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

Moose83

WKR
Joined
Aug 30, 2020
Messages
302
Yep. Got a couple of boxes of 73's. Was mainly going to use them for practice while I hoard my 77 tmk's for hunting. I thought I remember reading somewhere back in this thead that the 73's were splashy at shorter ranges. Considering the 2 bears I killed this year were at 30 and 20 yds I was wondering if there were any other option from hornady that would exhibit the same ish terminal performance as the 77 tmk's. The recent talk about the 88's just got me wondering if they were a viable option. The only reason I'm kinda hung up on hornady's is that they are usually more available in Canada. Also.. I'm not trying to pole vault over mouse turds. I just want to find the best option I can if I can't find tmk's, so I can buy as many as I can and just shoot and hunt... not having to continually dink with loads and zeroing. Thanks for all the info thus far. This thread is by far one of the most interesting and informative on the Internet I'm.
 

Firth

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 8, 2018
Messages
103
Location
Idaho
75 ELD about as deep as it can be seated without putting the ogive below the case mouth fwiw.
 

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Formidilosus

Super Moderator
Shoot2HuntU
Joined
Oct 22, 2014
Messages
10,353
Yep. Got a couple of boxes of 73's. Was mainly going to use them for practice while I hoard my 77 tmk's for hunting. I thought I remember reading somewhere back in this thead that the 73's were splashy at shorter ranges. Considering the 2 bears I killed this year were at 30 and 20 yds I was wondering if there were any other option from hornady that would exhibit the same ish terminal performance as the 77 tmk's. The recent talk about the 88's just got me wondering if they were a viable option. The only reason I'm kinda hung up on hornady's is that they are usually more available in Canada. Also.. I'm not trying to pole vault over mouse turds. I just want to find the best option I can if I can't find tmk's, so I can buy as many as I can and just shoot and hunt... not having to continually dink with loads and zeroing. Thanks for all the info thus far. This thread is by far one of the most interesting and informative on the Internet I'm.


73gr ELD-M and don’t worry about it.
 

Moose83

WKR
Joined
Aug 30, 2020
Messages
302
73gr ELD-M and don’t worry about it.
Any shot angles I would need to decline with this bullet.... I seem to shoot things head on in the chest as they look at me... never worried about it with my '06, but these bullets are pretty tiny!
 

jadkins223

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 21, 2022
Messages
115
Location
Oklahoma
If anyone needs 77 tmks, my local shop has a good stash. I could use some more too so if anyone wants to pay for maybe half a box for me I’ll send you however many you want on your shipping dime. Just an offer. Shop is a far drive from me so I gotta get something out of the deal lol. They were $44 a box last time if I recall


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

FCCDerek

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 15, 2020
Messages
176
Location
North Idaho
Depends on the magazine. Example: no problem with 88’s out of my standard 223 chambered Montana (Shaen massaged the mag box to feed 88’s loaded to shoulder/boat tail junction and threaded a 1:7” twist Rock barrel). He asked if it was possible and my answer is accurate.
He was referring to an AR though, not much you can mod on those to add extra length.
 

Firth

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 8, 2018
Messages
103
Location
Idaho
He was referring to an AR though, not much you can mod on those to add extra length.
AICS bottom metal would get you there in a Tikka 223 for 88's or 75 ELDm (88's would need a new barrel, too). Not a bad swap if you prefer AICS mags anyway, less good if you prefer factory Tikka. I can't imagine the 88 would be splashy at 223 speeds, but have no experience. Doubt 88's would increase the range above 1,800 fps since the lower starting velocity offsets the higher BC. 75's would give it a bump.
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Messages
1,063
AICS bottom metal would get you there in a Tikka 223 for 88's or 75 ELDm (88's would need a new barrel, too). Not a bad swap if you prefer AICS mags anyway, less good if you prefer factory Tikka. I can't imagine the 88 would be splashy at 223 speeds, but have no experience. Doubt 88's would increase the range above 1,800 fps since the lower starting velocity offsets the higher BC. 75's would give it a bump.

Just swaped a t3 lite 223 over to AICS. still have a little bit of fiddling to do with it, but I can run 75gr Amax's as long as I would like now
 
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