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

[ztc92]

After far too much analysis, the koolaid has been drank!

I went with the tikka lite with a 22” barrel (will thread and cut depending on my velocity). Ordered up some sport match 30mm rings (sorry UM!) from Airgun AZ and hopefully they’re not shipping from the UK lol. Also got a mountian tactical trigger spring and tikka vertical grip. Will also get a longer mag so I can load the COAL further out

I will be loading 77 TMKs or 75 ELDMs for this rifle when it comes to hunting and practice but for the first 100 or so shots through the gun for speed up and to build up my brass storeage, should I go with AAC 556, ADI 223 or Hornady frontier 223? Also wonder about starline brass?

Thanks for the info!

Of those practice ammo options, I’d personally go ADI if the price is similar since their brass does not have crimped primers and you hope to reload.

 

[WIDrake]

I wonder if there are any other threads in this site with 420 pages.... Can't wait to try out 77, 75, and 73gr on critters! Season can't get here fast enough

 

[Rolltide]

I've enjoyed getting back into shooting .223s thanks to this thread. I am curious though, what kind of accuracy do you see out of the RSS shooting 77 TMKs?

I can't decide if I'm asking way too much out of my rifles or if maybe I need to take everything apart and put them back together again.

For the rifles that shoot them well, my Gen 2 Ruger American Ranch will occasionally print a 5-shot group at 100 yards under 1", but never better than 3/4".

That will kill well enough, but where I hunt, Virginia, the smallest we can go is .243...

Am I expecting too much or should I take everything apart and start over?

 

[TimberHunter]

Of those practice ammo options, I’d personally go ADI if the price is similar since their brass does not have crimped primers and you hope to reload.

Good point on the crimps..

Is there other practice ammo you’d recommend?

 

[Bluumoon]

I've enjoyed getting back into shooting .223s thanks to this thread. I am curious though, what kind of accuracy do you see out of the RSS shooting 77 TMKs?

I can't decide if I'm asking way too much out of my rifles or if maybe I need to take everything apart and put them back together again.

For the rifles that shoot them well, my Gen 2 Ruger American Ranch will occasionally print a 5-shot group at 100 yards under 1", but never better than 3/4".

That will kill well enough, but where I hunt, Virginia, the smallest we can go is .243...

Am I expecting too much or should I take everything apart and start over?

I’m pretty happy w 1” to 1.2” ten shot groups. Others can answer what is actually statically relevant at different ranges, but I believe at 1.2” you are good a long way out.

 

[SouthPaw]

I've put nearly 1000 80g ELDMs through my 223 Tikka, they shoot fantastic.

 

[ShootOkHuntWorse]

I've put nearly 1000 80g ELDMs through my 223 Tikka, they shoot fantastic.

Mind sharing the load?

 

[The Guide]

Good point on the crimps..

Is there other practice ammo you’d recommend?

You can practice and kill with the 73 ELDM and gather Hornady brass but your @~$1.20 to $1.30 per shot. AAC Sabre Blade Black Tips are about $0.60 each and you still get uncrimped brass but of unknown quality.

Jay

 

[Marbles]

Starline 5.56 brass is decent and 30 cents new. 10 cents for a primer, 22 cents for a Hornady 75 gr BTHP, and 20ish cents for a case full of powder, so $0.82 per first shot, plus time, to start with new brass for practice ammo. You can find cheaper, but I would only get it if the brass is something you actually want.

Berger uses Lapua brass, so that is the way to get Lapua brass in 223 right now. At $1.50ish per shot, it is a touch expensive for me.

 

[Stocky]

Starline 5.56 brass is decent and 30 cents new. 10 cents for a primer, 22 cents for a Hornady 75 gr BTHP, and 20ish cents for a case full of powder, so $0.82 per first shot, plus time, to start with new brass for practice ammo. You can find cheaper, but I would only get it if the brass is something you actually want.

Berger uses Lapua brass, so that is the way to get Lapua brass in 223 right now. At $1.50ish per shot, it is a touch expensive for me.

For like $0.05 is there a reason you dont just shoot the 73 or 75 elds and have the option to just use them hunting?

 

[Steve300xcw]

You can practice and kill with the 73 ELDM and gather Hornady brass but your @~$1.20 to $1.30 per shot.

Prices are coming down a lil.

I have noticed that a few sites will bump up the cost per round if you order the larger lots. Cheaper to order 10 20 round boxes than it is to order 200..

Look at fastammo's listing..

 

[xsn10s]

If you took them to 800 without issue for all intensive purposes they are probably fine. I'm just spit balling here but let's just say 1:7 would stabilize them further. Prob not a issue at the distance most people shoot.....Of course I'm just guessing

According to Berger's Barrel Twist calculator they a "marginally stabilized". So yes a faster twist would be most likely better. At my altitude they seem fine under current conditions. If it gets colder or I go to lower elevation then who knows.

 

[TimberHunter]

You can practice and kill with the 73 ELDM and gather Hornady brass but your @~$1.20 to $1.30 per shot. AAC Sabre Blade Black Tips are about $0.60 each and you still get uncrimped brass but of unknown quality.

Jay

The Sabre blade black tips are 556 correct? Do we know much about the bullet?


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[sierracharlie338]

The Sabre blade black tips are 556 correct? Do we know much about the bullet?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It is believed that they are Vmax. When they ship it says vmax on the receipt. The vmax it still a decent hunting bullet it just wont penetrate as deep as the eldms i believe.

 

[Marbles]

For like $0.05 is there a reason you dont just shoot the 73 or 75 elds and have the option to just use them hunting?

Because I have about 700 of the 77 gr TMKs on hand and load them for hunting. So prefer the cheaper bullet for practice.

 

[fwafwow]

For those that don't reload - as I see the Black Hills 77 TMKs becoming scarce as hen's teeth (the most recent availability was Creedmoor Sports for $1.50 per, before taxes or shipping), I'm wondering why I don't just load up on Hornady 73 ELDs and save quite a bit (at around $1.10).

 

[Lawnboi]

After far too much analysis, the koolaid has been drank!

I went with the tikka lite with a 22” barrel (will thread and cut depending on my velocity). Ordered up some sport match 30mm rings (sorry UM!) from Airgun AZ and hopefully they’re not shipping from the UK lol. Also got a mountian tactical trigger spring and tikka vertical grip. Will also get a longer mag so I can load the COAL further out

I will be loading 77 TMKs or 75 ELDMs for this rifle when it comes to hunting and practice but for the first 100 or so shots through the gun for speed up and to build up my brass storeage, should I go with AAC 556, ADI 223 or Hornady frontier 223? Also wonder about starline brass?

Thanks for the info!

I have both. Both okay brass.

I’d do adi in your case just because I like to check function with factory ammo before I go nuts. I’m at 5 times fired on my adi and it’s worked well. The 55bk adi ammo also blows about any other factory ammo away.

You may or may not have to size the Starline.

75 eldm will not fit in the mag. You will need aftermarket for it.

73 eldm or 75 bthp will work fine, along with the 77smk.

 

[Lawnboi]

You can practice and kill with the 73 ELDM and gather Hornady brass but your @~$1.20 to $1.30 per shot. AAC Sabre Blade Black Tips are about $0.60 each and you still get uncrimped brass but of unknown quality.

Jay

Not crimped? Everything Hornady 223 I have ever shot has had a crimp.

 

[Lawnboi]

For those that don't reload - as I see the Black Hills 77 TMKs becoming scarce as hen's teeth (the most recent availability was Creedmoor Sports for $1.50 per, before taxes or shipping), I'm wondering why I don't just load up on Hornady 73 ELDs and save quite a bit (at around $1.10).

Did you get xbr when it was around.

The 73 with xbr or Benchmark, will be stupid easy to load a heck of a lot cheaper than you can buy factory ammo.

 

[Lawnboi]

According to Berger's Barrel Twist calculator they a "marginally stabilized". So yes a faster twist would be most likely better. At my altitude they seem fine under current conditions. If it gets colder or I go to lower elevation then who knows.

Run it on Hornady too, they do some different stuff with determining the gyro of their tipped bullets.

I’m pushing it on 75eldm at my home range when it gets cold (~1.3 gyro) and havnt had issues. Not sure I’d push it anymore though.