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

[BAC]

Not going to comment on the price, as I have not tracked it in recent times… but in stock alert for Black Hills TMK.

By case:

Black Hills Ammunition 5.56 Nato 77gr TMK Sierra 2750 FPS 50/box [10 Boxes] 500 Round Case

Black Hills Ammunition 5.56 Nato 77gr TMK Sierra 2750 FPS 50/box [10 Boxes] 500 Round Case | FREE SHIPPING

www.aeammo.com

And per box:

Black Hills Ammunition 5.56 Nato 77gr TMK Sierra MatchKing 2750 FPS 50/box

Black Hills Ammunition 5.56 Nato 77gr TMK Sierra MatchKing 2750 FPS 50/box

www.aeammo.com

The magic number for free shipping appears to be $250. Godspeed.

Having just bought a few boxes of this ammo from them, 4 boxes will get you to free shipping. I'm resisting a case until I get the ammo tested to make sure it's loved and groups acceptably.

 

[Marshfly]

Having just bought a few boxes of this ammo from them, 4 boxes will get you to free shipping. I'm resisting a case until I get the ammo tested to make sure it's loved and groups acceptably.

That's my plan. I have 50 rounds of Black Hills TMK coming today and I'll pick up a box each of 73 ELD-M and 62 Fed Fusion and see what the gun likes best. Those should all do the job if I put them where I should.

 

[Jay Ell Gee]

Having just bought a few boxes of this ammo from them, 4 boxes will get you to free shipping. I'm resisting a case until I get the ammo tested to make sure it's loved and groups acceptably.

Same thing I did. Brand new Tikka, want to test them out. Eventually I'll suck it up and grab a case, but at some point I might just start my reloading journey with 223. I shoot a lot of 77gr OTM stuff as it is.

 

[Big_wals]

Put another doe down last night with the .223/77 combo. No pics, it was nothing special. 65 yard shot in the neck, dropped in her tracks as expected.

 

[BAC]

I feel like I asked this and just missed the answer or flat forgot, how much weight retention are y'all seeing for these 77gr tmk's in animals? It doesn't sound like the round is spoiling too much meat so the frag can't be too crazy.

 

[4090Sharps]

Heading for the hills in 30 minutes with a bear, lion, and two whitetail tags in my party. Hope to have some contribution to the thread soon.

 

[Formidilosus]

I feel like I asked this and just missed the answer or flat forgot, how much weight retention are y'all seeing for these 77gr tmk's in animals? It doesn't sound like the round is spoiling too much meat so the frag can't be too crazy.

Ah do what? You need to read the entire thread- every post.

Weight retention has about zero to due with killing…. Well, actually inversely proportional. If you hit bone, TMK cause a lot of damage.

 

[roosiebull]

Put another doe down last night with the .223/77 combo. No pics, it was nothing special. 65 yard shot in the neck, dropped in her tracks as expected.

What was the damage like? When conducive, I like neck shooting deer and nothing I’ve seen in this thread tells me it’s a bad idea with the little 223

 

[Big_wals]

It worked great, blasted through a vertebrae and made about a one inch exit. I wouldn't hesitate to do it if you have a chance. It makes for a nice clean carcass and no meat loss.

 

[Formidilosus]

What was the damage like? When conducive, I like neck shooting deer and nothing I’ve seen in this thread tells me it’s a bad idea with the little 223

December of last year on hear there is a pic of one that went through an elks neck at 633 yards.

 

[roosiebull]

December of last year on hear there is a pic of one that went through an elks neck at 633 yards.

Thanks, I’ll call that good enough for me. Crazy what that little projectile is capable of

 

[roosiebull]

It worked great, blasted through a vertebrae and made about a one inch exit. I wouldn't hesitate to do it if you have a chance. It makes for a nice clean carcass and no meat loss.

Yeah, that’s why I like shooting them there, blood shot stays pretty isolated in the neck, and pretty much wound cavity only damage. Probably because it shuts them down and blood stops flowing filling up membrane and whatever causing a mess

Have always preferred shooting deer in the neck when applicable

 

[Formidilosus]

Thanks, I’ll call that good enough for me. Crazy what that little projectile is capable of

Yep. It’s what happens when a bullet is specifically designed and tested to maximize the wound channel for 14 inches of penetration, with a nose design that consistently allows good upset very low impact velocity.

 

[BAC]

Ah do what? You need to read the entire thread- every post.

Weight retention has about zero to due with killing…. Well, actually inversely proportional. If you hit bone, TMK cause a lot of damage.

No no, not speaking about killing. I'm talking specifically about how much meat is ruined by the round fragmenting.

 

[Formidilosus]

No no, not speaking about killing. I'm talking specifically about how much meat is ruined by the round fragmenting.

A lot if you hit anything but ribs. Again, if you read this thread in its entirety, that is written about and shown in hundreds of pictures of animals.

 

[Finn]

A lot if you hit anything but ribs. Again, if you read this thread in its entirety, that is written about and shown in hundreds of pictures of animals.

@Formidilosus, I hear constantly about the "saving meat" argument. What I never hear about is the effect of stress on meat quality. This is well documented in the agricultural meat processing world. An animal that experiences high levels of stress before death ( being shot and running for even a few dozen yards) will yield ALL of the meat being of poorer quality. It has to do with pH, enzymes, glycogen , and calpains. Tons of open source data on this if someone cares to look. Point is there is definitely an argument to be made for sacrificing say 20% more meat to a bullet that kills rapidly vs compromising 100% of the meat to a bullet that has a smaller permanent wound cavity ( less bloodshot) but resulted in the animal running full out, adrenaline fueled, max stress, bleeding out over 100 yards.

 

[BAC]

I'm starting this thread over to be thorough and so far in the 23 pages I've yet to hear an example of a 100y runner. I can't say I'm noticing any difference in reported bang-flops vs runners compared to other hunters shooting other cartridges, and the ranges of runners vary regardless of cartridge. I'd be very curious if you could cite something validating use of one cartridge versus another for purposes of harvesting stress-free meat.

 

[Jake Leibke]

I'm starting this thread over to be thorough and so far in the 23 pages I've yet to hear an example of a 100y runner. I can't say I'm noticing any difference in reported bang-flops vs runners compared to other hunters shooting other cartridges, and the ranges of runners vary regardless of cartridge. I'd be very curious if you could cite something validating use of one cartridge versus another for purposes of harvesting stress-free meat.

We killed 5 deer this past weekend, 3 with 22 cal and 2 with 6.5 cm. All with TMK’s, 77 gr in the 22 cals and 130 gr in the 6.5.

The 3 killed with 22 cals, 2 with a 223 and 1 with 22 cm, went 100 yards for the 3.

The 2 killed with the 6.5 cm went 300 yards for the 2. 1 was a great shot and went 75 yards the other was not and went maybe 225-250 yards.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BAC]

We killed 5 deer this past weekend, 3 with 22 cal and 2 with 6.5 cm. All with TMK’s, 77 gr in the 22 cals and 130 gr in the 6.5.

The 3 killed with 22 cals, 2 with a 223 and 1 with 22 cm, went 100 yards for the 3.

The 2 killed with the 6.5 cm went 300 yards for the 2. 1 was a great shot and went 75 yards the other was not and went maybe 225-250 yards.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The 3 shot with the 22 cals ran a combined 100y? That sounds about on part with the other runners I'm seeing referenced in the thread. Prior to post 552 nobody had reported a runner of 100y+, and that post was on a big hog that ran 120 (on a 90y shot, 77gr tmk from a 16" bbl). Interesting that the the 6.5cm shots were longer runners even with the great shot. Do the larger tmk's just not do as efficient work as the smaller ones? Good info regardless, thank you for sharing!

I did myself a disservice skimming the topic while at work versus reading it (arguments and all) thoroughly while at home. There are quite a few good details I've missed about this bullet specifically and about others. Seeing a fella use the same 75gr Gold Dots my work issues for patrol rifles out of an 11.5" AR on deer and realizing how much older that round is, and then seeing some of the references to mini-14's and moose, clearly this little round has been a good killer for a lot longer than I/we might've thought. As much as I want an excuse to get a new rifle, I'm really having a hard time justifying it vs just slapping a nice scope on this new 16" upper, unpacking this fresh delivery of Black Hills 77gr TMK's, and rolling with that.

Coffee, paperwork, gym, and back to reading.

 

[Jake Leibke]

The 3 shot with the 22 cals ran a combined 100y? That sounds about on part with the other runners I'm seeing referenced in the thread. Prior to post 552 nobody had reported a runner of 100y+, and that post was on a big hog that ran 120 (on a 90y shot, 77gr tmk from a 16" bbl). Interesting that the the 6.5cm shots were longer runners even with the great shot. Do the larger tmk's just not do as efficient work as the smaller ones? Good info regardless, thank you for sharing!

Yes a combined 100 yards. Deer 1 with the 223 went about 50, deer 2 with the 223 went about 30 and the last with the 22 cm went about 20, maybe 30.

The second deer with the 6.5 was not a good shot, low and back, and I can confidently say with another bullet like a Barnes or typical “hunting” bullet we would not have found the deer. Damage was impressive. The first deer shot with the 6.5 took out heart and lungs and still went about 75 yards. Left a blood trail a blind guy could follow. I posted a few pics in the 6.5 thread if your interested in looking.

The biggest difference I saw between the 2 guns was we didn’t have any exits with the 22 cal deer and did on both of the 6.5 deer. All shots were less then 150 yards so the higher velocity attributed to that I’m guessing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk