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

[The Guide]

So, 223AI... Is the juice worth the squeeze or better to just step up to a 22 ARC or 22CM if you want to send bullets bigger than 77tmk? I've got a CZ in 6.5 Grendel that I couldn't get below 1.5" which was not my experience with the Howa Mini Action 6.5 Grendel rifles I got for my kids. That rifle would be a good candidate for a new barrel in 22 ARC. The velocity I've seen claimed from guys shooting the 88 ELDM in both hand loads and factory rounds has me intrigued.

Jay

 

[turbo406]

So, 223AI... Is the juice worth the squeeze or better to just step up to a 22 ARC or 22CM if you want to send bullets bigger than 77tmk? I've got a CZ in 6.5 Grendel that I couldn't get below 1.5" which was not my experience with the Howa Mini Action 6.5 Grendel rifles I got for my kids. That rifle would be a good candidate for a new barrel in 22 ARC. The velocity I've seen claimed from guys shooting the 88 ELDM in both hand loads and factory rounds has me intrigued.

Jay

I sent my tikka to the Smith to get rechambered to a 223 ai, I did some more research and decided to leave it as a standard 223 due to ease and didn't think 100 fps would be worth it when the 22 arc is in my opinion better in ever aspect without having to deal with fire forming and feeding issues.

 

[Lawnboi]

So, 223AI... Is the juice worth the squeeze or better to just step up to a 22 ARC or 22CM if you want to send bullets bigger than 77tmk? I've got a CZ in 6.5 Grendel that I couldn't get below 1.5" which was not my experience with the Howa Mini Action 6.5 Grendel rifles I got for my kids. That rifle would be a good candidate for a new barrel in 22 ARC. The velocity I've seen claimed from guys shooting the 88 ELDM in both hand loads and factory rounds has me intrigued.

Jay

Nothing wrong with a 223 with heavier bullets. You just want more barrel, faster twist, more freebore, and more mag space.

I just put together a match gun/trainer that’s sending 85.5 bergers at 2760.

The beauty of the 223 is that it’s cheap!

 

[JJ3]

I built a 223ai on a bighorn origin last year and it has pros and cons. Feeding sucks, 150-200fps is awesome…ect.

Best thing is it is super accurate when fire forming. I’ve had a couple 5shot 1/4 min groups with it.

But…I’m considering rebarrel to a vanilla 223 because the new wore off pretty quickly

 

[The Guide]

Nothing wrong with a 223 with heavier bullets. You just want more barrel, faster twist, more freebore, and more mag space.

I just put together a match gun/trainer that’s sending 85.5 bergers at 2760.

The beauty of the 223 is that it’s cheap!

Does anyone make anything factory with 80 to 88 grain bullets or are you in handloads only zone? I hope the 223 is easier ro load for than the 22 Hornet cause I lose a lot of those paper thin necks to splits.

Jay

 

[Lawnboi]

Does anyone make anything factory with 80 to 88 grain bullets or are you in handloads only zone? I hope the 223 is easier ro load for than the 22 Hornet cause I lose a lot of those paper thin necks to splits.

Jay

Hand loading. You won’t find factory ammo with the higher BC bullets because they can’t be made to saami length.

Loading 223 is stupid easy and relatively cheap.

You don’t get much speed with anything over 75/77 unless you have a decently long barrel.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Does anyone make anything factory with 80 to 88 grain bullets or are you in handloads only zone? I hope the 223 is easier ro load for than the 22 Hornet cause I lose a lot of those paper thin necks to splits.

Jay

I’ve been loading 223 for years and it’s no where near like trying to baby Hornet brass. I built a 257AI and enjoyed the process quite a bit. That said, I don’t know that I would do that on a 223 platform though since the outcome isnt that different from a regular chamber. If you just want speed and heavies, I’d go with the Arc/Grendel/creed case. If you can live with 70 class bullets at moderate speeds then stick with the 223 IMO.

 

[xsn10s]

So, 223AI... Is the juice worth the squeeze or better to just step up to a 22 ARC or 22CM if you want to send bullets bigger than 77tmk? I've got a CZ in 6.5 Grendel that I couldn't get below 1.5" which was not my experience with the Howa Mini Action 6.5 Grendel rifles I got for my kids. That rifle would be a good candidate for a new barrel in 22 ARC. The velocity I've seen claimed from guys shooting the 88 ELDM in both hand loads and factory rounds has me intrigued.

Jay

I went with a new Weatherby Vanguard Obsidian in .223 rem. I thought about making it a .223 AI but we'll see after I shoot it. For my intended purposes a standard .223 bolt rifle should fit the bill for a close to mid range light rifle. My 260 AI will extend past that. For you a 22 ARC in that CZ seems like the obvious solution.

 

[JCMCUBIC]

So, 223AI... Is the juice worth the squeeze or better to just step up to a 22 ARC or 22CM if you want to send bullets bigger than 77tmk? I've got a CZ in 6.5 Grendel that I couldn't get below 1.5" which was not my experience with the Howa Mini Action 6.5 Grendel rifles I got for my kids. That rifle would be a good candidate for a new barrel in 22 ARC. The velocity I've seen claimed from guys shooting the 88 ELDM in both hand loads and factory rounds has me intrigued.

Jay

In my experience, the biggest pro for going AI with the .223 is if you reload and hate trimming. The more you shoot/load, the bigger the pro on this.

You get a little speed, but you can get more going other routes. You retain the ability to shoot .223, and in my experience with several .223AI's, standard .223/factory accuracy is great. I've never shot for the purpose of "fireforming" so I've never considered it a hassle. I shoot to shoot, formed brass is just an end product.

In my experience, the biggest con related to AI with the .223 is feeding. After converting all of mine to AICS, it's not an issue. I can't speak to it being an issue with a Tikka as all mine have been Rem based actions.

Summarizing:
1. If you're a dedicated reloader and want the big pro of reduced trimming, AI helps there.
2. Don't AI a chamber unless you're going to use a center feed mag to avoid ratchet'ish feeding.

 

[kswaterfowl]

Has anyone tried the NDr tikka mags lately? Thought about ordering a 10 rd mag for my 223.

 

[turbo406]

In my experience, the biggest pro for going AI with the .223 is if you reload and hate trimming. The more you shoot/load, the bigger the pro on this.

You get a little speed, but you can get more going other routes. You retain the ability to shoot .223, and in my experience with several .223AI's, standard .223/factory accuracy is great. I've never shot for the purpose of "fireforming" so I've never considered it a hassle. I shoot to shoot, formed brass is just an end product.

In my experience, the biggest con related to AI with the .223 is feeding. After converting all of mine to AICS, it's not an issue. I can't speak to it being an issue with a Tikka as all mine have been Rem based actions.

Summarizing:
1. If you're a dedicated reloader and want the big pro of reduced trimming, AI helps there.
2. Don't AI a chamber unless you're going to use a center feed mag to avoid ratchet'ish feeding.

The little crow worlds finest trimmer I think its called makes trimming a breeze with a drill

 

[wind gypsy]

I've been close to going AI a couple times but in the end i shoot too much factory ammo and dont like the idea of possibly rough feeding.

 

[BradArnett]

I've been close to going AI a couple times but in the end i shoot too much factory ammo and dont like the idea of possibly rough feeding.

I've probably had 7 or 8 223ai's over the last 20 years. All have been on r700's. Ive had adl, bdl, and m5 w/aics mags. The aics fed the smoothest but I can't recall ever having issues with any of them off hand. Adl and bdl mag boxes need the spacer cut out and another put in to run longer coal. Never done one on a tikka though.

 

[HandgunHTR]

I sent my tikka to the Smith to get rechambered to a 223 ai, I did some more research and decided to leave it as a standard 223 due to ease and didn't think 100 fps would be worth it when the 22 arc is in my opinion better in ever aspect without having to deal with fire forming and feeding issues.

I built a 223ai on a bighorn origin last year and it has pros and cons. Feeding sucks, 150-200fps is awesome…ect.

Best thing is it is super accurate when fire forming. I’ve had a couple 5shot 1/4 min groups with it.

But…I’m considering rebarrel to a vanilla 223 because the new wore off pretty quickly

I've been close to going AI a couple times but in the end i shoot too much factory ammo and dont like the idea of possibly rough feeding.

I have three different AI rifles. A 7TCU built on a Rem 700 SA, a 7-08AI on a Tikka, and a 6TCU in an AR. I have not had a single feeding issue with any of those rifles. Hundreds upon hundreds of rounds shot with them.

 

[Bluumoon]

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!

If you are in CO, can you document that copper bullets suck (in comparison) for killing while you are at it.

 

[Big_wals]

Midway has 77 tmks in stock. 200 count limit.

 

[letrbuck]

Midway has 77 tmks in stock. 200 count limit.

Those didn't last long...

 

[gwak06]

I checked at 7 minutes after the post and they were gone.

 

[Big_wals]

Those didn't last long...

I checked at 7 minutes after the post and they were gone.

Guess they must have got a small shipment, or else a lot of guys were signed up for alerts. I got the in stock email, ordered a couple boxes, and then posted it here immediately

 

[gwak06]

Midway does have the 69gr TMK on clearance. 22 cents a piece