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

Lawnboi

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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!
Particularly on deer, the neck length means you may not be causing damage for the first half of the wound channel. For that reason I choose to not use bergers regardless of caliber for smaller sized game. Have seen much faster kills with tmk/eld style bullets. Keep it off the shoulder and meat damage will be minimized.
 

Poe

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Particularly on deer, the neck length means you may not be causing damage for the first half of the wound channel. For that reason I choose to not use bergers regardless of caliber for smaller sized game. Have seen much faster kills with tmk/eld style bullets. Keep it off the shoulder and meat damage will be minimized.
I’m not saying that you are wrong but I had really good results with the 87 and 95gr Berger’s out of a .243 on white tails but I also didn’t have a very large sample. The 87’s also knocked down coyotes pretty good to
 

Lawnboi

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I’m not saying that you are wrong but I had really good results with the 87 and 95gr Berger’s out of a .243 on white tails but I also didn’t have a very large sample. The 87’s also knocked down coyotes pretty good to
I’m guessing they were moving pretty good? Fast velocity seems to be a factor that brings them more in line. Most Berger kills I have and have seen are with the 6.5mm variety.
 
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Well, I've got a line on a jug of 8208. But this isn't my main hunting gun and have other items that take higher priority for this year. So.... Dang.

I haven't found many reports of accurate 2520 here, just a few. Both that and Lever seem like good options for speed. Are they accurate?

Perhaps since I'm using a 16" barrel I should use a faster powder like benchmark that might not give as much up as a slower powder in a short barrel, like varget or 2520. But, has that myth been busted for a 16" 223?

The plan was to just go with benchmark, lever, staball match, or 2520 since I can find them locally and affordably for 1lb. But then I went and found a couple 1lbers and a jug of 8208! I really want that unicorn dust but don't know if I can justify it 😅

Anyway, black arc 77otm reman seems to shoot ok in my factory 223. This is 20shots. I think I had 120ish rounds down the barrel before these. Didn't get velocity. Had 1 cull out of a box of 50. The neck mouth was folded over and it chambered very hard and cause a bit of shaving on the bullet on the opposite side. I didn't fire it. Single shot wolf brass from a range is what the owner said. It's not bad for 0.063/round. It was gusty left to right. I didn't hold for wind and I'm pretty sure the 2 shots to the right were during a gust.
1000002177.jpg
 

Juan_ID

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Well, I've got a line on a jug of 8208. But this isn't my main hunting gun and have other items that take higher priority for this year. So.... Dang.

I haven't found many reports of accurate 2520 here, just a few. Both that and Lever seem like good options for speed. Are they accurate?

Perhaps since I'm using a 16" barrel I should use a faster powder like benchmark that might not give as much up as a slower powder in a short barrel, like varget or 2520. But, has that myth been busted for a 16" 223?

The plan was to just go with benchmark, lever, staball match, or 2520 since I can find them locally and affordably for 1lb. But then I went and found a couple 1lbers and a jug of 8208! I really want that unicorn dust but don't know if I can justify it 😅

Anyway, black arc 77otm reman seems to shoot ok in my factory 223. This is 20shots. I think I had 120ish rounds down the barrel before these. Didn't get velocity. Had 1 cull out of a box of 50. The neck mouth was folded over and it chambered very hard and cause a bit of shaving on the bullet on the opposite side. I didn't fire it. Single shot wolf brass from a range is what the owner said. It's not bad for 0.063/round. It was gusty left to right. I didn't hold for wind and I'm pretty sure the 2 shots to the right were during a gust.
View attachment 833146
Where are you located and how much is the jug of xbr? Currently sitting on 2 but do wish I’d have snagged another one or 2 a couple years back when it could be had for $250 a jug.
 

Poe

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I’m guessing they were moving pretty good? Fast velocity seems to be a factor that brings them more in line. Most Berger kills I have and have seen are with the 6.5mm variety.
Yeah they both had around 2900 ish muzzle velocities and all kills on deer were between 200 and 300 yards. I never did push them out far enough on game to see what lower impact velocities looked like.
 

Thegman

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I haven't found many reports of accurate 2520 here, just a few. Both that and Lever seem like good options for speed. Are they accurate?

Perhaps since I'm using a 16" barrel I should use a faster powder like benchmark that might not give as much up as a slower powder in a short barrel, like varget or 2520. But, has that myth been busted for a 16" 223?

The plan was to just go with benchmark, lever, staball match, or 2520 since I can find them locally and affordably for 1lb. But then I went and found a couple 1lbers and a jug of 8208! I really want that unicorn dust but don't know if I can justify it 😅
View attachment 833146

2520 has worked well for me with respect to velocity and accuracy with stuff from 73 grains
to 88 grains. LVR has worked well for velocity, but less so for accuracy, for me.

I haven't tried it yet, but Shooters World Match (their version of 2520) might be another good option to 2520 and LVR.

All this has been from 16" barrels. I've not found Benchmark or other faster powders to beat the above powders for speed, in anything 16 inches or longer, anyway.
 
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Has anyone heard/used ammo from Super Vel? I picked up 100rds of their 77gr OTM in 223. My buddy and I shot a ten round group last week with it from the 16” ARs and it wasn’t bad, but it was colder than what we normally shoot in. Good groups just a touch off from our zeros. This week I plan on doing some more group work with it to see how it performs.
 

Pescetism

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I haven't tried it yet, but Shooters World Match (their version of 2520) might be another good option to 2520 and LVR.
I have found decent velocity - 20" AR 2815 fps w/ 75 gr Gold Dots - but not stellar accuracy although my sample size is small and that barrel may not love that bullet and/or powder. I've also seen pressure spikes at the top end of 5.56 load data. So far I like Shooters World AR Plus better.

The biggest issue is finding either one available but I'm sure it's out there somewhere.
 
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For someone that does not reload is there 77gr hunting ammo commercial available. What I found looks like to be for target shooting. Maybe I’m looking in the wrong place. I’ve got a 223 for my youngest boy to deer hunt with and the 55 gr have not been impressive. Any advice is appreciated.
 

wesfromky

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