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

[bcmntgoathunter.]

Does anyone know of anywhere selling factory loaded 77 tmk in Canada? Primer shop is apparently a scam

Have you tryed shooters choice kitchener ont and ellwood epps also in Ontario?

 

[Grizzle]

Have you tryed shooters choice kitchener ont and ellwood epps also in Ontario?

Have not but will give them a call, thanks!

 

[bcmntgoathunter.]

Have not but will give them a call, thanks!

No problem also hirch shooting supply in bc or corlanes in dawson bc might have stuff or get you what you need i live up in fsj and deal with them alot. But I hand load

To be quite frank I'm in the camp that would prefer more penetration than the 73 gr ELD-M generally offers, but in the context of anti-personnel terminal ballistics, ~15" is actually very solid. Now the reason why we're seeing that much penetration in this case probably has something to do with the bullet passing through some amount of low density tissue (e.g. lung) and/or empty space as opposed to pure muscle, but stuff like IWBA-informed testing leans more towards a somewhat conservative assumption that gel penetration will be roughly analogous to bodily penetration - disproportionate toughness of exit side skin notwithstanding - and ~12" of bodily penetration is sufficient to reach vitals from pretty much any realistic angle.

Obviously quartering animals can be a different story due to the differing anatomy and the possibility of more unconventional shooting positions, and a bullet that penetrates 14-16" on this kind of thoracic/shoulder shot could call for a measure of prudence on certain shot angles.

I feel the same way about the 73 eldm it dose work quite well tho that's why o also grabbed some 75 berger vld and 80.5 berger full bore should give me a bit more penetration but still be frangable

 

[Grizzle]

Thanks, was just at corlanes and backcountry with no luck. Western metal has been getting tmk component bullets but was hoping to not have to load for the .223 as I load for others and would like to spend more time shooting and less loading on the high volume rifle.

 

[bcmntgoathunter.]

Thanks, was just at corlanes and backcountry with no luck. Western metal has been getting tmk component bullets but was hoping to not have to load for the .223 as I load for others and would like to spend more time shooting and less loading on the high volume rifle.

True I get ya on that reloading to me is relaxing so if I gotta sit down stairs on my rcbs rock chucker for 2-3 hrs so be it lol.... you from the bc side up here? I'm looking for more guys to hunt with I'm mainly into mnt goats and elk but hunt predators thru the winter coyotes and wolves mainly but know where to get mnt lion and lynx.

 

[bearcreekbandit]

TX whitetail buck, with an 80-grain ELD-X. Savage 110 with a 5.56x45 chamber, loaded to max book .223 Rem. 2.395" COL, MV: 2685 fps. Shot was 115 yards, around 2500 impact velocity. Quartering to, hit low/rear portion of scapula, punched about a 2" hole out the back side of shoulder, coke can wound channel through chest cavity, exited middle ribs, exit wound a little bigger than a penny. Overall, about 16" long wound channel. Steady blood from the shot to recovery (60 yards).
Pig was 225 yards, shot in neck, bang-flop, no exit.

 

[NoveskeEnjoyer]

TX whitetail buck, with an 80-grain ELD-X. Savage 110 with a 5.56x45 chamber, loaded to max book .223 Rem. 2.395" COL, MV: 2685 fps. Shot was 115 yards, around 2500 impact velocity. Quartering to, hit low/rear portion of scapula, punched about a 2" hole out the back side of shoulder, coke can wound channel, exited middle ribs, exit wound a little bigger than a penny. Overall, about 16" long wound channel. Steady blood from the shot to recovery (60 yards).
Pig was 225 yards, shot in neck, bang-flop, no exit.

Nice buck!

 

[GiantGreg]

I never even considered putting a piggyback sight on a bolt gun makes sense for brush and timbered shots…how you liking it?

Not killed yet with the offset but I really really like it practice.
The reason i did it is I hunt a lot of brush so a 5 yard shot is very high. Also I’ve had issues where a 3x power is to much

When ya bump one.
Since I got fixed 6x on this it seems very like best solution for those close snap shots.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SamsonMan22]

It’s a good thing the bear was small or else it may have bounced off this dreaded shoulder…

 

[cowdisciple]

My Thanksgiving present finally made its long roundabout way to SEAK.

 

[Gettincloser]

We are adding a few more to the board! Getting my brothers on board and even my nephew. According to my brother, we have been on a 223 rampage.
I got an 8pt at 86 yds quarter to just inside the point of the shoulder taking out the top of heart and front of both lungs. Dropped and no tracking.
Brother shot a turkey (98 yards) Caught the jacket in the bird. DRT
Same brother shot a nice 4x5 in the neck at 84 yards (mid neck through the spine). Dropped DRT.
Dad got a long horn spike at 92 yards. Neck shot (base of head) DRT

Lots of shots under 100 yards!

I am wanting to make a broadside lung shot so I can experience the 40 yard run and no/minimal blood trail and see how I feel then. A 22lr to the spine will bring them down. But I want to see (for myself) what the result of a true lung shot looks like. Nephew who had not started shooting until recently is sinking shots out to 84 yards perfectly! Might try to get him on a deer.

 

[NoveskeEnjoyer]

Snagged this big doe with a 77gr TMK at 100 yards. Lung shot behind the shoulder, she rand about 25 yards before dropping dead.

No blood trail but the lungs were turned into soup upon impact. Not sure if I'll use another round for white tail from here on out.

 

[deer_hunter132]

Need some feedback. First time deer hunting in 13yrs.
2740fps 77tmk
TN whitetails
First doe turned back, took the shot thru the neck, in/out and hit the front shoulder area. Did some damage to exterior of the shoulder meat. She flopped around awhile unfortunately.
2nd doe, did the ouch that hurt run for maybe 40yds and then fell over.
3rd doe, double backed and ran. I found no blood, looked a little bit in the area of the woods for the deer.
4th deer, spike. DRT.
Unfortunately we had truck troubles and was not able to go look for the 3rd doe. It was not cold enough and it would spoil over night.
Today, 6pt came out, hit him and he bucked up and started moving. Fired two more in rapid so i didnt have a repeat.
Made it maybe 20yds from 1st shot.
Not a single visible drop of blood. Couldn't find a bullet hole. Did eventually find one on the rear stomach area, im assuming from a follow up shot.
I did not open the chest for necropsy.
Opposite shoulder was blood shot some, chest was full of dark blood.
Is it common for there to be no visible hole or blood?
NGL it kind of scares me since i cant track at all.
Dad shot two with a 7mm 139 SST downloaded to about 2700-2800 muzzle fps, 45 and 75yds, massive exit holes and alot more damage.

I feel terrible for missing/wounding/killing that 3rd doe and not knowing is eating at me.

 

[Deere_Man]

Need some feedback. First time deer hunting in 13yrs.
2740fps 77tmk
TN whitetails
First doe turned back, took the shot thru the neck, in/out and hit the front shoulder area. Did some damage to exterior of the shoulder meat. She flopped around awhile unfortunately.
2nd doe, did the ouch that hurt run for maybe 40yds and then fell over.
3rd doe, double backed and ran. I found no blood, looked a little bit in the area of the woods for the deer.
4th deer, spike. DRT.
Unfortunately we had truck troubles and was not able to go look for the 3rd doe. It was not cold enough and it would spoil over night.
Today, 6pt came out, hit him and he bucked up and started moving. Fired two more in rapid so i didnt have a repeat.
Made it maybe 20yds from 1st shot.
Not a single visible drop of blood. Couldn't find a bullet hole. Did eventually find one on the rear stomach area, im assuming from a follow up shot.
I did not open the chest for necropsy.
Opposite shoulder was blood shot some, chest was full of dark blood.
Is it common for there to be no visible hole or blood?
NGL it kind of scares me since i cant track at all.
Dad shot two with a 7mm 139 SST downloaded to about 2700-2800 muzzle fps, 45 and 75yds, massive exit holes and alot more damage.

I feel terrible for missing/wounding/killing that 3rd doe and not knowing is eating at me.View attachment 796635

I lost one once while shooting a 308. It happens.

 

[deer_hunter132]

In my younger years i lost a few because i flinched from 7mm RM recoil. Im done with magnums.

I also brought my .243w with 95 NBT and 108 Berger elites. Tempted to try the bergers to see what it does.

@form
could you shed some light on my last post related to the no blood at all "issue".

 

[hunterjmj]

here's another with the Tikka t3x 223 shooting factory 73 eldm's. Shot was 50ish yards entrance went through the leg bone just above the knuckle below the scapula, took out the arteries above the heart, severe damage to the lungs and exited the opposite ribs. Will post more pics tomorrow. Anyhow, that combo did it again and I'm more than impressed. He mule kicked at the shot and ran maybe 40-50 yards.

 

[np307]

I killed my first deer with TMKs this evening. I liked the 62gr fusion I used last year, but wanted to check these out. Aac 77gr. Spike came in about 40 yards, I shot and he mule kicked and ran off out of sight. This area is mainly thick pines so I knew the lack of blood trail was a possible issue. I shot the deer at 1705, got down a few minutes later to check blood and couldn't find anything. By the time I got back up in the stand to make sure I was looking in the right direction, it had gotten basically dark.

I tried cutting circles around the shot site and found nothing. I started cutting circles along direction of travel and couldnt find anything. I eventually decided to back out and come get my dog and go try to find the deer that way. Along the way I kept replaying everything and I was confident I had made a good shot and seen a mule kick. I put Daisy on the track and she started following a deer trail in the general direction of travel but I could tell she wasn't following a particular deer. I reset her and let her air scent a little. She stuck her nose in the ground and started snorting and I knew she found it. She pulled tight on the least for about 40 yards then threw her head up and started looking. I looked too and saw the spike laying dead around where I had been cutting circles. I probably walked past him 2 times, but his belly was tucked and he blended into the pines really well.

Shot was perfect. Blew up the heart and the bullet was caught by the hide on the offside. Tough to track with no blood though. I knew that this was a possibility using this combination, I'd like to shoot a few more before I decide whether to stick with it or go back to the fusions (which gave me a blood trail at the expense of carnage.

 

[LimeSpoon]

In my younger years i lost a few because i flinched from 7mm RM recoil. Im done with magnums.

I also brought my .243w with 95 NBT and 108 Berger elites. Tempted to try the bergers to see what it does.

@form
could you shed some light on my last post related to the no blood at all "issue".

I think I can answer that question for you, it's been discussed here and elsewhere.

The truth is that while I think 77 gr TMK has shown itself pretty well to be a robust killer of most North American game provided decent shot placement, it can't be relied upon to exit consistently and even when it does, it can't be relied upon to produce a blood trail consistently.

For most people this probably doesn't override considerations like recoil, weight, platform benefits, etc. Most people probably wouldn't be using a bullet that consistently produces a blood trail regardless.

For some people this aspect of bullet performance may be very important, especially in dense brush. Sad to say but in these cases 77 gr TMK, or really just about any .223, is probably not the optimal choice.

At the end of the day smaller calibers are still less powerful and have less horsepower to work with than larger calibers. For the purposes of simple, nominal lethality, this isn't usually a practical limitation for most game at most ranges. But if you want the bullet to do some other things beyond just kill quickly with good shot placement, you're going to run into issues.

 

[ihookem]

I lost one once while shooting a 308. It happens.

Lost a few with my bow too. Yep , it happens , but never lost one when it went through the boiler room. As for 22 cal. being so good for deer, I think the reason is , cause it's the perfect size for deer. When I used my .270 Win. Deer would go 100 yds full bore when shot through the boiler room. Now I use my .243 Win. and they just dont go as far . It turns the inside to mush , and the .270 Win didnt seem to do that .

 

[deer_hunter132]

The 40 acres we have to hunt is realistically two spots of open field with thick trees/brush. You cant see a full grown cow thru the stuff at 15yds. Its great deer habitat but im concerned with the lack of blood for tracking.
That being said, will the 95 NBT or 108 berger be better for leaving a blood trail?
The other option is quick follow up shots, which the AR is good for, unlike my .243 bolt gun.