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

[Schmo]

Well, I'm now a 100% believer in the 223 idea. I wasn't a doubter when there is the volume of evidence shown here, but until you experience it for yourself, it's still a little unknown.

Last night I shot a shmedium bear with my RSS 223/73ELDM @2840.
A boar about 5', stout for his size.
298YDS, sitting off backpack.
He must have got a wiff of me because he stood up sniffing in my direction. That's when I shot him in the chest.
The shot crumpled him, still moving a little, I put another one in him. He went down behind a aspen sprout so the second shot was a guess and hit center shoulder.

The first shot cut the pipes forward of the heart and made a baseball size cavity right next to the spine in the backstrap stopping 1" short of exiting.(entry @ knife point in pic)

The second shot upset @ 1" making a baseball size cavity in the center of the shoulder meat and continued through both lungs stopping under the hide right at the entry of the first shot.
At first I thought the first bullet had stopped under the hide some how.

The damage was definitely enough but not excessive. I lost some shoulder meat and 4" of one backstrap but a 300 RUM "that you need for bear" would have been worse.

Also, before the S2H course, I would not have considered shooting off my pack @ 300 yds.
Last night, after the course, I knew he was dead before I pressed the trigger.
The other thing that actually made me laugh out loud after the fact is how automatic it was having done the S2H course.
I could see the bear moving through a creek bottom towards a big opening. He made it to the opening sooner than i expected.
I ranged the opening, grabbed my pack, dialed 1 mil(mental quick drop), no wind and put the crosshair on him. As soon as he stopped, he stood up.
I fired, racked and reset, he moved broadside on the ground and I sent another one, rack and reset.
It all happened in about 25 seconds.
The minimal recoil of the 223 allowed me to see the whole thing in the scope but I remember seeing the brass in my peripheral go flying like it had been ejected from an AR.
I've put around 3000 rnds through my RSS since January and like others have said, they are stupid fun and very lethal!

223 in a bolt gun is absolutely my favorite to shoot. There is just something about it.

 

[HighUintas]

I finally cleaned and lived the bolt and lugs on mine after 600+ rounds. It's funny how much better the bolt runs when it's not caked with grime, sand, and fouling haha

 

[ericmcd]

Even the anti-2a crowd knows about .223 77 TMK combo now

 

[longrangelead]

223 in a bolt gun is absolutely my favorite to shoot. There is just something about it.

I agree! I plan on a lot more hunting with it.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

If it was legal for deer in my state (Virginia), I would be using it. As it is, I am quite in love with my CZ 527 in 6.5 Grendel with my Scythe Ti on it

. This evening , while I was out checking the fences, I killed two groundhogs with it. Nothing spectacular. Just solid 100-yard offhand shots on a live target.


____________________
“Keep on keepin’ on…”

 

[Moose83]

Well, I'm now a 100% believer in the 223 idea. I wasn't a doubter when there is the volume of evidence shown here, but until you experience it for yourself, it's still a little unknown.

Last night I shot a shmedium bear with my RSS 223/73ELDM @2840.
A boar about 5', stout for his size.
298YDS, sitting off backpack.
He must have got a wiff of me because he stood up sniffing in my direction. That's when I shot him in the chest.
The shot crumpled him, still moving a little, I put another one in him. He went down behind a aspen sprout so the second shot was a guess and hit center shoulder.

The first shot cut the pipes forward of the heart and made a baseball size cavity right next to the spine in the backstrap stopping 1" short of exiting.(entry @ knife point in pic)

The second shot upset @ 1" making a baseball size cavity in the center of the shoulder meat and continued through both lungs stopping under the hide right at the entry of the first shot.
At first I thought the first bullet had stopped under the hide some how.

The damage was definitely enough but not excessive. I lost some shoulder meat and 4" of one backstrap but a 300 RUM "that you need for bear" would have been worse.

Also, before the S2H course, I would not have considered shooting off my pack @ 300 yds.
Last night, after the course, I knew he was dead before I pressed the trigger.
The other thing that actually made me laugh out loud after the fact is how automatic it was having done the S2H course.
I could see the bear moving through a creek bottom towards a big opening. He made it to the opening sooner than i expected.
I ranged the opening, grabbed my pack, dialed 1 mil(mental quick drop), no wind and put the crosshair on him. As soon as he stopped, he stood up.
I fired, racked and reset, he moved broadside on the ground and I sent another one, rack and reset.
It all happened in about 25 seconds.
The minimal recoil of the 223 allowed me to see the whole thing in the scope but I remember seeing the brass in my peripheral go flying like it had been ejected from an AR.
I've put around 3000 rnds through my RSS since January and like others have said, they are stupid fun and very lethal!

I really, really like the looks of that rifle. Pretty much the ideal general purpose rifle.

 

[Castle Rock]

Well, I'm now a 100% believer in the 223 idea. I wasn't a doubter when there is the volume of evidence shown here, but until you experience it for yourself, it's still a little unknown.

Last night I shot a shmedium bear with my RSS 223/73ELDM @2840.
A boar about 5', stout for his size.
298YDS, sitting off backpack.
He must have got a wiff of me because he stood up sniffing in my direction. That's when I shot him in the chest.
The shot crumpled him, still moving a little, I put another one in him. He went down behind a aspen sprout so the second shot was a guess and hit center shoulder.

The first shot cut the pipes forward of the heart and made a baseball size cavity right next to the spine in the backstrap stopping 1" short of exiting.(entry @ knife point in pic)

The second shot upset @ 1" making a baseball size cavity in the center of the shoulder meat and continued through both lungs stopping under the hide right at the entry of the first shot.
At first I thought the first bullet had stopped under the hide some how.

The damage was definitely enough but not excessive. I lost some shoulder meat and 4" of one backstrap but a 300 RUM "that you need for bear" would have been worse.

Also, before the S2H course, I would not have considered shooting off my pack @ 300 yds.
Last night, after the course, I knew he was dead before I pressed the trigger.
The other thing that actually made me laugh out loud after the fact is how automatic it was having done the S2H course.
I could see the bear moving through a creek bottom towards a big opening. He made it to the opening sooner than i expected.
I ranged the opening, grabbed my pack, dialed 1 mil(mental quick drop), no wind and put the crosshair on him. As soon as he stopped, he stood up.
I fired, racked and reset, he moved broadside on the ground and I sent another one, rack and reset.
It all happened in about 25 seconds.
The minimal recoil of the 223 allowed me to see the whole thing in the scope but I remember seeing the brass in my peripheral go flying like it had been ejected from an AR.
I've put around 3000 rnds through my RSS since January and like others have said, they are stupid fun and very lethal!

Wood is good

 

[longrangelead]

I really, really like the looks of that rifle. Pretty much the ideal general purpose rifle.

it's crazy how natural it feels once you get used to it. Traditional stocks have a place but feel wrong for most shooting now.

 

[Badlandoutdoors]

So I would really like to jump on this bandwagon but if I already have a 22 creed what is the benefit of a 223? Ammo availability and cost? Is there something else?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Schmo]

So I would really like to jump on this bandwagon but if I already have a 22 creed what is the benefit of a 223? Ammo availability and cost? Is there something else?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

223 has a 6,000-8,000 round barrel life, or even longer, where a 22 Creed has somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 or so? (I’m not quite sure on the number, but it’s not a ton) 223/5.56 brass is super cheap, and widely available. Low powder charges mean 300 charges out of a pound of powder. Even less recoil, and just a ton of fun. If you’re going for factory ammo, good stuff can be had for $0.60 to $1 per round.

The ideal setup would be two identical rifles. One as a 223 trainer, and the 22 Creed as your hunting gun.

 

[atmat]

So I would really like to jump on this bandwagon but if I already have a 22 creed what is the benefit of a 223? Ammo availability and cost? Is there something else?

And barrel life. But that’s really it.

 

[sierracharlie338]

So I would really like to jump on this bandwagon but if I already have a 22 creed what is the benefit of a 223? Ammo availability and cost? Is there something else?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Everything stated above I agree with. The biggest thing going for the 22cm is the speed. Outside of that the pros outweigh the cons for me so I’ll keep my 223s.

 

[Bluumoon]

So I would really like to jump on this bandwagon but if I already have a 22 creed what is the benefit of a 223? Ammo availability and cost? Is there something else?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quick drop calculations out to 600 yards. Give me a range and I can be dialing before my Revics spit out a solution

 

[Nine Banger]

So I would really like to jump on this bandwagon but if I already have a 22 creed what is the benefit of a 223? Ammo availability and cost? Is there something else?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

22 Creed: pick up brass

223: sweep up brass

 

[Schmo]

Quick drop calculations out to 600 yards. Give me a range and I can be dialing before my Revics spit out a solution

This works for either cartridge tho. As long as dialing in mils

 

[Bluumoon]

This works for either cartridge tho. As long as dialing in mils

I think there is probably merit in building a load combo to match. I’m too slow to figure it out.

 

[longrangelead]

22 Creed: pick up brass

223: sweep up brass

100%
boxes of brass or buckets...

 

[PNWGATOR]

Well, I'm now a 100% believer in the 223 idea. I wasn't a doubter when there is the volume of evidence shown here, but until you experience it for yourself, it's still a little unknown.

Last night I shot a shmedium bear with my RSS 223/73ELDM @2840.
A boar about 5', stout for his size.
298YDS, sitting off backpack.
He must have got a wiff of me because he stood up sniffing in my direction. That's when I shot him in the chest.
The shot crumpled him, still moving a little, I put another one in him. He went down behind a aspen sprout so the second shot was a guess and hit center shoulder.

The first shot cut the pipes forward of the heart and made a baseball size cavity right next to the spine in the backstrap stopping 1" short of exiting.(entry @ knife point in pic)

The second shot upset @ 1" making a baseball size cavity in the center of the shoulder meat and continued through both lungs stopping under the hide right at the entry of the first shot.
At first I thought the first bullet had stopped under the hide some how.

The damage was definitely enough but not excessive. I lost some shoulder meat and 4" of one backstrap but a 300 RUM "that you need for bear" would have been worse.

Also, before the S2H course, I would not have considered shooting off my pack @ 300 yds.
Last night, after the course, I knew he was dead before I pressed the trigger.
The other thing that actually made me laugh out loud after the fact is how automatic it was having done the S2H course.
I could see the bear moving through a creek bottom towards a big opening. He made it to the opening sooner than i expected.
I ranged the opening, grabbed my pack, dialed 1 mil(mental quick drop), no wind and put the crosshair on him. As soon as he stopped, he stood up.
I fired, racked and reset, he moved broadside on the ground and I sent another one, rack and reset.
It all happened in about 25 seconds.
The minimal recoil of the 223 allowed me to see the whole thing in the scope but I remember seeing the brass in my peripheral go flying like it had been ejected from an AR.
I've put around 3000 rnds through my RSS since January and like others have said, they are stupid fun and very lethal!

Beautiful bear and VERY well done! Congratulations.

 

[longrangelead]

Beautiful bear and VERY well done! Congratulations.

thank you sir.

 

[BackcountryWanderer]

Since spring bear fell through, I wanted to test out the 223. Was told “223 just doesn’t put em down”. Not a huge pig and was probly only 70 yards away. But was stone dead within 40 yards and about 5-10 seconds. 77 TMK. Pic of offside shoulder.