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

[Luvda208]

The toughness of Nilgai is largely related to the fact that their vitals are further forward under the shoulder like a lot of other old world game species. Americans tend to shoot them in the crease or behind, missing most of the vitals. You hear the exact same thing with oryx needing a 300 WM. But even a 300 WM doesn’t help with bad shot placement. I would be confident that a 223 with TMKs would kill a nilgai handily if you hit them in the right place. Although I also agree with @wind gypsy that the likelihood of a guide letting them use a 223 on a bull nilgai or even a cow is low.

Add in the fact a lot of them are shot from a vehicle at poor angles as it runs away. Definitely contributes to the reputation of being hard to put down. I have seen .270 with 140 Bergers work just fine.

 

[Luvda208]

Where are you measuring to see a 2-3 shield? I have culled thousands and more than a couple over 300lb and not seen that. I think the thickest I have ever seen was a solid inch and it stands out in my memory as distinctly larger than normal. It was punched with a .45lc and a hardcast flat point so penetration was not an issue at all.

 

[sveltri]

I'm using a Tikka t3x stainless Walnut and a 1 in 8 twist.
From this thread I think the 75 gr eldm it's perfectly acceptable to me.
I'll be modifying the tikka magazine as I am Dutch and therefore cheap
But that means I won't be restricted with mag-length

Make sure you have enough freebore to run the 75 eldm, it has a longer book COAL than the rest of the Hornady bullets in that class.

 

[Ozarkansas]

Where are you measuring to see a 2-3 shield? I have culled thousands and more than a couple over 300lb and not seen that. I think the thickest I have ever seen was a solid inch and it stands out in my memory as distinctly larger than normal. It was punched with a .45lc and a hardcast flat point so penetration was not an issue at all.

I’ve seen pigs that had 2” or more of shield+subcutaneous fat+ skin. But that’s a lot different than the shield alone being 2-3”

 

[280Ackley]

 

[awildswanger]

I’m sure it’s on here somewhere, but do these fit in factory Tikka mag?
Terminal performance?

 

[atmat]

I’m sure it’s on here somewhere, but do these fit in factory Tikka mag?
Terminal performance?View attachment 757576

Yes they do. They shoot really well in my Tikka. Thus far only taken deer with them and they did great.

Taking on out of state elk and bear hunts this year.

 

[The Guide]

I’m sure it’s on here somewhere, but do these fit in factory Tikka mag?
Terminal performance?View attachment 757576

I've run about 200 of them through a 16" Ruger American Ranch and my daughter has taken 2 whitetail does between 250 and 300 yards with the ammo. Feeds in factory mags and kills well.

Jay

 

[wind gypsy]

Make sure you have enough freebore to run the 75 eldm, it has a longer book COAL than the rest of the Hornady bullets in that class.

They are longer because they have longer nose and boat tail but less bearing surface. That means they can actually be seated with the bearing surface in front of the shoulder junction and not be jammed in the lands with less freebore than a 77 TMK or 73 ELDm. Pic of 77 TMK, 73 ELDm, 75 ELDm for reference

 

[sveltri]

They are longer because they have longer nose and boat tail but less bearing surface. That means they can actually be seated with the bearing surface in front of the shoulder junction and not be jammed in the lands with less freebore than a 77 TMK or 73 ELDm. Pic of 77 TMK, 73 ELDm, 75 ELDm for reference

View attachment 757711

Interesting, thanks for the example.

 

[Shotgunman28]

22 creeds about to get an upgrade

 

[sierracharlie338]

22 creeds about to get an upgrade

I got one of dem in the mail today too.

 

[Shotgunman28]

I got one of dem in the mail today too.

Must of ordered the same day off the post about Brownells haha

 

[sierracharlie338]

Must of ordered the same day off the post about Brownells haha

Nope a 7-8 month backorder from creedmoor sports that I wasn’t aware I was making

If you got that sale price you got a smoking deal

 

[Old-Cat]

As far as 223 goes, are y’all chambering in Wylde or straight 223 when rebarreling?

 

[atmat]

As far as 223 goes, are y’all chambering in Wylde or straight 223 when rebarreling?

Straight ftw

 

[Shotgunman28]

Nope a 7-8 month backorder from creedmoor sports that I wasn’t aware I was making

If you got that sale price you got a smoking deal

Haha exactly. Was talking to some fellas at the range who had a bunch of AR, telling them about this thread haha

 

[Dave Thomas]

Is anyone using n540 in 223 with the 77 tmk?

 

[sveltri]

Is anyone using n540 in 223 with the 77 tmk?

I tried it. It was very fast but lacked accuracy.

 

[Marbles]

77 TMK at about 2700 fps on a largeish (400 pound) hog that refused to cooperate after I put his pen mate down with a 22 lr. Shot hit behind the right eye socket, punched through the cranial vault and out the other side, the bullet was found between the offside skull and fat while cutting off the jowl bacon. I was going to halve the head with a sawzall, but as the skull crunched, decided to dissect down.

The skull was literally fractured in half.

For reference, a 410 just punches a caliber sized whole through the skull. Unfortunately I can say from experience that a 410 that misses the cranial valt will not stun a pig, a 77 TMK that misses will still stun it with performance very similar to a correctly placed 22 lr.

Reference of a smaller pig stunned with a 22 lr, you can actually see the remains of the 22 bullet between the skull and brain, it lacked the force to puncture the membranes around the brain after going through the skull, which is why a 22 only stuns them.



Finger is on the entry, knife tip on the exit, the jowls have already been removed, so an inch of tissue is missing on the exit side.

The bullet remains , it did not completely come apart and the lead remained in the base. There was also a slurry of lead flakes in the area the bullet stopped.



Those are chunks of solid bone that were fractured and I could flip up with my fingers.


The tip of the knife is touching the first bit of solid bone towards the nose and my finger is inline with the first bit of solid bone towards the back. I could rock the front and back independently and feel the bottom of the cranial vault was shattered similarly to the top with my fingers.


This skull had fractures through areas more than 1 inch thick, this is solid bone, not hollow bones with marrow like the legs/ribs/pelvis.

I am beyond impressed. The bullet itself passed through 1.5 inches of bone.

**Edited for spelling and clarity.