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

[huntnful]

I bought a Nicon digital camera and I still have a late season cow elk rab and brand new tikka t3 223 shooting 75 eldms hopefully I'll be able to contribute..

That would be excellent!

 

[bcmntgoathunter.]

That would be excellent!

Sorry about the spelling mistakes im enjoying some Christmas rum while I cook dinner.......gotta hydrate while I wait.lol

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

“Seated at 2.340 OAL in Waters Mags, appx .0150 off the lands.”

Shit that throats short. I found the lands for 80 eld ms are 2.44 in my rifle. How do they group in yours mine hates them atleast with 4895? Like 4 inch 10 shot groups

@Stocky Sorry, I mean 2.43” OAL. Transposed the numbers. Basically throated the same as yours.

 

[77TMK]

Dropped a 9 point Mississippi buck from around 75 yards as it was running. Managed a quartering away shot into liver and right lung. Liquified a good basketball size area on the opposing side and the cup and core were a quarter inch away from exiting the hide when I skinned it.

24.0 TAC with 77 TMK from a 14.5 URGI. Was literally on my way to my sitting spot and spooked this one on the way in during the afternoon. It ran maybe 50 yards. Weighed it to 173 lbs before any cutting. Kinda thankful deer down here are a tad smaller so I can lift them by myself into the truck.

 

[Tahr]

80 grn Berger jacketed custom. 2850MV. 2450 impact velocity. 1065 ft lb impact.
This is culling. Meat to charity.

Exit


Vid

 

[JohnDough]

I used the MK318 Mod 0 in Afghanistan out of a Mk18 and can attest that it's performance from near contact distance out to around 250-300 yards is more than adequate for what we were using it for, but I had never thought to try it on any game animals.

And out of curiosity, isn't the Black Hills Dual Performance basically their version of the Mk318 Mod 1? If so, and based on what some of my friends who used the Mod 1 on later deployments have told me, I would think that would be almost the perfect mono metal round for those who either want or are required to not use lead core ammo

Your take is similar to mine, but the MK318 0 SOST seems to have more "confetti" to it, due to the lead core. It also seemed more destructive on entrance and exit on the deer I show (both broadside). I'd say it's probably more similar to MK318 MOD 1 SOST.

Ultimately, I found the 70gr TSX more to my liking. When I hit deer with it, it blows blood out of the animal at the impact site. The Dual Performance so far has not. Very minimal blood trail even with a low shot on the chest through the very heart. MK318 MOD 0 was pretty nasty in comparison.

All 3 get the job done, but I prefer the 70gr TSX.

 

[JohnDough]

Wish I could find more 75gr GD…they worked well.

They work fine, but their BC is nowhere near 0.4 G1, more like 0.28 G1. Keep that in mind. The floor for them seems to be 16-1800fps.

 

[Sadler]

I would love to see an elk hunting kill shot vid of a .223.





P

I should be able to get you one by the end of next month.

 

[Gstew1930]

80 grn Berger jacketed custom. 2850MV. 2450 impact velocity. 1065 ft lb impact.
This is culling. Meat to charity.

Exit
View attachment 812092

Vid

Which one? the 80 grain VLD or or the fullbore 80.5? this looks nasty

 

[Thegman]

They work fine, but their BC is nowhere near 0.4 G1, more like 0.28 G1. Keep that in mind. The floor for them seems to be 16-1800fps.

I tested the TMJ practice version with a lab radar (supposed to be .411 as well). I got about .3 G1. Kind of took the wind out of my sails on using them. Going to hit 1,800 fps by 350 or so in my rifle. There are other bullets that can take that to 550, and have a lot more gas in the tank at 350.

 

[Chris_in_Idaho]

I tested the TMJ practice version with a lab radar (supposed to be .411 as well). I got about .3 G1. Kind of took the wind out of my sails on using them. Going to hit 1,800 fps by 350 or so in my rifle. There are other bullets that can take that to 550, and have a lot more gas in the tank at 350.

Is that this bullet?

 

[Thegman]

Is that this bullet?

View attachment 812206

Yes

 

[Chris_in_Idaho]

I've been curious about those. How did they group for you?

 

[77TMK]

Those performed like trash for me. Over 2” groups from a precision barrel.

The Hornady 75 gr BTHP is only 23 cents in bulk. Midsouth has the Hornady copies of the 77 SMK for 21 cents.

 

[omicron1792]

223 77TMK.
2703mv
50 yard shot.
Whitetail doe.

High shoulder bang flop.

It just works.

 

[Thegman]

I've been curious about those. How did they group for you?

I only shot a few checking their BC, so didn't develop loads/shoot for groups. They did look like they were going to shoot okay in my rifle.

 

[Reddish]

I tested the TMJ practice version with a lab radar (supposed to be .411 as well). I got about .3 G1. Kind of took the wind out of my sails on using them. Going to hit 1,800 fps by 350 or so in my rifle. There are other bullets that can take that to 550, and have a lot more gas in the tank at 350.

Tipped version that are coming out will help with that.

I mainly use them bc they expanded rapidly, but don’t cause excess meat damage. If I’m hunting timber I’m not shooting more than 125yds anyway. 62gr are not the most accurate in my rifle, but have worked fine out to 350yds for whitetail.

 

[Tahr]

Which one? the 80 grain VLD or or the fullbore 80.5? this looks nasty

Neither. This is a guy using Berger jackets and his own proprietary lead mix for the core. Especially for hunting and excellent performance. Made in NZ but cant be exported to the US (part of the agreement with Berger).

 

[david2duck]

Project for my 5 year old. We bought a T3X Hunter that was already cut to 16” and threaded. Chopped 3” off the stock, taped it off, then sprayed it down with Rust-Oleum’s textured paint. Then let my little guy pick out his colors and have some fun. He painted the whole thing by himself, with a touch of guidance. Now we just need to glue on a flip flop butt pad and put a @Salmon River Solutions arca/pic rail. Tested fired it before doing the work and it shot 12 rounds of ADI 69 smk’s into 1.3.

 

[Hoosker Doo]

Up until yesterday, my only experience hunting big game with a .223 was when my wife shot an antelope buck 4 or 5 years ago with my AR at 200 yards using 62 gr Federal Fusion. Despite being a low/brisket shot the buck walked a few steps and bedded down. We moved in to about 80 yards and put one in the boiler room to finish him.

After seeing that and reading this thread, I wasn't very hesitant about getting a .223 set up for my kids to start shooting in the next few years, and so that I could try it out on some deer. I'm using 73 gr. ELD-M due to a 1-9 twist. (I went with a Savage 110 for a lefty compact off the shelf. 20" barrel. I know it's a Savage. But I won't really care when my teenager in 5 or 6 years drops it, lays it in the mud/rocks, or falls on it hiking in the snow.)

Deer #1 - Mature doe @ 420 yards. Quartering sightly away. Impact velocity 1970ish fps. Entrance was in the last couple ribs. Mule kicked and ran about 80 yards and crashed.
View attachment 799238

The bullet exited the ribs leaving a nickel to quarter sized hole, but didn't exit the offside front shoulder. I couldn't feel a bullet under the hide. The front shoulder had a lot of gooey bloodshot. I'm interested to see what kind of meat damage and bullet fragments I find when I butcher it.View attachment 799239


Deer #2 - Mature buck @ 281 yards. Impact velocity around 2,220 fps. Low chest/heart shot. Entrance was touching the point of the elbow joint with a finger diameter sized entrance through the ribs. Took a chunk out of the side of the heart, and had a dime sized exit through the ribs, and broke the opposite front shoulder. I didn't break down the buck, so I don't really have autopsy pictures, but I could feel a piece of bullet under the hide on the broken offside shoulder so I cut it out and found a deformed chunk of lead about the size of a pencil eraser. Once again, interested to see what that opposite shoulder looks like.
View attachment 799240

At the shot he fell to his face but plowed forward for 10 yards before getting his feet under him. Trotted another 30 yards or so, stopped and looked up, then dropped.

View attachment 799241

My wife also took 2 deer. A 2 1/2 year old buck at 123 yds and a button buck at 270 yds using a 6.5 CM with 143 gr ELD-X. All 4 deer were hit in the vitals. All 4 deer were only shot 1 time. All 4 deer ran between 40 and 80 yards and all 4 deer were dead within 20 seconds of being shot. The 6.5 CM did leave bigger holes, but damage between the ribs was indistinguishable. I'm actually wondering if the 6.5 would have done less damage to opposite shoulders (she did not ruin any meat with her shots) because the smaller 73 ELD-M probably entered the opposite shoulder having fragmented to a point similar to buckshot rather than a larger bullet having more mass which would still have a larger mass/shank as it pushed into the shoulder? Or maybe it would just punch a bigger hole along with smaller fragments moving outward.

I couldn't ask for more lethal performance with my shot placement. Only difference is what size/shape of holes do you like in your carcasses.

Edit to fix wrong numbers.

Update after butchering:

The offside humerus on that buck shot at 280 yds with 73 ELD-M was completely shattered with countless bone fragments and many very large ones.

That's a lot of kinetic energy still left in that small already fragmented bullet AFTER completely passing through the nearside elbow, heart and ribcage in and out.

Besides the pencil eraser chunk of lead under the hide, I also found a decent sized copper petal inside the shoulder (circled in red)

Entrance


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