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

[The Guide]

Great thread everyone. Tons of info and wonderful harvests. Impressive what 223 will take!
Looking for advice. Will be using 16” AR in 1:7 twist. Maine whitetail. Within 200 yards.
Was going to use the 77TMK but unavailable so looking for another option.
73gr ELDM?
75gr gold dot?
I have some 77 OTM and 62 TAP barrier but looking for solid option.
I have seen the 75 results here and read the threads on 73 Eldm. Pretty new to it all.

The 73 ELDM ammo will be money for your desired use. I use it in a 16" Ruger American Ranch and we are good to 360 yards at our elevation of ~2000'. Should have no issues.

Jay

 

[mt terry d]

75 gr eldm @ 150 yards.

Maybe it was a 73. I think 75.

 

[Matt5266]

What's the load data you guys are using for the 73 eldm?

 

[IDHoundsman]

What's the load data you guys are using for the 73 eldm?

Factory Hornady Match

 

[The Guide]

What's the load data you guys are using for the 73 eldm?

The easy button.

Jay

200 Round Case - 223 Rem 73 Grain ELD Match Hornady Match Ammo - 80269 | SGAmmo.com

200 Round Case of 223 Rem 73 Grain ELD Match Hornady Match Ammo For Sale SKU# 8026910 Boxes per CaseMuzzle Velocity 2790 FPS

www.sgammo.com

 

[Pharmseller]

Wish me luck, boys and girls, I’m heading to deer camp Thursday. Opening day here in Oregon for rifle deer is Saturday the 5th.

Gonna use the Tikka Varmint with 75 gr ELDM again this year.

Hope to A. Get a buck and B. Bigger than last year.

Flying solo for the first time in a loooong time. Kinda nice to be first shooter for the first time since 2013.




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[IDHoundsman]

Wish me luck, boys and girls, I’m heading to deer camp Thursday. Opening day here in Oregon for rifle deer is Saturday the 5th.

Gonna use the Tikka Varmint with 75 gr ELDM again this year.

Hope to A. Get a buck and B. Bigger than last year.




P

Good luck! I’m curious as to how the 75 ELDM works. I can’t decide on what I want next but I have been toying with the idea of a factory 22-250 with an 8 twist just to fling that bullet.

 

[ARK_Ginger]

I have. Also read the multiple threads here and arfcom and not sure if it’s as recommended as BH given the test results and possible QC concerns. Haven’t seen any game threads on it yet. If the aac is highly recommended vs the 73eldm or gold dot or a tsx then I would go for it

That link is for Sierra’s 77gr TMK loaded by AAC. It’s the bullet you want and the load shoots fine

 

[Pharmseller]

Good luck! I’m curious as to how the 75 ELDM works. I can’t decide on what I want next but I have been toying with the idea of a factory 22-250 with an 8 twist just to fling that bullet.

Worked very, very well last year at 475 yards. Likely he never heard the shot.




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[IDHoundsman]

Worked very, very well last year at 475 yards. Likely he never heard the shot.




P

Are you shooting it out of a 223? Wondering about close range high impact velocities.

 

[Dave0317]

I have. Also read the multiple threads here and arfcom and not sure if it’s as recommended as BH given the test results and possible QC concerns. Haven’t seen any game threads on it yet. If the aac is highly recommended vs the 73eldm or gold dot or a tsx then I would go for it

I haven’t used the AAC stuff, but I’ve shot a little of the 73 grain ELD M. It’s good clean quality ammo, like you expect from the Hornady Match line. It’s also almost twice the price of the AAC. If that appeals to you, go for it. If the AAC was in stock when I was ammo shopping I would have tried it.

Not sure what the QC issues may have been, but even if accuracy is not the best, I’d bet it’s more than good enough for whitetail inside of 200 yards.

 

[SNelson]

73 ELDM
24.5 gr 4895 at AR mag length. Pretty crunchy but it shoots good and the one bear I shot it at absolutely hated it.

 

[Ajsomp]

I haven’t used the AAC stuff, but I’ve shot a little of the 73 grain ELD M. It’s good clean quality ammo, like you expect from the Hornady Match line. It’s also almost twice the price of the AAC. If that appeals to you, go for it. If the AAC was in stock when I was ammo shopping I would have tried it.

Not sure what the QC issues may have been, but even if accuracy is not the best, I’d bet it’s more than good enough for whitetail inside of 200 yards.

I grouped black hills and AAC TMK same day out of the same gun. Black hills groups were about .3-5 Moa better over all. But the AAC was more than acceptable for me and I’d use it to hunt with if I didn’t have any black hills left. I had one cartridge that wouldn’t seat - didn’t have calipers and wasn’t going to try to investigate. I just tossed it aside.

Otherwise it seems to work just fine. I think it’s gone up slightly since I’ve bought it - closer to $.60/round but still cheap and available. I don’t have the time or patience to hand load 223/5.56 - so it’s the easy button for me.

 

[Ajsomp]

I have. Also read the multiple threads here and arfcom and not sure if it’s as recommended as BH given the test results and possible QC concerns. Haven’t seen any game threads on it yet. If the aac is highly recommended vs the 73eldm or gold dot or a tsx then I would go for it

@Formidilosus I believe mentioned AAC in the last FF on shoot2hunt

 

[hunterjmj]

The easy button.

Jay

200 Round Case - 223 Rem 73 Grain ELD Match Hornady Match Ammo - 80269 | SGAmmo.com

200 Round Case of 223 Rem 73 Grain ELD Match Hornady Match Ammo For Sale SKU# 8026910 Boxes per CaseMuzzle Velocity 2790 FPS

www.sgammo.com

If you have a Scheels near by they sell it for $26.99/20 rounds. Also cabelas will price match if you have them close.

 

[The Guide]

I haven’t used the AAC stuff, but I’ve shot a little of the 73 grain ELD M. It’s good clean quality ammo, like you expect from the Hornady Match line. It’s also almost twice the price of the AAC. If that appeals to you, go for it. If the AAC was in stock when I was ammo shopping I would have tried it.

Not sure what the QC issues may have been, but even if accuracy is not the best, I’d bet it’s more than good enough for whitetail inside of 200 yards.

I have. Also read the multiple threads here and arfcom and not sure if it’s as recommended as BH given the test results and possible QC concerns. Haven’t seen any game threads on it yet. If the aac is highly recommended vs the 73eldm or gold dot or a tsx then I would go for it

I bought a case each of the AAC Sabre Blade Black Tips and the AAC 77tmk. Shot of box of each with no issues and acceptable accuracy from both bullets. The 77tmk load was about 100 fps slower than the Black Hills load. I still have 500+ of the Black Hills 5.56 77tmk loads so I haven't used the AAC ammo on game yet. The other 223 we use is setup for the 73gr ELDM ammo and i have 2 cases of that so I haven't gotten a chance to shoot any game with the 75gr Sabre Blade Black Tips either.

Buy some ammo, shoot a bunch with it, and take game to your effective range. If you are using an AR, it is a no brainer to shoot the animal multiple times if it is still standing. I used to take pride in the 1 shot/1 kill line of thought but have change my mind to a game of how fast can I get the animal to hit the ground. 3 shots and 15 seconds to hit the ground is way better than 1 shot turning into a hour long rodeo to have to take a second shot with the animal even further from camp.

Jay

 

[The Guide]

If you have a Scheels near by they sell it for $26.99/20 rounds. Also cabelas will price match if you have them close.

Scheels is where I bought my last case but their availability has been spotty and my nearest Scheels is 4 hours away. I've gotten to the point where just ordering a case to the house is easier then dealing with people. I buy a lot of cases from targetsports.com because they offer free shipping on case lots. When you add the fuel to get someplace plus the time to drive or to route your trip there during their open hours it is often cheaper and more efficient to have a case delivered on a Wednesday and leave your weekends open for shooting. If I don't need a whole case I can sell the extra locally at what I paid for it or even just under local retail prices and end up with a free box of ammo.

Jay

 

[Thegman]

Another 77TMK'd black bear. Terrible shot but the 77TMK still took care of business. Entered left side, broke spine, continued through, broke right shoulder and exited. Blew out at least 2 other spots as well.. Good angle but too high.

Bear mostly tumbled down the mountain and hit the ravine below. Maybe another 150 yards down the ravine. Pretty much done when I got to him. Just a head shot to finish him.

Bullet Path

Entrance

Exit


Apparently the 77TMK allows for some."margin of error" ability, for people like me, just like those big-boy bullets do.

 

[Pharmseller]

Are you shooting it out of a 223? Wondering about close range high impact velocities.

Yes.

Tikka Varmint.




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[Tahr]

2 77TMK’s between the shoulders at 100 yards is a bit brutal.