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

[huntnful]

I think it depends on the game. Most of us who want reliable blood trails are hunting whitetail in the east. In my experience it’s pretty easy to get all 3 on a whitetail, especially at typical Eastern Whitetail ranges.

I think it’s a lot harder to ensure on something like an elk, especially out west where ranges vary a lot more

I don’t have any experience with whitetails, but the bucks look pretty good sized. It’s mostly just a product of the bullets that cause the biggest wound channels, don’t reliably exit. Not just on elk, but deer too. I’ve seen 195 EOL, 180 VLD, 230 Hybrid and 225 ELDM all hit deer near or under 100 yards and not exit. The wounds were insane though.

I haven’t killed anything with the McGuire copper bullets, but from what I’ve seen from friends terminal reports, their nose fragments pretty good (like 20+ pieces of shrapnel) at high impact velocities and the shank provides exits more often than not. For closer range bucks that guarantee high impact velocities, that could possibly be a good combination??

 

[N2TRKYS]

I find they drop quicker with fragmenting bullet. So less need to track

Unfortunately, that hasn’t been my experience.

 

[N2TRKYS]

In their defense my shots were fairly close range normally and 150g accubonds. Never had any rodeos with them but no consistent exits either.

My best blood trail ever came from a 150 accubond out of a 308 even in the rain you could see almost end to end the whole 70yds it traveled. The pic isn’t great but it was impressive to see in person.

Most of my shots will be inside of 100 yards.

 

[Choupique]

don’t have any experience with whitetails, but the bucks look pretty good sized.

200 pounds is a monster buck where i hunt. My average doe kill is probably 80 pounds and the average buck probably 150. They get big, but not where I hunt.

Going sight in my AR with the 73gr eldms this evening, and got a feeder set up at 50 yards, since I have a red dot on it for this year. I'm not expecting an exit hole, but I'm huntjng where the tracking will be easiest if I don't get one.

 

[huntnful]

200 pounds is a monster buck where i hunt. My average doe kill is probably 80 pounds and the average buck probably 150. They get big, but not where I hunt.

Going sight in my AR with the 73gr eldms this evening, and got a feeder set up at 50 yards, since I have a red dot on it for this year. I'm not expecting an exit hole, but I'm huntjng where the tracking will be easiest if I don't get one.

Appreciate the info. Yeah I thought they were bigger than that honestly. Must be those Saskatchewan whitetails I’m always seeing on the internet haha. They look like tanks

 

[Gettincloser]

I wonder how the 88s would do at 223 velocities. Might be slow enough and have enough bullet remaining to get out the other side.

This is what interests me about the 22 ARC. Using a 20" barrel and 88eldm rounds you would be in about the same range as a 223 for velocity but pushing 88gr vs 77gr.

I have 1 example of the 77gr TMK and am sold on it. With everyone else's experience, it gives me confidence. The only reason for interest in the 22 ARC and 88gr is to fight the wind. You can find the 22 ARC 88gr eldm on sale for $24/box of 20. This puts it at about the same cost per round as the Black Hills 77gr TMK. (About $1.25/round) The down side is that in 223, you can use the AAC 77gr TMK for practice at $0.80/ round and there is not a cheaper practice round for the 22 ARC to my knowledge in the 88gr option... as of today.

For convenience, practice and performance, the Tikka 223 and 77gr TMK is still the all around winner!

 

[MEwaters]

AAC TMK has been .90 cpr for a while and is OOS as well. I wonder if it will be like this for a while like the BH

 

[Gettincloser]

AAC TMK has been .90 cpr for a while and is OOS as well. I wonder if it will be like this for a while like the BH

I like my pricing better than yours. We need to let the guys at Palmetto know they need to bring the supply back and drop that price!

 

[omicron1792]

Anyone tried the stand 1 77TMK recently. Sounds like people were getting 100fps faster than black hills a couple of years ago. It is in stock right now.

 

[Ajsomp]

Anyone tried the stand 1 77TMK recently. Sounds like people were getting 100fps faster than black hills a couple of years ago. It is in stock right now.

 

[Timplant]

Anyone tried the stand 1 77TMK recently. Sounds like people were getting 100fps faster than black hills a couple of years ago. It is in stock right now.

I've got 250rds of it, shoots good, Kills better. Don't have FPS sorry

 

[omicron1792]

View attachment 786345

What’s that all about?

 

[Ajsomp]

They just recently bumped the price up a lil bit. Was in stock just the other day

Price was about .20cpr cheaper when I bought it.

 

[zdc1775]

The AAC TMK's I recently ordered were .86 a round and ended up being 1.01 a round after tax and shipping. Still not a bad deal considering the black hills load is more like 1.50 a round but considering they grouped almost twice the size of the black hills TMK and mk262 loads at 100 yards out of both of the guns I was using this weekend I doubt I'll buy anymore and will just stick with my mk262 clone handloads for practice ammo.

 

[SloppyJ]

This is what interests me about the 22 ARC. Using a 20" barrel and 88eldm rounds you would be in about the same range as a 223 for velocity but pushing 88gr vs 77gr.

I have 1 example of the 77gr TMK and am sold on it. With everyone else's experience, it gives me confidence. The only reason for interest in the 22 ARC and 88gr is to fight the wind. You can find the 22 ARC 88gr eldm on sale for $24/box of 20. This puts it at about the same cost per round as the Black Hills 77gr TMK. (About $1.25/round) The down side is that in 223, you can use the AAC 77gr TMK for practice at $0.80/ round and there is not a cheaper practice round for the 22 ARC to my knowledge in the 88gr option... as of today.

For convenience, practice and performance, the Tikka 223 and 77gr TMK is still the all around winner!

If some is good, more is better. Why not go 22 creed? Your barrel life is such that practicing with your hunting rounds is feasible IMO. The only arc that interests me is the 6 but in all honesty, only in a gas gun.

 

[Gettincloser]

If some is good, more is better. Why not go 22 creed? Your barrel life is such that practicing with your hunting rounds is feasible IMO. The only arc that interests me is the 6 but in all honesty, only in a gas gun.

The 22 creedmore is specified with a 1:8 twist and can stabilize the 80gr but not the 88gr bullets.

The BC on the 22 cal 88gr ELD-M is better than the BC on the 6mm 108gr ELD-M.

The 22 ARC is "loaded down" for Gass guns but you can get another 150 fps if handloading. (For the record, I do not hand load, but I would like to in the future.)

The 22 Creedmoor will have a lesser barrel life than the 22 ARC and currently the ammo is only being sold through Horizon Firearms as they have exclusive rights at the moment and availability is hit/miss. The 22 ARC has been available at every local shop I have walked in lately.

The 22 creedmore ammo is running $2 per round. I can find (with very little searching) 22 ARC at $1.35 to $1.50 per round between the local shops or online with shipping.

I have no interest in a gas gun as I would want to save the brass and I have yet to find a good brass catcher that is effective, quiet and simple. With that being said, if I decided I was wrong and went that direction, I would rather an AR15 platform over the heavier AR10 platform.

There is my thesis and justification why I need to build a 22 ARC! If only the budget would understand and loosen the purse strings! This is the plan over the next few months anyhow.

 

[waspocrew]

The 22 creedmore is specified with a 1:8 twist and can stabilize the 80gr but not the 88gr bullets.

The BC on the 22 cal 88gr ELD-M is better than the BC on the 6mm 108gr ELD-M.

The 22 ARC is "loaded down" for Gass guns but you can get another 150 fps if handloading. (For the record, I do not hand load, but I would like to in the future.)

The 22 Creedmoor will have a lesser barrel life than the 22 ARC and currently the ammo is only being sold through Horizon Firearms as they have exclusive rights at the moment and availability is hit/miss. The 22 ARC has been available at every local shop I have walked in lately.

The 22 creedmore ammo is running $2 per round. I can find (with very little searching) 22 ARC at $1.35 to $1.50 per round between the local shops or online with shipping.

I have no interest in a gas gun as I would want to save the brass and I have yet to find a good brass catcher that is effective, quiet and simple. With that being said, if I decided I was wrong and went that direction, I would rather an AR15 platform over the heavier AR10 platform.

There is my thesis and justification why I need to build a 22 ARC! If only the budget would understand and loosen the purse strings! This is the plan over the next few months anyhow.

For the record, 22 CM will stabilize an 88 ELDM just fine with a 1:8 twist…

 

[Gettincloser]

For the record, 22 CM will stabilize an 88 ELDam just fine with a 1:8 twist…

I was under the impression that it would not at sea level in the cold. (I live at 220 feet... sea level.)

 

[Schmo]

Received my Gen 2 MT 223 Tikka mag today. Cycled 10 full mags through flawlessly loaded at 2.550” COAL.

 

[BradArnett]

I was under the impression that it would not at sea level in the cold. (I live at 220 feet... sea level.)

I'm at 900'asl and my 1-8"tw 22-250ai has no issues with the 88eld in the winter here.