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

[Magma]

View attachment 675400

what gave me away ?

 

[roosiebull]

.223 is perfect for deer, with a few important points though. ..you have to use a slow expansion bullet. keep shots under 150 yards. obviously others here will debate but believe me. my picks are barnes tsx as mentioned above or better winchester deer season...the bullet has to be slow expanding.
what not to do...dont use varmint rounds up close, no penetrate
dont use fmj or matchkings far out. theyll wound but not good enuf
do not try headshots they nearly never work on deer anatomy
ok let flames start .

I wish you would have replied much earlier in this thread so everyone wasn’t wasting their time this whole time

 

[fwafwow]

Go easy on him. Although he’s been on here a few years, maybe he’s been hacked?

 

[roosiebull]

Go easy on him. Although he’s been on here a few years, maybe he’s been hacked?

I doubt it, we’re just due, it’s been about 5 days

 

[CWA360]

DON'T HAVE TIME TO READ 176 PAGES? HERE'S THE CHEAT SHEET.

---

“Bullets matter more than headstamps.”

“Spent primers offer the supreme tutorial”.

I’ve read it here and elsewhere online. It got my attention. I started digging and asking questions and listened.

The 77gr TMK delivered by a .223 is where I ended up after many discussions and objective data regarding bullet performance and numerous pics of field results.

Now for the delivery system. Accurate. Repeatable. Reliable. Reasonable weight to afford steady shot placement and the ability to spot my own impacts yet packable. Tikka T3x, vertical grip, Sportsmatch rings, SWFA 6x MQ in mills. Replaced the trigger spring with a yo Dave, adjusted to my liking, then degreased everything and locked all of the screws down with loctite and got started.

The package checks all of the boxes. Plus, it’s FUN! Time at the range is spent learning to call wind, trigger control, spotting your own impacts and figuring out why a shot did or did not end up where you wanted it. No brake. No flinch. Inexpensive to shoot. The fun factor plus the ability to be able to afford to shoot a lot goes a long way to learning and understanding shooting, accuracy and precision.

With all of that said, I’ve decided to use 77 TMK out of a .223 from this delivery system for bear, deer and elk this season.

Opportunity presented itself a couple of days ago. I killed a mature, dry sow with the 77 TMK. Bullet performance exceeded all expectations! The terminal performance is on par with anything I’ve seen in a .284 or .30. Unreal performance. The bullet is a BEAST!

Practice will continue throughout the summer in preparation for the upcoming deer and elk seasons.

Based on my sample of one, the 77 TMK out of a .223 is truly a lethal combination well suited to a dedicated lower 48 big game rifle.

Would love to hear about others experiences with this bullet or similar bulletts!

Got any ballistics data? I’m skeptical but interested to know more.

 

[eric1115]

The first line in the post you quoted is literally a link to the cheat sheet with lots of terminal ballistics information.

 

[PNWGATOR]

Got any ballistics data? I’m skeptical but interested to know more.

Yes.

It’s all laid out in the pages ahead.

Enjoy.

 

[sierracharlie338]

I doubt it, we’re just due, it’s been about 5 days

I just re-read the whole thread, yep all 325 pages, and it never fails just when you think we will be able to stay on track…

 

[Tahr]

Nice follow up!

I needed to redeem myself because I rushed that first shot. I wanted to get one before they went over the fence and likely ran out into the crop paddock. The wind was too strong for an any longer shot.

 

[PNWGATOR]

Got any ballistics data? I’m skeptical but interested to know more.

The more I think about this statement…I get it.

Thank you for having an open mind and wanting to know and learn more!

It‘s SO tough to sort through and figure this sh!t out on any online platform!

Precisely why this thread exists.

 

[Chris_in_Idaho]

I'm sure many of you have had your eyes on the 77 TMK market longer than I have. Is there any rhyme, reason, or pattern to when it tends to become available?

Is it on some sort of seasonal run?

Does it tend to come back every few weeks or can it be months and months in between?

How much disappointment am I in for?

 

[wind gypsy]

I'm sure many of you have had your eyes on the 77 TMK market longer than I have. Is there any rhyme, reason, or pattern to when it tends to become available?

Is it on some sort of seasonal run?

Does it tend to come back every few weeks or can it be months and months in between?

How much disappointment am I in for?

I don’t understand the question. Component bullets and ammo have been fairly available recently. Buy enough to last you a while and then you’ve nothing to worry about. Personally it’s hard to justify shooting that much of it at targets when elds are significantly cheaper.

 

[Chris_in_Idaho]

Buy enough to last you a while and then you’ve nothing to worry about.

Yup that's exactly what I want to do, but they're not available anywhere. Hence my question.

For those of you who have been paying attention for a while, does Sierra produce runs of this bullet with regular frequency or when they're out do they tend to stay out for a long time?

 

[wind gypsy]

Yup that's exactly what I want to do, but they're not available anywhere. Hence my question.

For those of you who have been paying attention for a while, does Sierra produce runs of this bullet with regular frequency or when they're out do they tend to stay out for a long time?

My bad. Seemed like they’d been available for a pretty good stretch there. They have definitely had some dry stretches in the past.

 

[fwafwow]

Yup that's exactly what I want to do, but they're not available anywhere. Hence my question.

For those of you who have been paying attention for a while, does Sierra produce runs of this bullet with regular frequency or when they're out do they tend to stay out for a long time?

Maybe you are looking only to reload, but otherwise Black Hills and Stand 1 are available.

 

[roosiebull]

I don’t understand the question. Component bullets and ammo have been fairly available recently. Buy enough to last you a while and then you’ve nothing to worry about. Personally it’s hard to justify shooting that much of it at targets when elds are significantly cheaper.

tmk’s are for critters, 73eldm/77gr smk for practice. When I get around to reloading, everything will be tmk, but for now, there are some very solid factory options for just shooting

 

[ShootOkHuntWorse]

tmk’s are for critters, 73eldm/77gr smk for practice. When I get around to reloading, everything will be tmk, but for now, there are some very solid factory options for just shooting

What’s the OAL difference on the 77smk vs tmk? I’d like to stop eating away at my TMKs but they sure fly nice out to 800 yds. Do the SMKs fit in the tikka mag just fine?

 

[chamois]

Entry and exit holes on a roe doe's rib cage shot at 417 yards.
75gr ELD-M at 2,925 fps from my 5,6x50R. The offside lung presented more damage than the onside due to the long neck in the expansion cavity by a bullet that slipped in between the ribs. Nice exit hole, good blood spoor, and a 35yd dead run.

 

[chamois]

Same gun and load. Entry hole is on the right side of the picture. The bullet went through the shoulder muscle and scapula, the difference with the previous post being obvious. Both lungs were much. Was dead on its tracks.

 

[Juan_ID]

What’s the OAL difference on the 77smk vs tmk? I’d like to stop eating away at my TMKs but they sure fly nice out to 800 yds. Do the SMKs fit in the tikka mag just fine?

Don’t recall the exact difference between the 2 but the smk is shorter than the tmk and has no problem fitting in a tikka mag.