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

Tmks are somehow making their way into Canada. I managed to pick up a thousand at a dealer. They'll be shared between myself and another member and his brother. Maybe it's the start of something good?
I'm on a few email lists up here but no luck yet, if they had more stock than you bought and are feeling generous pm me please
 
I don’t, there’s a significant increase in the size of the wound channels with the faster rounds, this is a specific discussion of the 223

Fair point to disagree on. I see them the same-- the wound channels are identical when impact velocity is the same, it's just a matter of the range at which it happens. Which is why I consider it a .223 thread, not a .223 Rem thread.
 
I am highly impressed! This tikka T3X Lite choped and threaded to 18" with the SWFA 3-15x42 is one slick setup. No recoil, the suppressor allows open ears and it is dead steady. Probably a 3mph breeze today on and off and at 100 yes it kept all shots just under 1 1/4"! I was using the Black Hills 77gr TMK. Much more consistent than the AAC but a bit more per shot.

I will take it out to 400yds and confirm everything ASAP but this will be my go to rifle for hogs and deer here in TX. Just need to wait until we butcher a steer and see if I can convince dad to let me take it with the 223. That way I can check vitals on something larger! That should be a good test for me!
Butcher here. That just ain't the standard.
 
Please, Please excuse my ignorance with my question. I have never ever hunted a bear, seen a bear, live near a bear in the wild any where withing 250+miles of me. So I know NOTHING, about hunting or killing a bear. Keep that in mind with my question. The only experience I have of even shooting at a "bear" was 40 years ago shooting 3D archery tournaments, I had a terrible, terrible time then of finding the "vitals" of a bear in a tournament. I thought then, and still do lol, so my question. Why cant ya just shoot a bear in the head? Not have to worry about missing the heart/lung area, not mess up any meat, just put one in the ear hole? Thanks in advance.
Yes you do.
 
I stretched it out to 400 yards and I was very happy. I did not have much time and I was learning how to use the shooter app that was sugged. I took 4 shots, drove the 4wheeler down and marked them and headed back for the next 4 rounds.

Set 1: top right of the box, 4 shots at 1 1/4" (I could not believe it.) The wind was strong but steady. I dialed down and left to make a correction.

Set 2: middle of the box and a smidgen still high. Shots 1, 3 and 4 landed in the 1.5". (I pulled the 2nd shot and called it.) Including the 2nd shot that hit low and left you are looking at 5.8". The wind was still strong and steady. I adjusted down .2 mil and got ready for the 3rd set.

Set 3: 5.5" grouping. I felt this was a strong representative as the wind started surging/gusting. There might be 2" of vertical travel in the 4 shots but it really messed with the horizontal dispersion.

This gave me the numbers I needed to "true" the velocity to better use the shooter app. I look forward to doing more shooting "at distance." (Where I hunt, 200 yards is a decent shot!) If you have any suggestions (other than shoot 10 rounds when I have more time / grouping), I would love to hear it. With an 18" barrel, 400 might be a touch past max effective distance. I was shooting the Black Hills 77gr TMK at 388' elevation (in TX, 1.5 hrs from the gulf - sea level) and it was about 73 degrees outside. Does this look about right to you? Or did I do something wrong.

Thanks for your help and advise. This is new to me but really enjoying this distance shooting with no reportable recoil!
 

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And you have horseshoes hidden somewhere on you as well... finding the elusive unicorn spike-fork moose... nice work!
You think thats lucky, the first one I shot with an 88 I was with a buddy and we doubled on forks. Last year I killed one in the same place, 300 yards away. This year the double header was exactly in between those two…
 

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