeper & hope like hell they're still accurate enough!

Damn this site's expensive.

The 77 TMK and 73grn ELDM work very well at Tikka mag length of 2.3". Haven't tried the 75 ELDM. The 80 ELDM wasn't so good for me at 2.3".

 

[willfrye027]

Did a little math and realized I would “save” money shooting a .223 over my 25 and 22 creedmoor tikkas. Plus the more difficult wind call should make me a better shooter.

I should break even in less than a year, I explained to my wife.

Factory tikka .223 stainless, leverevolution (8lb jug on sale at Hogdon), CCI 400s, starline brass at $31/100, ABC 75gr BTHP.

.44 per round approximately.

Loaded up 20 or so at 25gr from the powder thower getting me 2820fps, seated at SAAMI length. I see no reason to experiment any further and will hopefully send a few thousand down range before deer season.

 

[atmat]

Did a little math and realized I would “save” money shooting a .223 over my 25 and 22 creedmoor tikkas. Plus the more difficult wind call should make me a better shooter.

I should break even in less than a year, I explained to my wife.

Factory tikka .223 stainless, leverevolution (8lb jug on sale at Hogdon), CCI 400s, starline brass at $31/100, ABC 75gr BTHP.

.44 per round approximately.

Loaded up 20 or so at 25gr from the powder thower getting me 2820fps, seated at SAAMI length. I see no reason to experiment any further and will hopefully send a few thousand down range before deer season.

View attachment 645175

Agreed — anmo and barrel life make buying a 223 the cheaper option for volume shooting vs most other cartridges.

 

[rabbithuntr]

Finally found an affordable Tikka replacement for my Ruger American. Now I just need to find a mag with a slightly longer internal length, or seat about 800 bullets a little deeper & hope like hell they're still accurate enough!

Damn this site's expensive.

I modified a 308 mag with jb weld to run 223 with 75 elds it looks like it should work but I’m still waiting for my rifle to get back to test it officially.


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[ARK_Ginger]

I modified a 308 mag with jb weld to run 223 with 75 elds it looks like it should work but I’m still waiting for my rifle to get back to test it officially.


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Would love to see a picture of that.

There is also a guy in Canada selling 3d printed mags that I've thought about giving a shot.

I'm currently running a CTR stock with my 223 running one CTR 223 mag and some MDT & Magpul AICS 223 mags. Honestly I thing the MDT mag runs better than the CTR one.

 

[robtattoo]

Would love to see a picture of that.

There is also a guy in Canada selling 3d printed mags that I've thought about giving a shot.

I'm currently running a CTR stock with my 223 running one CTR 223 mag and some MDT & Magpul AICS 223 mags. Honestly I thing the MDT mag runs better than the CTR one.

Me too.

I have an MDT mag in my Ruger .223 & it's absolutely flawless.

I haven't shopped around yet, since I don't have the rifle, but if I can convert the Tikka to scrip AICS mags, I'll probably do it

 

[Smenning]

It sounds like UM is designing Tikka Mags with an emphasis on max COAL. Hopefully there will be a .223 option as well. The good news is BH 77tmk’s fit factory length just fine!

 

[Juan_ID]

The 77 TMK and 73grn ELDM work very well at Tikka mag length of 2.3". Haven't tried the 75 ELDM. The 80 ELDM wasn't so good for me at 2.3".

The 75 eldm doesn’t like 2.3” oal based on my experience.

 

[Benchleg Hunter]

Going lead free hurts. I would still use smaller calibers if I reloaded, but only with Cutting Edge bullets. Otherwise the Barnes LRX’s do better than most monos. They have a 77gr .224, but I haven’t used it yet. The 127gr LRX in 6.5mm have done well however.

Hey Form, wondering if you would still recommend this for people forced to shoot non-lead or if anything else has come to market that’s improved.

 

[Formidilosus]

Hey Form, wondering if you would still recommend this for people forced to shoot non-lead or if anything else has come to market that’s improved.

No, I wouldn’t use those unless forced. DRT Technology makes a powdered tungsten cored bullet that behaves more like a Berger. The 79gr .224 and 135gr 6.5mm seem to do well.

 

[LaHunter]

Am I seeing that some guys are shooting the black hill 556 77 gr ammo in their Tikka 223 rifles? If so, any pressure issues? Always read that was a 'no no'.

 

[Juan_ID]

Am I seeing that some guys are shooting the black hill 556 77 gr ammo in their Tikka 223 rifles? If so, any pressure issues? Always read that was a 'no no'.

correct, let’r rip. It’s been a while since I’ve gone through the thread where I last left off but I don’t recall reading about any pressure issues with the blackhills ammo in the tikka 223. I’ve shot almost a box through mine without problem

 

[Smenning]

No pressure issues in mine.

 

[Anschutz]

Am I seeing that some guys are shooting the black hill 556 77 gr ammo in their Tikka 223 rifles? If so, any pressure issues? Always read that was a 'no no'.

Tikka's rifles are proofed to the CIP (Long French acronym for Permanent International Commission for the Proof of Small Arms). The CIP max pressure for the .223 Remington is 4300 bar, while the SAAMI max pressure is 3800 bar. The NATO standard for 5.56 is 4300 bar. The U.S. military follows SAAMI pressure guidelines. That's basically a long way of saying that a Tikka .223 barrel is proofed at 5.56 NATO pressures.

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[Tahr]

Re longer Tikka magazines. These are excellent (so long as you can bring them into the US).

WATERS RIFLEMAN PRECISION RIFLE MAGAZINES

WATERS RIFLEMAN Precision metal magazines for the competitive, sporting and hunter shooter. Tikka T3, Tikka T3x

www.watersrifleman.com

 

[robtattoo]

Re longer Tikka magazines. These are excellent (so long as you can bring them into the US).

WATERS RIFLEMAN PRECISION RIFLE MAGAZINES

WATERS RIFLEMAN Precision metal magazines for the competitive, sporting and hunter shooter. Tikka T3, Tikka T3x

www.watersrifleman.com

I wouldn't hesitate for a second, if they did a 3 or 4 round flush fit.
I guess I could survive with a 6 though.

 

[BLJ]

Zeroed the newest RAR with some ADI 69’s today. I think it’ll be okay.