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

[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.

 

[xsn10s]

Here's a link explaining how to modify mags with links to store bought ones too. "TonyTheTiger" was the person who I got the idea from. They also go into how you can modify your lower/ upper to seat out even farther if so desired. I only modified my mag and seated out to where they would feed reliably. I like it but decided I run from a standard mag for now. And seat out bullets to run from a bolt gun, I think I can get more velocity that way. And then run loads for fast follow up shots with the AR. https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/long-coal-223-gas-gun.7173197/

 

[AKPH]

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.

Hello

I shot a bunch of coyotes with from 200 yards to +600 yards with 23 inch bolt action rifle.
no big game.

this bullet is 1/4 or less in my rifle on 3 shots group. so very accurate.

field performance it works well but I think the "jacket" is softer, it looks to me it blows up more than the TMK.

 

[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.

I will say one thing about barrels. They are kinda like people and they just like what they like. So I wouldn't get too caught up with the barrel manufacturer. I'd make sure on barrel twist and try out some bullets.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Given the scarcity of TMK's, what's the best practice ammo that's similar to a TMK? I have 40 of them and would love to be able to switch back and forth from hunting to practice without changing zero (if that's possible).

Alternatively, just practice and hunt with the ELD-M's until I can buy a significant amount of TMK's? Not a reloader.

 

[HandgunHTR]

Been away for a bit.

Just wanted to chime in to disabuse the notion that the 5.56 was adopted so that troops could carry more ammo, or that it was due to wounding rather than killing, or the even dumber tumbling bullet BS.

It was primarily due to the fact that it resulted in better accuracy from the troops.

5.56×45mm NATO - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Pay attention in the “History” section.

 

[ztc92]

Given the scarcity of TMK's, what's the best practice ammo that's similar to a TMK? I have 40 of them and would love to be able to switch back and forth from hunting to practice without changing zero (if that's possible).

Alternatively, just practice and hunt with the ELD-M's until I can buy a significant amount of TMK's? Not a reloader.

I found that handloads with 77 SMK’s and 77 TMKs using TAC had same POI at 100 yards and only 0.1 to 0.3 mil difference at distances out to 600 in my Tikka.

 

[Castle Rock]

Yep, I have used 77MK & TMK interchangeably in handloads without having to adjust sights

 

[3one5]

Hell yeah, very nice.

 

[RockAndSage]

Given the scarcity of TMK's, what's the best practice ammo that's similar to a TMK? I have 40 of them and would love to be able to switch back and forth from hunting to practice without changing zero (if that's possible).

Alternatively, just practice and hunt with the ELD-M's until I can buy a significant amount of TMK's? Not a reloader.

What they do in your gun will be individual to your gun, so don't expect to find something that matches zero very well, but the closest I can think of that fits your bill for factory ammo with a tipped heavy bullet might be the AAC 75gr Sabre black tips.

 

[Clint.smith]

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!

Why not shoot a gun you know for sure has the true knock down power

 

[Castle Rock]

Why not shoot a gun you know for sure has the true knock down power

Yep, show us some FOOTPOUNDS

 

[atmat]

Why not shoot a gun you know for sure has the true knock down power