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

[Truck24hr]

You won't be hunting at zero feet of elevation anywhere in Idaho. I'd fix those numbers first and look at the specs. Seems pretty slow at 100 for the 73s at first glance

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

While you're not wrong about the elevation, depending upon the barrel length that 100 yard velocity might be close. My 16" RAR shoots the Factory 73eldm ammo at 2534 mv and at 4000' the 100 yard velocity is 2320 fps. I haven't run that ammo in any other of my 223 rifles so I can't give speeds on longer barrels. Short barreled 223 rifles aren't the best for open country hunting but can get you close to 400 yards depending upon elevation.

Jay

Yeah, the MV of the factory ELDM was around 2630 out of my 20".

I loaded some 77 TMK's and am averaging 2855 IIRC.

My hunt will be 7k' ish. I ran that velo and elevation through the ballistic calculator,.

It ran the 77TMK over 1800fps to 660 yards IIRC

 

[HighUintas]

Here's some AAC speeds with my 16" stainless Tikka 223. Slower than I expected. I'm using a Caldwell Chrono. It generally seems to be pretty accurate and these were a lot slower than Hornady black 223 75bthp (close to 2700). I noticed the Chrono was set up with the target side slightly lower, but not a ton. That could contribute to lower recorded speed I think.

The 77s seemed to shoot up the case nearly down to the web.... That's not right. And the primers for both were very rounded with very deep primer indents. Almost like the 77 cartridges were undercharged with powder. I have shot other branded 5.56 77 otm (same bullet) that recorded 2634avg... Same day/setup as these AAC 77s

What do you guys think?



77s

 

[Snowhunter11]

I am putting together a 16” Tikka as we speak. Did you ever test 77 TMK AAC for avg MV?

 

[Yung6ix]

I wouldn't put money on it. The .223 is a decent round for what it is intended to do and it was never intended to shoot large game species. Get your Mini 14 and pick up a .44 Magnum pistol to carry as a side arm in the event of a bear attack. Better yet get something in .308. Then you can hunt most any game in the lower 48 including black bear.

 

[WI-Carcosa]

Here's some AAC speeds with my 16" stainless Tikka 223. Slower than I expected. I'm using a Caldwell Chrono. It generally seems to be pretty accurate and these were a lot slower than Hornady black 223 75bthp (close to 2700). I noticed the Chrono was set up with the target side slightly lower, but not a ton. That could contribute to lower recorded speed I think.

The 77s seemed to shoot up the case nearly down to the web.... That's not right. And the primers for both were very rounded with very deep primer indents. Almost like the 77 cartridges were undercharged with powder. I have shot other branded 5.56 77 otm (same bullet) that recorded 2634avg... Same day/setup as these AAC 77s

What do you guys think?

View attachment 836510View attachment 836511

77s
View attachment 836512View attachment 836513

This tracks with my AAC TMK experience on MV, 2650 out of a 16.5” tikka.

 

[Kaleb]

I wouldn't put money on it. The .223 is a decent round for what it is intended to do and it was never intended to shoot large game species. Get your Mini 14 and pick up a .44 Magnum pistol to carry as a side arm in the event of a bear attack. Better yet get something in .308. Then you can hunt most any game in the lower 48 including black bear.

Maybe someone will come along and share their results shooting large game. Have you seen poor results shooting large game species with the chambering and bullets being discussed?

 

[HighUintas]

I am putting together a 16” Tikka as we speak. Did you ever test 77 TMK AAC for avg MV?

I haven't.

 

[atmat]

I wouldn't put money on it. The .223 is a decent round for what it is intended to do and it was never intended to shoot large game species. Get your Mini 14 and pick up a .44 Magnum pistol to carry as a side arm in the event of a bear attack. Better yet get something in .308. Then you can hunt most any game in the lower 48 including black bear.

Did you read any portion of the thread before spewing this?

 

[gman82001]

Did you read any portion of the thread before spewing this?

Pretty sure he just cut and paste it from a couple pages ago it seems word for word of a post a couple weeks ago

 

[atmat]

Pretty sure he just cut and paste it from a couple pages ago it seems word for word of a post a couple weeks ago

Straight from the “need 10 posts for the classifieds” handbook

 

[DadWil]

Here's some AAC speeds with my 16" stainless Tikka 223. Slower than I expected. I'm using a Caldwell Chrono. It generally seems to be pretty accurate and these were a lot slower than Hornady black 223 75bthp (close to 2700). I noticed the Chrono was set up with the target side slightly lower, but not a ton. That could contribute to lower recorded speed I think.

The 77s seemed to shoot up the case nearly down to the web.... That's not right. And the primers for both were very rounded with very deep primer indents. Almost like the 77 cartridges were undercharged with powder. I have shot other branded 5.56 77 otm (same bullet) that recorded 2634avg... Same day/setup as these AAC 77s

What do you guys think?

View attachment 836510View attachment 836511

77s
View attachment 836512View attachment 836513

I recommend cleaning the chamber to see if that clears up the sooty case issue...
I have a .308 that was doing the same thing -- brushing out the chamber cleared it up.

 

[HighUintas]

I recommend cleaning the chamber to see if that clears up the sooty case issue...
I have a .308 that was doing the same thing -- brushing out the chamber cleared it up.

I thought about that but I shot more of the 75gr aac after the 77s and didn't get any sooting. It doesn't matter much though, the 77s grouped just under 2" and the 75 was closer to 1.25", so I'll be going with the 75s.


And a side note on BCs for these two bullets is that Hornady days the g1 for the 75 is 0.395 and the 77 is 0.362. I called them today asking about it because PSAs info doesn't seem to be consistent on their website. I don't know how they could be that different

 

[JohnDough]

I thought about that but I shot more of the 75gr aac after the 77s and didn't get any sooting. It doesn't matter much though, the 77s grouped just under 2" and the 75 was closer to 1.25", so I'll be going with the 75s.


And a side note on BCs for these two bullets is that Hornady days the g1 for the 75 is 0.395 and the 77 is 0.362. I called them today asking about it because PSAs info doesn't seem to be consistent on their website. I don't know how they could be that different

You need to actually get them trued. Companies lie horribly about BC's. I think the most blatant I encountered so far is Federal's 0.4 G1 BC for 75gr Gold Dot, lol! (It measures a bit over 0.28).

 

[Huntsalot]

Price is similar. Which one would you use for practice out of a Tikka? I use the gold standard TMK for hunting.

 

[NSI]

AAC

-J

 

[Matt5266]

AAC 77 OTM

 

[rbutcher1234]

AAC

 

[mwoolsey5]

Finally made it all the way through. I started looking into small calibers for big game around the same time the JVB podcast came out. I tried to come in with an open mind and research both sides of the small calibers argument. I listened to the podcasts with Form, read this thread, listened to the opposition that voiced many of the same concerns I had. Every single concern I had was answered. I’m currently building a 22 CM and then will be adding a RSS. I’m excited for what this will do for my sons as they begin hunting in the next few years to not be afraid of the weapon they are using and developing bad habits.

Oddly, I do still feel lingering doubt it will work, even in the face of the MOUNTAIN of evidence presented, because it goes against everything I was taught growing up. I look forward to using them this fall. If I’m lucky enough to draw and harvest, I will make sure to return and add another data point.

 

[Shraggs]

I was apprehensive too until I shot my first deer with 223/77 - 194 yards, three hops and down. Put energy and effort into practice !

 

[Speaks]

Finally made it all the way through. I started looking into small calibers for big game around the same time the JVB podcast came out. I tried to come in with an open mind and research both sides of the small calibers argument. I listened to the podcasts with Form, read this thread, listened to the opposition that voiced many of the same concerns I had. Every single concern I had was answered. I’m currently building a 22 CM and then will be adding a RSS. I’m excited for what this will do for my sons as they begin hunting in the next few years to not be afraid of the weapon they are using and developing bad habits.

Oddly, I do still feel lingering doubt it will work, even in the face of the MOUNTAIN of evidence presented, because it goes against everything I was taught growing up. I look forward to using them this fall. If I’m lucky enough to draw and harvest, I will make sure to return and add another data point.

Just made the leap too. From 270 to 223, cant wait to see how this turn out this fall.