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

[Drenalin]

Other than the fact that everyone kinda looks down their nose at a Ruger American, is there a reason they wouldn't work? its a 1:8 twist and I know it's a low end fit and finish gun, but generally speaking, they put bullets where they need to be.

I’ve killed a pile of deer and one bear with an old RA and 73 ELD-Ms the past couple years. Haven’t had any issues with feeding, bolt binding, or barrel contact on mine. I don’t like the rifle and I’ve “upgraded” for this year, but it does the job just fine.

 

[KYwhitetail606]

5.56 77GR Bone Frog Ammunition® Sierra Tipped MatchKing (TMK)(B556TMK7

5.56 77GR Bone Frog Ammunition™ Sierra Tipped MatchKing (TMK) **INAUGURAL RUN SHIPPING IN APPROXIMATELY 2 WEEKS / END OF MAY 2025 Sierra has enhanced a segment of the MatchKing line by adding the acetal resin tip, thus crowning the Tipped MatchKing (TMK) bullet line. The major advantage of...

www.bonefrogammunition.com

Anyone have experience with this stuff?

 

[The Guide]

Other than the fact that everyone kinda looks down their nose at a Ruger American, is there a reason they wouldn't work? its a 1:8 twist and I know it's a low end fit and finish gun, but generally speaking, they put bullets where they need to be.

They work just fine. They place the bullets where you tell them to. What else do you need?

Jay

 

[River Reaper]

The bolt is very rough on the ones I have handled. Not quite Mosin-Nagant rough, but worse than I expect from a modern factory rifle. My experience with Ruger QC, fit, and finish has also been relatively poor over the years. Triggers and feeding have always been problems for me. Historically, Ruger barrels were inconsistent, but they have allegedly fixed that. The RAR Gen2s I handled looked and felt like crap.

As long as discount or secondhand Tikkas are available (my secondhand stainless steel 6.5 CM and .223 Tikka rifles cost me $1050 for the pair, not counting taxes, fees, etc.), I would not bother with a Ruger. While not all Tikkas shoot incredibly, they do seem to shoot consistently well and the actions are smooth and reliable.

Any rifle can be customized somewhere to correct things you don’t like, but the action is the essential component. Get that right and everything else can follow.


____________________
“Keep on keepin’ on…”

The action on the one I got is smooth as molasses and I’ve fed over 200 rounds through it without an issue so far. Maybe I got lucky. I like it though. I’ll shorten the length of pull in a couple years with the modular stock so that my 2 girls can learn on it. Less than $1000 bucks total with SWFA and rings.

 

[BLJ]

Other than the fact that everyone kinda looks down their nose at a Ruger American, is there a reason they wouldn't work? its a 1:8 twist and I know it's a low end fit and finish gun, but generally speaking, they put bullets where they need to be.

RA Ranch in 223 with 77 TMK’s.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

The action on the one I got is smooth as molasses and I’ve fed over 200 rounds through it without an issue so far. Maybe I got lucky. I like it though. I’ll shorten the length of pull in a couple years with the modular stock so that my 2 girls can learn on it. Less than $1000 bucks total with SWFA and rings.

Smooth as molasses? Sticky… icky.


____________________
“Keep on keepin’ on…”

 

[Bluumoon]

5.56 77GR Bone Frog Ammunition® Sierra Tipped MatchKing (TMK)(B556TMK7

5.56 77GR Bone Frog Ammunition™ Sierra Tipped MatchKing (TMK) **INAUGURAL RUN SHIPPING IN APPROXIMATELY 2 WEEKS / END OF MAY 2025 Sierra has enhanced a segment of the MatchKing line by adding the acetal resin tip, thus crowning the Tipped MatchKing (TMK) bullet line. The major advantage of...

www.bonefrogammunition.com

Anyone have experience with this stuff?

Yes. I got around 1.5”’for 20 rounds, low 2600s from 18” barrel. Good for the price imo

 

[KYwhitetail606]

Yes. I got around 1.5”’for 20 rounds, low 2600s from 18” barrel. Good for the price imo

I’m assuming it performs the same as the black hills 77tmk ammo?

 

[AntelopeEater]

Other than the fact that everyone kinda looks down their nose at a Ruger American, is there a reason they wouldn't work? its a 1:8 twist and I know it's a low end fit and finish gun, but generally speaking, they put bullets where they need to be.

I like my Ruger Am Gen II in 5.56, it is very accurate and my friend used it to successfully take a hog. The bolt has gotten smoother with use though it still occasionally sticks a bit.

It is a fantastic bargain if you want the features it comes with like the threaded muzzle and the spiral fluting on the barrel.

If you don't care about the extra features it comes with though, a base model Tikka T3 will be just as accurate and with a much smoother action for about the same price.

 

[omicron1792]

I’m assuming it performs the same as the black hills 77tmk ammo?

Same accuracy. Slower velocity.

 

[grfox92]

For those of you regularly shooting .223s at longer ranges, let's say out to 1000 yards. What would you say your hit rate would be compared to shooting a heavier bullet. Lets say 70ish grain 223 vs 147 gr 6.5CM.

Would you say that wind is an absolute killer or are you dialing for wind and still hitting at the same rate you would with the 6.5?



Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

 

[BradArnett]

For those of you regularly shooting .223s at longer ranges, let's say out to 1000 yards. What would you say your hit rate would be compared to shooting a heavier bullet. Lets say 70ish grain 223 vs 147 gr 6.5CM.

Would you say that wind is an absolute killer or are you dialing for wind and still hitting at the same rate you would with the 6.5?



Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

Not exactly apples to apples comparison but at 1000yds my 6.5cm w/147's @2650 drifts .3mils less in a 10mph wind than my 223ai w 75amaxs @3050. That's about 11". This 223ai is 5mph gun and the 6.5 is a 6mph gun. 500yds and closer they are about the same. I am not good enough to shoot the difference.

 

[grfox92]

Not exactly apples to apples comparison but at 1000yds my 6.5cm w/147's @2650 drifts .3mils less in a 10mph wind than my 223ai w 75amaxs @3050. That's about 11". This 223ai is 5mph gun and the 6.5 is a 6mph gun. 500yds and closer they are about the same. I am not good enough to shoot the difference.

Ok good info. I shot some PRS rifles last week. My first time shooting past 300 yards and I consistently hit steel at 905 and 1140 yards with some coaching from my buddy and Hornadys app.

I want to put together a Tikka for PRS style shooting. My math says it will cost me $1 a round to load 6.5 CM and .50 cents a round for .223, even cheaper if I shoot some of the bulk seconds.

Id eventually like to have two identical guns, one in 223 and one in 6.5 but want to see if I can get by and get alot of trigger time with the .223 first.

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[atmat]

Id eventually like to have two identical guns, one in 223 and one in 6.5 but want to see if I can get by and get alot of trigger time with the .223 first.

This is the answer. The cost savings is realized very quickly. For volume shooters, it’s cheaper to build a whole second gun.

 

[grfox92]

This is the answer. The cost savings is realized very quickly. For volume shooters, it’s cheaper to build a whole second gun.

I shot over 100 rounds on my range day with my friend. Could easily have shot more. If im going to take time away from my family once or twice a week, im going to make it count and get some shooting done.

Just for an experiment I priced out loading 1000 6.5 147s and 1000
223 69gr . It was around $475 for the .223 and $990 for 6.5.

That's a massive difference. One is unaffordable, one I could make work.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

 

[Nine Banger]

For those of you regularly shooting .223s at longer ranges, let's say out to 1000 yards. What would you say your hit rate would be compared to shooting a heavier bullet. Lets say 70ish grain 223 vs 147 gr 6.5CM.

77gr OTM:

I had 2 good (great) spotters behind me in early June shooting a big azz steel target at 906 yards surrounded by grass and shrubs and we couldn't see the trace reliably. We couldn't see the misses or the hits at all.

Shooting rocks surrounded by other rocks was OK though to see a hit and a miss.

6 Creedmoor was no problem in same scenario.

 

[grfox92]

I had 2 good (great) spotters behind me in early June shooting a big azz steel target at 906 yards surrounded by grass and shrubs and we couldn't see the trace or the hits.

Shooting rocks surrounded by other rocks was OK tho so see a hit and a miss.

Its funny you mentioned that because my buddy shot a 6BR in a match on Sunday and it was difficult to spot impacts.

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[HuntHarder]

I shot over 100 rounds on my range day with my friend. Could easily have shot more. If im going to take time away from my family once or twice a week, im going to make it count and get some shooting done.

Just for an experiment I priced out loading 1000 6.5 147s and 1000
223 69gr . It was around $475 for the .223 and $990 for 6.5.

That's a massive difference. One is unaffordable, one I could make work.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

Depending on how much you shoot and what components you use on your build, it takes a LONG time to come out ahead in your comparison. I own a bunch of guns and I'd say the average cost of my last few, all in, is about $3000-$4000 including optics.

That's roughly 6-7k rounds using your cost savings to break even. High volume shooters you will come out ahead, majority of shooters will not. Owning more guns is never a bad thing tho, so build another.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

For those of you regularly shooting .223s at longer ranges, let's say out to 1000 yards. What would you say your hit rate would be compared to shooting a heavier bullet. Lets say 70ish grain 223 vs 147 gr 6.5CM.

Would you say that wind is an absolute killer or are you dialing for wind and still hitting at the same rate you would with the 6.5?



Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

I would add that just the volume of practice I’ve been able to do with the .223 has helped with wind reading. There’s no hesitancy to send rounds until you figure it out like there would be with more expensive ammo.

 

[dirtshooter]

One reason I bought a RAR 556 was to use my AR mags. Rough and cheap feeling but it shoots. Hard to justify buying a chassis for it when the chassis costs more than the gun did.... still on the fence whether or not I buy a stainless howa mini in 223 or search for a stainless tikka 223.