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

[xsn10s]

I shot a spike buck last evening with my Tikka Varmint .223. 75 gr ELDM at 2915 MV. 475 yard bang flop. Hit a little high, double lung, took out the spine, bullet exited, he dropped like a sack of potatoes. I’ll post damage pics later.
Surprised by the lack of bloodshot but I didn’t hit either shoulder.




P

What powder were you using in this load? TIA

 

[Pharmseller]

What powder were you using in this load? TIA

Benchmark

Tried Varget, as my brother’s Tikka Varmint shoots lights out with it but couldn’t match his precision or velocity. Then worked up to a lesson in what not to do with TAC.

Happy with Benchmark.




P

 

[gman82001]

Benchmark

Tried Varget, as my brother’s Tikka Varmint shoots lights out with it but couldn’t match his precision or velocity. Then worked up to a lesson in what not to do with TAC.

Happy with Benchmark.


Curios the lesson with tac? I have and use a bunch but haven’t used it for precision stuff quite yet




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Curious the lesson with tac? I have and use a bunch but haven’t used it for precision stuff quite yet

 

[xsn10s]

Benchmark

Tried Varget, as my brother’s Tikka Varmint shoots lights out with it but couldn’t match his precision or velocity. Then worked up to a lesson in what not to do with TAC.

Happy with Benchmark.




P

I have some Benchmark on hand for 53 gr vmax. I'll save some for the 73gr ELDM through my AR. I have 75gr ELDM in case I get a bolt or decide to modify my AR to run them. I used TAC but had pressure spikes when temps got above 90 degrees.

 

[Pharmseller]

Curious the lesson with tac? I have and use a bunch but haven’t used it for precision stuff quite yet

Used too much. Then it got hot. Then I bought a new firing pin assembly.




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[Steve300xcw]

Used too much. Then it got hot. Then I bought a new firing pin assembly.

I had some RL22 in a 243 that did something very similar

And why are you busting spikes on opening weekend?

 

[william schmaltz]

I only check this one every few weeks so apologies in advance for a very late response.

RE: head shots @Marbles

I grew up in a multi generational butcher shop. We did it all with a .22. Animals were in a chute and shot frontal in the thick part of the skull. Tens of thousands I’ve probably watched drop instantly. Pigs, sheep, goats, cows, horses, whatever. Occasionally if it was an excessively large bull or bison we would get out the .22 mag to do the job and the results were the same.

By the time I hit high school, we started to shoot bison in the field and then loaded with tractor to bring into shop. We would drive up to them about 15-25 yards and rest on pickup window to shoot them frontal in the skull. We did that job with a 223. I’ve probably shot a couple dozen that way and they all dropped instantly. No idea what bullets, probably whatever was in stock and cheapest that day at the local small town hardware store.

 

[Boltgun]

Question for you guys using the 77tmk. Has anyone used them on prairie dogs? Reason i ask is i reload using the 75 amax/ elds. And they work great on prairie at distance and up close.

Going out next year with a couple buddies that don't reload and looking for a factory option for the heavy 223. Only thing I'm finding is hornady ammo with the73 eld. And federal with the 77tmk.

I would rather try the federal because it will likely be more consistent than the hornady ammo. But I'm worried that it won't expand fast enough on prairie dogs and they'll have alot of ricochets.

I saw unknown munitions makes 223 with the 75 eld but their outta stock at the moment.

If anyone knows of another factory ammo let me know please. Thanks for the help.

I shot some in SD last week from a 14.5”. It was very effective, although not quite as Tarantino-esque as some of the lighter polymer tipped varmint ammo.

 

[Colby]

We killed three with the aac 77 tmk/ tikkas over the weekend.
I shot a buck at just over 100 yds bedded in the back of his neck. DRT no exit but neck was hammered.
Had a youth hunter shoot one broadside at 225 yds, hit a little too far back. Buck moved out of sight, we found it about 50-75 yds away dead. When we got it opened up liver was pretty much blown in half.
Third guy quartered away 250 ish yds, I wasn’t right with him when it got gutted but he said lungs were soupy.
Taking my daughter next weekend so hopefully add another one to the list.

 

[Pharmseller]

I had some RL22 in a 243 that did something very similar

And why are you busting spikes on opening weekend?

I was second shooter. First shooter was my nephew, he’s still fairly new to hunting. And I had to leave Tuesday afternoon, so Monday’s afternoon hunt…




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[Pharmseller]

Okay, here’s the damage.

475 yards, 75 gr ELDM, mv 2915

Entrance, a little high on the left side, but just behind the scapula.



Double lung



Interior view. Entrance on the right of the pic, took out a vertebra, then broke two ribs on the exit.



Exit hole. I pulled the cartilage on the end of the scapula out of the way.



One of the cleanest bullet wounds I’ve ever seen. According to my ballistics app the impact velocity would have been around 2145 fps.






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[Tartan]

I’m part of the gang now.

View attachment 607780

Ready to get it sighted in this weekend and I should have some animals down in 4 8 weeks.

Vertical grip, 150 rounds of black hill tmk, UM rings, and a mil nxs 2.5-10. Rokstock pending.

 

[pattimusprime22]

Ready to get it sighted in this weekend and I should have some animals down in 4 8 weeks.

Vertical grip, 150 rounds of black hill tmk, UM rings, and a mil nxs 2.5-10. Rokstock pending.

View attachment 613090

Which stock tikka 223 do you have there that came with the threaded barrel?

 

[Tartan]

Which stock tikka 223 do you have there that came with the threaded barrel?

It's cabela's version of the Veil. Got a screaming deal on it.

Tikka T3X Lite D-18 Bolt-Action Rifle with VSX Stock - .223 Remington​

 

[The Guide]

The 77tmk works especially well when you dial your wind the correct direction...

I usually hold wind instead of dialing it. The scope on the Howa Mini I just got has no wind marks so I dialed it (new Trijicon gets delivered tomorrow). I forgot to add the wind direction and it defaults to a 90⁰ wind and I had a 270⁰ wind... so I had 20" of wind push and 20" of dialed wind at 460 yards. 4 shots later and all the shots hitting way behind him, he decided it was time to run away. Running away right towards me! I took all the dope out of the scope since he was now ~250 yards away and dope was only inches. Now the rounds hit where they were supposed to. Hit him on the run and he stopped so I hit him in the neck.

Remember to put your wind in the correct direction if dialed and not held...

Jay

 

[wind gypsy]

Thanks for this info. I ran the same numbers for 400 of the Blitz Kings and SMKs and the comparable numbers are $0.60 and $0.62 per. When you add in taxes and the lower shipping costs, the numbers are $0.74 and $0.68 for Frontier 5.56 and 223 BTHP, respectively, and $0.71 $0.68 for the ADIs. Although I'm not a reloader, I will be saving my brass.

I'm not familiar with ADI, and admit that my first reaction would be to spend the difference (if any) with a "known" (at least to me) brand. But if they are the same, or ADI is better (whether due to the crimping issue, or otherwise), I'm more than happy to try the ADI. Especially a mix of both weights.

ADI is the manufacturer of Hodgdon extreme powders which have been the leading powders in precision rifle circles since I started paying attention.

They used to sell it under the Australian outback name and the fired brass from those old lots was more consistent than lapua and even had a little more case capacity! The new ADI stuff doesn’t seem quite as impressive but you’re getting good stuff for the money. I’ll say that my tikka didn’t like a recent lot of 69 smks but 55sbk have shot well in every lot.

I have also found 73 ELDm factory online for around a dollar and that stuff shoots great for me but I’d rather have the ADI brass.

 

[The Guide]

I guess I never looked really hard at 5.56 ammo before. Is the Black Hills brass that comes loaded with the 77tmk "crimped" brass? It has 4 little marks around the primer on the face of the case.

Jay

 

[Lawnboi]

I guess I never looked really hard at 5.56 ammo before. Is the Black Hills brass that comes loaded with the 77tmk "crimped" brass? It has 4 little marks around the primer on the face of the case.

Jay

Yes that’s a style of primer crimp. Most bull 223/556 comes with some kind of primer crimp. The brass is fine but you have to remove the crimp.

 

[xrangerx]

For what it's worth, Charlies Custom Clones has the Black Hills 77gr TMK in stock, $63 each (3 min order). A random popup with a $10 off code appeared too which helped with shipping!

 

[N2TRKYS]

I got my RS special sighted in yesterday with my 77 grain TMKs. Now just waiting on gun season.