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

[sneaky]

I know this has been rehashed over and over, and this question has been answered 200 times probably already. I'm outta screen time and trying to decide.

I've got an ID elk and deer tag. Looks like no caliber minimums.

I've spent a thousand bucks in the last month trying different loads in my 300 WM and 7RM. I'm accurate enough to about 400 yards right now. But if 4-500 yards ends up my max, what do I gain over the 223/5.56?

My 5.56 bolt gun is very accurate with both 73 eldm's and 77 TMK's. Both with factory ammo. I do reload, but don't enjoy it. I have plenty of componets to load the 77 TMK, and assume I could beat factory offering velocities I've seen.

I ran the ELD M and TMK through Bergers Calculator.

I'm really struggling with this right now, and want to dedicate my range time to one rifle. My free time is very limited, and I feel like I'm going in circles.

I can afford a new rifle/barrel if I should change caliber.View attachment 824587View attachment 824588

You won't be hunting at zero feet of elevation anywhere in Idaho. I'd fix those numbers first and look at the specs. Seems pretty slow at 100 for the 73s at first glance

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[The Guide]

You won't be hunting at zero feet of elevation anywhere in Idaho. I'd fix those numbers first and look at the specs. Seems pretty slow at 100 for the 73s at first glance

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While you're not wrong about the elevation, depending upon the barrel length that 100 yard velocity might be close. My 16" RAR shoots the Factory 73eldm ammo at 2534 mv and at 4000' the 100 yard velocity is 2320 fps. I haven't run that ammo in any other of my 223 rifles so I can't give speeds on longer barrels. Short barreled 223 rifles aren't the best for open country hunting but can get you close to 400 yards depending upon elevation.

Jay

 

[Truck24hr]

You won't be hunting at zero feet of elevation anywhere in Idaho. I'd fix those numbers first and look at the specs. Seems pretty slow at 100 for the 73s at first glance

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While you're not wrong about the elevation, depending upon the barrel length that 100 yard velocity might be close. My 16" RAR shoots the Factory 73eldm ammo at 2534 mv and at 4000' the 100 yard velocity is 2320 fps. I haven't run that ammo in any other of my 223 rifles so I can't give speeds on longer barrels. Short barreled 223 rifles aren't the best for open country hunting but can get you close to 400 yards depending upon elevation.

Jay

Yeah, the MV of the factory ELDM was around 2630 out of my 20".

I loaded some 77 TMK's and am averaging 2855 IIRC.

My hunt will be 7k' ish. I ran that velo and elevation through the ballistic calculator,.

It ran the 77TMK over 1800fps to 660 yards IIRC

 

[HighUintas]

Here's some AAC speeds with my 16" stainless Tikka 223. Slower than I expected. I'm using a Caldwell Chrono. It generally seems to be pretty accurate and these were a lot slower than Hornady black 223 75bthp (close to 2700). I noticed the Chrono was set up with the target side slightly lower, but not a ton. That could contribute to lower recorded speed I think.

The 77s seemed to shoot up the case nearly down to the web.... That's not right. And the primers for both were very rounded with very deep primer indents. Almost like the 77 cartridges were undercharged with powder. I have shot other branded 5.56 77 otm (same bullet) that recorded 2634avg... Same day/setup as these AAC 77s

What do you guys think?



77s

 

[Snowhunter11]

I am putting together a 16” Tikka as we speak. Did you ever test 77 TMK AAC for avg MV?

 

[Yung6ix]

I wouldn't put money on it. The .223 is a decent round for what it is intended to do and it was never intended to shoot large game species. Get your Mini 14 and pick up a .44 Magnum pistol to carry as a side arm in the event of a bear attack. Better yet get something in .308. Then you can hunt most any game in the lower 48 including black bear.

 

[WI-Carcosa]

Here's some AAC speeds with my 16" stainless Tikka 223. Slower than I expected. I'm using a Caldwell Chrono. It generally seems to be pretty accurate and these were a lot slower than Hornady black 223 75bthp (close to 2700). I noticed the Chrono was set up with the target side slightly lower, but not a ton. That could contribute to lower recorded speed I think.

The 77s seemed to shoot up the case nearly down to the web.... That's not right. And the primers for both were very rounded with very deep primer indents. Almost like the 77 cartridges were undercharged with powder. I have shot other branded 5.56 77 otm (same bullet) that recorded 2634avg... Same day/setup as these AAC 77s

What do you guys think?

View attachment 836510View attachment 836511

77s
View attachment 836512View attachment 836513

This tracks with my AAC TMK experience on MV, 2650 out of a 16.5” tikka.

 

[Kaleb]

I wouldn't put money on it. The .223 is a decent round for what it is intended to do and it was never intended to shoot large game species. Get your Mini 14 and pick up a .44 Magnum pistol to carry as a side arm in the event of a bear attack. Better yet get something in .308. Then you can hunt most any game in the lower 48 including black bear.

Maybe someone will come along and share their results shooting large game. Have you seen poor results shooting large game species with the chambering and bullets being discussed?

 

[HighUintas]

I am putting together a 16” Tikka as we speak. Did you ever test 77 TMK AAC for avg MV?

I haven't.

 

[atmat]

I wouldn't put money on it. The .223 is a decent round for what it is intended to do and it was never intended to shoot large game species. Get your Mini 14 and pick up a .44 Magnum pistol to carry as a side arm in the event of a bear attack. Better yet get something in .308. Then you can hunt most any game in the lower 48 including black bear.

Did you read any portion of the thread before spewing this?

 

[gman82001]

Did you read any portion of the thread before spewing this?

Pretty sure he just cut and paste it from a couple pages ago it seems word for word of a post a couple weeks ago

 

[atmat]

Pretty sure he just cut and paste it from a couple pages ago it seems word for word of a post a couple weeks ago

Straight from the “need 10 posts for the classifieds” handbook