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

[280Ackley]

I watched that episode. Hard to believe that bear took 3 “good” shots from a 338 rum and still came at them like that. Its likely the only shot in the vitals was from the 454.

If they made good shots they would have showed where the “good” shots actually hit on the carcass.

 

[Sandstrom]

Hornady frontier 75 bthp shoots right around 1.25 inches at 100 for my 223 tikka for 10 round groups.
Ryan

 

[mt100gr.]

68 gr HPBT Frontier for me. For targets and predators.

 

[BLJ]

If they made good shots they would have showed where the “good” shots actually hit on the carcass.

I watched the same guy shoot a grizzly in the ass to keep it from making the brush. A 460 yard Hail Mary to slow him down.
“Had to shoot him in the butt, big caliber though”.
I would say that there is a chance that shot placements from the RUM in the video mentioned above may be lacking as well.

 

[wind gypsy]

What's everyone's tikka liking for training ammo? Mine hates the green tip pmc stuff, to the point that I'm hesitant to buy a case of anything factory right now. 4 moa isn't useful for training myself or my kids.

[Edit to add: the new lot of ADI 69 SMK shot like hot garbage out of my t3x lite last weekend.]

I’ve shot a fair bit of ADI 55 Sierra blitzking (formerly sold as Australian outback) and it shoots as well as hand loaded 77tmk in my tikka @ 100 yards. ADI is the manufacturer of the hodgdon extreme line of powders and makes high quality brass too. They also make 69 smk ammo.

Last week the 55 SBK stuff was $0.60/ea and the 69 smk was $0.65/ea. very tough to beat.

I’m planning on shooting groups with both ADI rounds and comparing to AAC 77tmk and 75bthp which is also cheap and comparing soon.

[Edit with further info: Austrailian outback (by ADI) 55 SBK shot best, AAC 75bthp second best but seemed a little hot on some rounds, AAC 77smk wasnt pretty, and ADI 69smk was the worst of the 4.. was not an encouraging range trip]

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Thanks for all the ammo recommendations, I appreciate the help.

 

[cod0396]

Question for those who have used TMKs in various calibers on game: is there something special about the 77gr version that does not apply to TMKs of other calibers? By that I mean, are all TMKs constructed similarly in terms of relative jacket thickness, relative hollowpoint size, minimum expansion/fragmentation velocity, etc.? I am well aware of how devastating the 77gr TMK is, but I don't hear as much about the performance of TMKs in other calibers.

 

[Spoonbill]

Question for those who have used TMKs in various calibers on game: is there something special about the 77gr version that does not apply to TMKs of other calibers? By that I mean, are all TMKs constructed similarly in terms of relative jacket thickness, relative hollowpoint size, minimum expansion/fragmentation velocity, etc.? I am well aware of how devastating the 77gr TMK is, but I don't hear as much about the performance of TMKs in other calibers.

There have been a few posts about tmk’s in other calibers. If you do a search some info should pop up

 

[ResearchinStuff]

the 6.5mm kill thread has some 130 tmk info

6.5 Creedmoor/260 for Deer, Elk, and whatever else.....

Seeing that the 223 thread is such a success, I thought maybe I would start one for the Creedmoor/260. Seems like people are asking a lot about using them and various bullets, especially for elk. I've used mine for the last few years almost exclusively. I have some pics of bullet damage, albeit...

rokslide.com

 

[Justin Crossley]

I just got a call from my FFL (Cousin) that he found me a Tikka 223 and got it ordered! Finally!

We have been looking for a while and I'm stoked to finally have one on the way.

 

[MEdude]

I did a thread search but no bueno!
Is the 52 grain ELD Match viable for deer inside say 150 yards? Looking to minimize recoil as much as possible for a 10 year old. He’s so thin he can get out of the rain by standing under a clothes line.

 

[dirtytough]

I did a thread search but no bueno!
Is the 52 grain ELD Match viable for deer inside say 150 yards? Looking to minimize recoil as much as possible for a 10 year old. He’s so thin he can get out of the rain by standing under a clothes line.

I’ve used the 52 ELD a lot on coyotes. If it’s a straight on or shoulder shot it explodes. If it’s behind the shoulder it’s hard to find the entrance and there is never an exit.

Also I’ve had a few hit the target in random spots sideways. 22-250 with a slow twist.

 

[11Justin22]

I did a thread search but no bueno!
Is the 52 grain ELD Match viable for deer inside say 150 yards? Looking to minimize recoil as much as possible for a 10 year old. He’s so thin he can get out of the rain by standing under a clothes line.

The 62 grain fusion is, though I can't imagine there being much felt recoil difference between the lower grain options and 77gr tmk. I can't tell any difference anyways

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

This thread has been hard to keep up with... but I shared my success experience early on with the 75gr Swift Scirocco ii and only have a few left.

The 77 tmk seems to be the winning bullet, but curious if anyone has experience with the 64gr bonded solid base from Nosler?

I have but one kill with the BSB. It wrecked tissue. I load them for my grandkids in both 22-250 and 223. They almost always get pass throughs. LOTS of DRTs. Never have lost a deer they hit with one, and that is in thick tangled hell. They are killing machines too, to the tune of 2-3 deer per year or more. Hearts are turned to mush. Lungs demolished. Shots are all within 100 yards, so velocity is high. Accuracy is decent.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I would love to try some 70 grain Accubonds and some Scirocco bullets. Until those bullets and/or gold dots become available, I’m gonna hold off on my load development for my 223.

 

[Castle Rock]

I did a thread search but no bueno!
Is the 52 grain ELD Match viable for deer inside say 150 yards? Looking to minimize recoil as much as possible for a 10 year old. He’s so thin he can get out of the rain by standing under a clothes line.

The 55 grain ballistic tip is a far better choice

 

[Juan_ID]

Not cheap and not tmk, but there’s some black hills 77smk in stock

Ammunition | Creedmoor Sports

We carry a large variety of ammunition from Creedmoor Sports, Black Hills, Eley, Hornady, Lapua, and RWS. Rimfire and Centerfire.

www.creedmoorsports.com

 

[Jake Leibke]

I recall earlier in the thread that the 69 gr smk shot very similar to the 69 tmk but don't recall how the 77 smk vs the tmk did? it'd be nice to save the tmk's for critters.

 

[FLS]

SMKs shoot as well or better than TMKs in every rifle I own. Performance in tissue is inconstent. If you load your own, 24.5 Grains of TAC in LC brass lit by a BR4 primer loaded to 2.260” is the load I shoot for practice and tactical matches. I crank them out on my them Dillon 550 and they shoot sub MOA out of my 18” Match AR and 24” CTR.
I get 2876 out of the 24” 1-8 twist CTR and 2750 out of my 18” 1-8 Wylde AR.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

I had been wondering how tac was for accuracy, thanks for sharing. I landed I heap of 75 bthps for training, looks Luke tac will be the powder to use for them.