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

[ztc92]

For those wondering, the AAC 77g OTM shot pretty well in my tikka. About 1.5MOA 10 shot groups. Also happy to report all 1000 rounds are the same lot. Overall, I am quite pleased given the price.

 

[andrew_hood27]

Hey all, I’m VERY late to the party here but between this thread and the match bullet thread I’ve learned a ton. I’m an “adult onset” hunter and have hunted the last three years with a 7mm Rem Mag because that’s what all my buddies told me I needed and I didn’t know any better.

One question I’ve got (I’ve made it through about 60pgs so sorry if the answer is in here already) is this… the TMK is touted as being great because it expands immediately, and one of the downside of the Berger is that it has a slightly longer neck length before expanding. I would think the slightly longer neck length would be a positive, since it would minimize meat damage through a shoulder but still cause sufficient damage to the vitals. What am I missing? Thanks in advance!

 

[sierracharlie338]

Hey all, I’m VERY late to the party here but between this thread and the match bullet thread I’ve learned a ton. I’m an “adult onset” hunter and have hunted the last three years with a 7mm Rem Mag because that’s what all my buddies told me I needed and I didn’t know any better.

One question I’ve got (I’ve made it through about 60pgs so sorry if the answer is in here already) is this… the TMK is touted as being great because it expands immediately, and one of the downside of the Berger is that it has a slightly longer neck length before expanding. I would think the slightly longer neck length would be a positive, since it would minimize meat damage through a shoulder but still cause sufficient damage to the vitals. What am I missing? Thanks in advance!

The neck length can be too long for smaller thin game like deer is what seems to worry people about bergers but my experience with them has been great. I also have not shot animals at the distances others here have because we just don’t normally have that available to us here in Texas with all the private land unless you intentionally set your shots up that way.

The TMK performance seems to be the most desirable amongst people on this forum between them and the Bergers. To each their own and fwiw I shoot both

 

[kswaterfowl]

Here is one of the 77 gr tmks I recovered out of a big whitetail. The shot was 205 yds straight on through the chest. The bullet was recovered in the hind quarter.

 

[ElPollo]

Hey all, I’m VERY late to the party here but between this thread and the match bullet thread I’ve learned a ton. I’m an “adult onset” hunter and have hunted the last three years with a 7mm Rem Mag because that’s what all my buddies told me I needed and I didn’t know any better.

One question I’ve got (I’ve made it through about 60pgs so sorry if the answer is in here already) is this… the TMK is touted as being great because it expands immediately, and one of the downside of the Berger is that it has a slightly longer neck length before expanding. I would think the slightly longer neck length would be a positive, since it would minimize meat damage through a shoulder but still cause sufficient damage to the vitals. What am I missing? Thanks in advance!

None of these bullets are necessarily a bad choice. It’s all about what you want to prioritize.

The TMK tends to give you a football shaped wound channel while the Berger, Scenar and other tumble and fragment type bullets provide a wound channel that is more trumpet shaped in most cases. In my own personal experience with the latter, I’ve seen some that pencil or tumble through the onside lung and heart area on deer, only to fragment in the offside lung. I felt like the result was a longer post-shot run and more tracking. That said, using Bergers and Scenars isn’t a bad choice, just different.

On the issue of meat loss with the TMKs, my answer to that is just don’t shoot shoulders. I personally like to eat them and find it wasteful. I do agree that TMKs, ELDMs and ELDXs will damage more meat. It’s just a balance of how much tracking you want to do. If you are hunting in small parcels and having a deer run across a property boundary means it’s in your neighbor’s freezer, the TMK is your hedgehog. If you’re out on the wide open prairie and public land where you can watch your dog run away from you for three days, a Berger or a Barnes may work fine and result a little more meat in the freezer.

Finally, if longer distances and or shorter barrels are your bag, the TMK will likely perform better at lower velocities than a Berger or Scenar. Both of those seem to need about 2000 fps at impact to perform well. Most monos like Barnes need about 2100-2200 fps, ELDMs and ELDXs need about 1800 fps, TMKs seem like they can do pretty well down to 1600-1700 fps.

 

[andrew_hood27]

None of these bullets are necessarily a bad choice. It’s all about what you want to prioritize.

The TMK tends to give you a football shaped wound channel while the Berger, Scenar and other tumble and fragment type bullets provide a wound channel that is more trumpet shaped in most cases. In my own personal experience with the latter, I’ve seen some that pencil or tumble through the onside lung and heart area on deer, only to fragment in the offside lung. I felt like the result was a longer post-shot run and more tracking. That said, using Bergers and Scenars isn’t a bad choice, just different.

On the issue of meat loss with the TMKs, my answer to that is just don’t shoot shoulders. I personally like to eat them and find it wasteful. I do agree that TMKs, ELDMs and ELDXs will damage more meat. It’s just a balance of how much tracking you want to do. If you are hunting in small parcels and having a deer run across a property boundary means it’s in your neighbor’s freezer, the TMK is your hedgehog. If you’re out on the wide open prairie and public land where you can watch your dog run away from you for three days, a Berger or a Barnes may work fine and result a little more meat in the freezer.

Finally, if longer distances and or shorter barrels are your bag, the TMK will likely perform better at lower velocities than a Berger or Scenar. Both of those seem to need about 2000 fps at impact to perform well. Most monos like Barnes need about 2100-2200 fps, ELDMs and ELDXs need about 1800 fps, TMKs seem like they can do pretty well down to 1600-1700 fps.

This is super helpful, thank you!