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

[BLJ]

Well I'm a believer now! My son shot a little button buck this morning at around 40yds. 77tmk, 24.2gr varget, cci450s, starline brass. Entrance was on left shoulder and exit was at the point of the right shoulder. Slightly quartered. The deer came up on it back legs and fell over never to get up. This was his first deer with his very own rifle. 16" Tikka, DD wolfhunter, Trijicon Credo 3x9.

Congratulations to the boy.

What’s your velocity with that load? Thanks.

 

[Thegman]

Deer results are getting redundant at this point, but...

7 deer here on Kodiak this week. 4 with 73ELD-M, 3 with 77TMKs.

One went maybe 30 yards, the other six zero yards.

My 3 were with 73ELD-M. Killed great and the jacket base seemed to stay intact a little more than the 77TMKs, but maybe less penetration overall. I only shot spikes, never even saw any bigger bucks. Every year is different.

Hearts were essentially split in two on a couple of mine.

 

[Pharmseller]

Can you take a photo of where the round catches on the bolt like Form did here?

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

Mambamag 10 round. Metal feed lips, follower spring seems quite stiff- A little shorter than an AI 10 rounder- Factory 4 round magazine. Look at amount of base that is presented to the bolt face (black marker is line from Mambamag)- Mambamag, much higher presentation-...

rokslide.com

Sure

 

[SloppyJ]

I love the "Good Luck" on the brass!

Thank you. We loaded up a few together for this hunt. He picked the "one" and i wrote that on there for him. Got a picture of him holding it after he shot too. I thought it was fun.

He also passed on a very large 10pt because it stopped behind a tree while trailing a doe and all he could see was the back half of it. I had a perfect view of it sitting next to him but I was super proud of that moment of control from a 7yo kid. He was hard on himself and then the little button buck came running up. That one will eat better anyway.

 

[PaulDogs]

The Mamba Mag 10 round Tikka 223 mag works well so far through three different Tikka’s.

Will Stone glacier Bino harness mag pouch hold them?

 

[Formidilosus]

Will Stone glacier Bino harness mag pouch hold them?

Yep.

 

[Gettincloser]

I was not even thinking about pictures but we had one heck of a day with the Tikka T3x and 77 TMK. We saw a lot of doeand by 10am decided it was time to head back to the house and shot the pesky chattery squirel. Hit quartering towards but mostly facing me. Front half of squirlooked like a canoe! The "tenderloins" and hind legs were still there so they went in a pot. On our walk back, we spot a flock of turkey. My brother shot a Tom. Full pass through but interesting enough, we captured the jacket of the bullet in the turkey. (In and out the hip joints on both sides...) then the evening hunt I was able to get a good mature buck with a small 1" drop tine! Last light, quartered to. Shot hit just in front of the point of the shoulder, taking out the top of the heart and the front of both lungs. The bullet did not tough the liner of the ribs on the far side. (At that angle, I would not expect it to.) The deer went all of 3 feet... straight down! No recoil, suppressed, no drama, this is delightful!

Here is an after photo of the squirrel and turkey. My phone was dead so I will wait to get photos of the buck. Great weekend of filling the freezer.

 

[Chris_in_Idaho]

Nice. I wish we could shoot Turkeys with rifles in Idaho. I see Turkeys every time I'm hunting something else...

 

[The Guide]

Nice. I wish we could shoot Turkeys with rifles in Idaho. I see Turkeys every time I'm hunting something else...

We can in the fall in Montana. I have yet to do it but our season runs until January 1st so there is time aster big game season.

Jay

 

[Reddish]

I was not even thinking about pictures but we had one heck of a day with the Tikka T3x and 77 TMK. We saw a lot of doeand by 10am decided it was time to head back to the house and shot the pesky chattery squirel. Hit quartering towards but mostly facing me. Front half of squirlooked like a canoe! The "tenderloins" and hind legs were still there so they went in a pot. On our walk back, we spot a flock of turkey. My brother shot a Tom. Full pass through but interesting enough, we captured the jacket of the bullet in the turkey. (In and out the hip joints on both sides...) then the evening hunt I was able to get a good mature buck with a small 1" drop tine! Last light, quartered to. Shot hit just in front of the point of the shoulder, taking out the top of the heart and the front of both lungs. The bullet did not tough the liner of the ribs on the far side. (At that angle, I would not expect it to.) The deer went all of 3 feet... straight down! No recoil, suppressed, no drama, this is delightful!

Here is an after photo of the squirrel and turkey. My phone was dead so I will wait to get photos of the buck. Great weekend of filling the freezer.

Might need to add squirrel to the title of the thread now…good work!

 

[E.Shell]

Might need to add squirrel to the title of the thread now…good work!

I've gotta admit, I'm surprised the 77 TMK killed a squirrel...and left anything to eat.

 

[SloppyJ]

Congratulations to the boy.

What’s your velocity with that load? Thanks.

Id have to check my notes on that when I get home but I think it's around 2600. None of my loads in this gun were ever really super quick even being close to pressure. I'll take a look at my log when we make it in from hunting this morning.

 

[roosiebull]

Another data point

Shot this buck yesterday with a 77tmk at around 2000fps. Shot was quartered to and got the back of scapula on entrance, came out mid rib cage

The entrance in the cavity was big, probably 1.5” hole you could see through, exit very similar, lungs were completely demo’d

Saw the impact at the shot, he hopped and then started staggering right away, I was tracking him in the scope waiting for him to stop (he was coming my way) and as soon as he stopped I was pressing the trigger and he fell as the trigger broke and I grazed his back on that shot

He was down in less than 10 seconds, can’t ask for any more from a bullet

Bullet entered on the left side

 

[Nomosendero]

I think you got lucky killing that Squirrel with a 77TMK, I use a .458 Lott!

 

[Bubbadoyle]

It's not a matter of ethics. Common sense will tell anyone that a larger caliber will be more effective than a smaller one. Otherwise we'd all be hunting with .22 LR's or better yet, .177 air rifles.

Again, I ask, what's the point? So far, nobody has answered that.

Welp, I'm off to hunt rhinos with a blowgun, just to see if it can be done. Wish me luck!

It’s not common sense. It’s a position taken in what people think would be the case because they’re missing many factors that come into play when it comes to terminal performance. The biggest bullet failures I’ve seen on game was a 300 RUM shooting 180 grain bullets. Bullet diameter is a minimal part of the equation for bullet performance. The two biggest factors are impact velocity and bullet construction. These need to be paired together to produce the desired results. The problem with this is we have 100% control over the bullet we choose so we get the construction we want. What we can’t completely control is impact velocity. Rarely, if ever will a hunter know the exact distance they will be shooting and thus we can’t control impact velocity as it’s dependent on shot distance. From what I’ve seen from following this whole thread is the 77 TMK has a broad impact velocity range where it has been proven to perform great on game from a 223. I have my doubts on its ability to perform the same at close ranges if it’s used in a 22 creedmore or a 220 swift at much higher velocities. The point is that this combination has been proven to be effective on game when used within its impact velocity window. Every combination in every caliber has an optimum velocity window so larger calibers also have these limitations. On the edges of these velocity windows the combinations can still produce the desired results but if we stray too far we can have complete bullet failures and lost game which is what happened with the 300 RUM example I referenced earlier. So to answer your question of what’s the point? The point is this is a proven combination, it’s effective. What else should we be looking for when trying to take game? Many people are choosing this combination for just that reason. I’ve never even fired a TMK but after seeing the results here I’m considering using it, while not in a 223 or 5.56 but in another smaller caliber at approximately the same muzzle velocity. I have tons of other options of larger calibers but I’m considering this combination for Wisconsin whitetails purely from a performance standpoint. I have nothing to prove by using a “smaller” caliber. I’m considering this because of the examples shown in this thread make me believe it’ll serve my purposes perfectly from zero yards out to the maximum range I’d ever expect to be shooting a deer and that’s something that has been a struggle with many of the larger calibers. Sure they’ll perform well at a distance where impact velocity is slower but finding a bullet that’ll perform from zero to max shot distance is not always an easy task.


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[Bubbadoyle]

I wouldnt want a .223 to fight off a large brown, polar, or grizzly bear but it would sure beat a sharp stick.

I agree but there’s also lots of calibers I’d have no problem shooting one of these bears with that I wouldn’t want to use to fight one off. I see hunting cartridges and bear protection cartridges as two different categories.


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[Bubbadoyle]

Haha!


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My thoughts exactly.


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[Ajsomp]

Tikka t3x stainless 223 chopped to 18”
Black hills 77gr tmk
MV 2758
White tail doe roughly 130 lb at 147 yards
DRT

Shot was taken just before last light. She lined up broadside and I placed the shot through the right shoulder. She dropped dead immediately. The round was resting on the inside of the hide on the left shoulder. My buddies hunting nearby were laughing because they heard the suppressed shot and an exceptionally loud meat slap.

No autopsy photos because I was in a rush to help up a buddy after he shot a buck and couldn’t find it. It did spark a great conversation with a few people back at camp who previously argued soft point bullets were more effective, despite losing deer or missing on this trip. I think the three deer I shot and the manner of which they died swayed some guys.

 

[SloppyJ]

My boy got another one this morning same as yesterday. This was a small 8pt. 16" Tikka 223 with 77tmks over 24.2gr varget in starline brass. He bucked when shot and we watched him fall 25yds past that. For southern whitetails, not sure what else you would need. I think I'll be building a left handed version with a Maven instead of the trijicon.

Entrance wound under the shoulder and exit through the offside shoulder.

 

[N2TRKYS]

My boy got another one this morning same as yesterday. This was a small 8pt. 16" Tikka 223 with 77tmks over 24.2gr varget in starline brass. He bucked when shot and we watched him fall 25yds past that. For southern whitetails, not sure what else you would need. I think I'll be building a left handed version with a Maven instead of the trijicon.

Entrance wound under the shoulder and exit through the offside shoulder.

If I could get consistent exits, I would keep using them. Unfortunately, I’m 100% at no exits on deer I’ve shot. My search continues for a better bullet for my 223.