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

[Drenalin]

For something that short one of the Primary Arms 3x or so would be sweet.

I went with PA SLx 3x32…have read they’re durable, and that magnification should get me far enough for the velocity to fall off a cliff. Now I need one of these newfangled threaded Tikkas in a Bravo, with a real scope.

 

[Timjohnson11]

Decided to join the club, well kind of… First .223, first gas gun. Built up a Geissele Super Duty in 22 ARC with a 12.5” barrel. Went with the AR platform so it’d be more adjustable with my 8 and 6 year old to learn and grow with given LOP adjustment. Also allowed me to use the same trigger and grip as my Seekins Slam 6 Creed hunting rig to try and have a familiar feeling set up to train with without breaking the bank. Excited to play around with this with the kids this summer. It’s shooting much better than i had expected.

 

[Deere_Man]

With a 12.5” barrel, you’re probably going to be getting velocity close to a 223 Rem with a 24” barrel. Factory Hornady 75gr 22 ARC lists at 3075, I figure that 12.5” will shave 250fps.

 

[Timjohnson11]

With a 12.5” barrel, you’re probably going to be getting velocity close to a 223 Rem with a 24” barrel. Factory Hornady 75gr 22 ARC lists at 3075, I figure that 12.5” will shave 250fps.

2675” w/ factory Hornady Black 75 ELDM
2625” w/ factory Hornady Hunter 80 ELDX
2570” w/ factory Hornady Match 88 ELDM

Garmin Xero

 

[FredH]

2675” w/ factory Hornady Black 75 ELDM
2625” w/ factory Hornady Hunter 80 ELDX
2570” w/ factory Hornady Match 88 ELDM

Garmin Xero

Probably closer to losing 350 fps. My AR 16" 22 ARC isn't giving me 22" 223 bolt velocities.

 

[Truck24hr]

8208 in stock at Midway FYI

 

[david2duck]

My 5 year old got his first kill with his 16” Tikka .223, SWFA fixed 6, with a DD wolf hunter on the front. 248 yard shot on a rock chuck.

 

[Knightstormz]

Missed this one. Cool deer and nice mount.

Did you get a pass through? Blood? What area is it from?

No pass through , He was facing me at 90 yards maybe. Gave him the heart shot that’s all she wrote.
He was in the southeast corner of Alabama.

 

[sierracharlie338]

My 5 year old got his first kill with his 16” Tikka .223, SWFA fixed 6, with a DD wolf hunter on the front. 248 yard shot on a rock chuck.
View attachment 875510

That’s outstanding. What was his shooting set up? Tripod, shooting sticks, prone?

 

[david2duck]

That’s outstanding. What was his shooting set up? Tripod, shooting sticks, prone?

Prone of the new tricer bipod with a LS Wild triple s rear bag. The rock chuck was really hard to see so he got into my 15’s to find him and then got setup and made a great shot.

 

[justinspicher]

That’s awesome, he looks like he just shot a trophy of a lifetime. Hard to beat that smile!

 

[xsn10s]

Prone of the new tricer bipod with a LS Wild triple s rear bag. The rock chuck was really hard to see so he got into my 15’s to find him and then got setup and made a great shot.

Looks like a headshot. Great job, awesome training for future hunting!

 

[SBR Sarge]

Black Hills 77TMK in stock….

Black Hills Ammunition | Tactical Link

 

[HGL]

Had PVA do up an 18", 1-7 twist, .223 Wylde barrel for my Bighorn. Seems to prefer the 80 gr ELDm so far, so I'll probably test that out on some pigs this summer. The only downside is that my 6mm creed feels like too much recoil now, ha.

 

[fwafwow]

Black Hills 77TMK in stock….

Black Hills Ammunition | Tactical Link

But they are blems! TFIC

 

[justinspicher]

But they are blems! TFIC

Still better than nothing.

 

[fwafwow]

Still better than nothing.

TFIC = tongue firmly in cheek

 

[justinspicher]

That checks out.

 

[longrangelead]

Well, I'm now a 100% believer in the 223 idea. I wasn't a doubter when there is the volume of evidence shown here, but until you experience it for yourself, it's still a little unknown.

Last night I shot a shmedium bear with my RSS 223/73ELDM @2840.
A boar about 5', stout for his size.
298YDS, sitting off backpack.
He must have got a wiff of me because he stood up sniffing in my direction. That's when I shot him in the chest.
The shot crumpled him, still moving a little, I put another one in him. He went down behind a aspen sprout so the second shot was a guess and hit center shoulder.

The first shot cut the pipes forward of the heart and made a baseball size cavity right next to the spine in the backstrap stopping 1" short of exiting.(entry @ knife point in pic)

The second shot upset @ 1" making a baseball size cavity in the center of the shoulder meat and continued through both lungs stopping under the hide right at the entry of the first shot.
At first I thought the first bullet had stopped under the hide some how.

The damage was definitely enough but not excessive. I lost some shoulder meat and 4" of one backstrap but a 300 RUM "that you need for bear" would have been worse.

Also, before the S2H course, I would not have considered shooting off my pack @ 300 yds.
Last night, after the course, I knew he was dead before I pressed the trigger.
The other thing that actually made me laugh out loud after the fact is how automatic it was having done the S2H course.
I could see the bear moving through a creek bottom towards a big opening. He made it to the opening sooner than i expected.
I ranged the opening, grabbed my pack, dialed 1 mil(mental quick drop), no wind and put the crosshair on him. As soon as he stopped, he stood up.
I fired, racked and reset, he moved broadside on the ground and I sent another one, rack and reset.
It all happened in about 25 seconds.
The minimal recoil of the 223 allowed me to see the whole thing in the scope but I remember seeing the brass in my peripheral go flying like it had been ejected from an AR.
I've put around 3000 rnds through my RSS since January and like others have said, they are stupid fun and very lethal!

 

[Robobiss]

Had PVA do up an 18", 1-7 twist, .223 Wylde barrel for my Bighorn. Seems to prefer the 80 gr ELDm so far, so I'll probably test that out on some pigs this summer. The only downside is that my 6mm creed feels like too much recoil now, ha.

View attachment 877214

View attachment 877217

It’s funny you say that. I have the same feelings about a somewhat heavy 6.5 creedmoor i have. I shot it the other day and said “dang this thing sucks”.