cheekibreeki
FNG
Ran a deer cull in Mississippi this week using the 77 TMK over 24.0 gr TAC from 16” and 18” barrels. Chronographed to 2720 fps from the 18” barrel. Used thermal, nv, and day optics for kills. Tally was around 16 in three nights by myself, but many less than that recovered due to terrain. My goal was to reduce population as they were wiping out crop fields with 20+ head of deer per night per field eating everything down to the stalk. Unrecovered deer were found later by smell, vultures, and fleeing coyotes.
Shots from 20 yards to 415 yards. Anything not CNS meant a run or walk for typically less than 50 yards. Since this wasn’t for meat harvesting most deer were shot twice to ensure a quick kill. Still got some meat and even wrapped backstrap in bacon today for the 4th.
Overall this is a very impressive bullet, but make no mistake that mediocre shots will still yield a long or ultimately failed recovery. Short range shots had very explosive results generally without exit, but on neck hits it was still an exit.
Hydrostatic liquefaction was observed in the handful I harvested meat from in the field. Around an adult hand-size diameter of liquefaction was present with fragments contained within. Some broadside heart shots did exit and there was a water hose amount of blood from entrance and exit holes, all visible under thermal.
For the long, 400+ yard shot, there seemed to be an exit and the deer ran into thick brush with visibly broken shoulder and was doing the blood loss wobble. Was a simple 2.2 mil hold without wind, and impact was very evident. Similar behavior to the 155 ELDM in 308 I used recently for a 430 yard shot, but it was impacting at ~1800 FPS due to a short barrel gun.
Considering the size of southern deer, 77 TMK is a really perfect choice. An existing AR15 with tripler, lpvo, acog, or conventional scope makes for a great deer rifle within 400 yards thanks to good bullets.
Shots from 20 yards to 415 yards. Anything not CNS meant a run or walk for typically less than 50 yards. Since this wasn’t for meat harvesting most deer were shot twice to ensure a quick kill. Still got some meat and even wrapped backstrap in bacon today for the 4th.
Overall this is a very impressive bullet, but make no mistake that mediocre shots will still yield a long or ultimately failed recovery. Short range shots had very explosive results generally without exit, but on neck hits it was still an exit.
Hydrostatic liquefaction was observed in the handful I harvested meat from in the field. Around an adult hand-size diameter of liquefaction was present with fragments contained within. Some broadside heart shots did exit and there was a water hose amount of blood from entrance and exit holes, all visible under thermal.
For the long, 400+ yard shot, there seemed to be an exit and the deer ran into thick brush with visibly broken shoulder and was doing the blood loss wobble. Was a simple 2.2 mil hold without wind, and impact was very evident. Similar behavior to the 155 ELDM in 308 I used recently for a 430 yard shot, but it was impacting at ~1800 FPS due to a short barrel gun.
Considering the size of southern deer, 77 TMK is a really perfect choice. An existing AR15 with tripler, lpvo, acog, or conventional scope makes for a great deer rifle within 400 yards thanks to good bullets.