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

[3one5]

Honestly though if you're getting good accuracy with the 77TMK I'd just shoot that. If my new bolt rifle shoots the 75gr or 80gr ELDM's I'll allocate most those bullets for it. The 73gr ELDM's I have can be loaded to standard mag length and shoot well from my AR's.

I've been toying with picking up some 73gr ELD-M's as the TMK's are nearly impossible to find. Does anyone have any experience hunting with the 73gr ELD-M's?

 

[3one5]

Honestly, get a 223 anyway.

I live in a state with 6mm restrictions. I still own a 223. They’re so cheap to practice with compared to most rounds, that it’s actually cheaper to buy one as a second rifle if you’re getting volume shooting in.

That's what I did, I built a 5.56 that is almost an exact copy of my 6.5 Grenel to save money on practice. Recoil is almost exactly the same.

 

[Billogna]

I've been toying with picking up some 73gr ELD-M's as the TMK's are nearly impossible to find. Does anyone have any experience hunting with the 73gr ELD-M's?

No personal experience with the 73's but the general consensus is that it is the 2nd best option in an AR platform 223 for hunting. Slightly less penetration than the TMK.

 

[3one5]

No personal experience with the 73's but the general consensus is that it is the 2nd best option in an AR platform 223 for hunting. Slightly less penetration than the TMK.

Awesome, thank you. I'll get an order placed and see how they do in my rifle.

 

[xsn10s]

I've been toying with picking up some 73gr ELD-M's as the TMK's are nearly impossible to find. Does anyone have any experience hunting with the 73gr ELD-M's?

I'm pretty sure there's a thread on here about the 73gr and 75gr ELDM's on RS.

 

[Antares]

I've been toying with picking up some 73gr ELD-M's as the TMK's are nearly impossible to find. Does anyone have any experience hunting with the 73gr ELD-M's?

https://rokslide.com/forums/threads...walrus-and-moose.130488/page-248#post-3322337

 

[PistolPete]

No. It’s going the other way. And, there are only a few states with above .224 restrictions.

Just know that there are state wildlife agency employees actively cataloging info from this thread and elsewhere in order to persuade ruling committees to drop the minimum caliber laws and allow 22s for deer. By my count, 38 states already allow it.

I'm one of them who is working on that - so thanks!

 

[Thegman]

Honestly though if you're getting good accuracy with the 77TMK I'd just shoot that. If my new bolt rifle shoots the 75gr or 80gr ELDM's I'll allocate most those bullets for it. The 73gr ELDM's I have can be loaded to standard mag length and shoot well from my AR's.

I wouldn't argue with that, but the TMKs are so hard to find it would be nice to have an option that's available for an alternate load.

 

[WIDrake]

I've been toying with picking up some 73gr ELD-M's as the TMK's are nearly impossible to find. Does anyone have any experience hunting with the 73gr ELD-M's?

I think it was about 100 pages back a guy in alaska(?) took a moose with them. That was all I needed to decide it's my new go to with my bolt gun. The 77s will be for my gassers

 

[3one5]

I'm pretty sure there's a thread on here about the 73gr and 75gr ELDM's on RS.

I’ll check those out.

I did a bit of research and found a couple folks saying they were unable to get the 73gr ELD-Ms to shoot well in their White Oak Armory barrels. That’s what I happen to have so I changed my order over to 69gr Sierra TMKs.

 

[Drenalin]

I've been toying with picking up some 73gr ELD-M's as the TMK's are nearly impossible to find. Does anyone have any experience hunting with the 73gr ELD-M's?

I’ve shot or seen shot 20 whitetails with the 73 ELD-M. It does very nicely.

 

[Dave0317]

I’ve shot or seen shot 20 whitetails with the 73 ELD-M. It does very nicely.

Can you expand a bit? I plan to use them and just kinda curious what to expect if I let my kid shoot his first deer with one? I’m confident in what they do terminally between reading here and seeing the gel block tests.

More just curious if I need to be ready to not expect an exit wound at all, or is it going to be like a softball size exit hole with guts everywhere? Or something in between?

 

[Drenalin]

Can you expand a bit? I plan to use them and just kinda curious what to expect if I let my kid shoot his first deer with one? I’m confident in what they do terminally between reading here and seeing the gel block tests.

More just curious if I need to be ready to not expect an exit wound at all, or is it going to be like a softball size exit hole with guts everywhere? Or something in between?

I haven’t gotten many exits - 2 to 3 IIRC. The longest run was 50 yards down the edge of a cornfield (that one exited, 312 yard shot, good blood trail). Most die right right there or within steps. Very little in the way of blood trails on those that didn’t exit. Put it in the vitals and you can expect to see great fragmentation and shredded organs, but most of that damage is internal rather than producing dramatic entries/exits. Hit some bone and there will be fragments seemingly everywhere, with little to no effect on penetration. I wouldn’t hesitate to let my own kids shoot an animal with these, for whatever that’s worth.

Edit: actually had one run 80 yards across a cut field. Shot was good, lungs were toast, just took her a couple seconds to realize she was dead.

 

[Dave0317]

Awesome, @Drenalin , that’s exactly what I was hoping to hear. I generally like an exit, but if the deer is dead within a few steps to 50 yards, it doesn’t matter that much. And with my son, I might even prefer no exit. The first taking of an animal doesn’t need to be the most gruesome one. Thanks for the detail and your thoughts on it.

 

[xsn10s]

I’ll check those out.

I did a bit of research and found a couple folks saying they were unable to get the 73gr ELD-Ms to shoot well in their White Oak Armory barrels. That’s what I happen to have so I changed my order over to 69gr Sierra TMKs.

Here's what my AR that I assembled will do.

 

[Trapperkid]

I've been toying with picking up some 73gr ELD-M's as the TMK's are nearly impossible to find. Does anyone have any experience hunting with the 73gr ELD-M's?

Oh yea they kill well

 

[3one5]

Here's what my AR that I assembled will do. View attachment 746814

What barrel do you have? Were you able to load those 75’s to mag length?

 

[xsn10s]

What barrel do you have? Were you able to load those 75’s to mag length?

I have an old Colt 1-7" 20" barrel on my build. I modified a stainless 20 round mag so I can seat out to 2.365" if I remember correctly. About 3/4 moa with Winchester whitebox primers and TAC.

 

[xsn10s]

What barrel do you have? Were you able to load those 75’s to mag length?

So in my picture I purposely reduced my TAC charge from the 73gr loads to be in that velocity range. I loaded those back during the early spring when temps were low. TAC can spike pressures when temps get above 70 degrees. I got pretty lucky as the load does exhibit high pressures at over 100 degree temps, but no blown primers. The mag is cutout in the front to allow the bullet tips to extend past the magazine. I got the idea from SH.

 

[AKPH]

I shoot a lot of Sierra TMK(s) in 308 (168) and 556 (77) and they are amazing bullets if you dont shoot too close... I have take a lot of big game with them.

I would not personally shoot a bear or a Moose/ELk size big game with them except perfect angle broadside lungs hit.

the 556/223 with any +70 grains bullet is playing in a different league.

its an amazing killer with an accurate rifle or AR load with TMKs as long as you can shoot and have it leaving your barrel around +/- 2800 fps.

long life to the 556/223.