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

[MountainSide]

Reading through the thread most are using heavy for caliber bullets which I’d definitely prefer.
As I live in CA where copper/monolithic is a requirement what would be the recommended manufactured ammo/bullet (I do not hand load) for the .223 Rem for deer sized game (seems Hornady and Barnes make them in the 50gr-55gr range)?

I've shot three caribou with 62 grain TTSXs out of my Kimber Montana in 223 rem.

One was a follow-up shot on a caribou that was initially gut shot with a 300 win mag. The injured caribou was running straight away, and I took the only shot I had...the bullet was found near the neck, after traveling the length of the spine. The caribou dropped...

 

[Elk botherer]

I’ve collected a few data points this fall with the .223 so I’ll start writing them up. Here’s the first- my boy punched a doe with his .223 77 gr tmk at 189 yards with a 2,362 fps impact velocity and it ran 50 yards and tipped over. Quartering shot that punched through the shoulder and the bullet was recovered just under the hide in the false ribs. No blood trail but wasn’t necessary.

 

[Elk botherer]

Second data point this fall- nephew shot his buck at 79 yards in the neck (all he could see) with his .223 loaded with 73 eldm and an impact velocity of 2,379 fps. DRT.

 

[Elk botherer]

Third data point- .223 ai with 77 gr tmk and an impact velocity of 2,586 fps. Double lung behind the shoulders and bullet was under the hide on the offside. Went 25 yards and went down. No blood trail but lots of blood where he went down.
Entrance

Exit

 

[Elk botherer]

Fourth data point- my 12 year old got his cow elk at 158 yards with his .223 and 77 gr tmk. Upon the shot the cow jumped forward a step and the rest of the herd did nothing (suppressors are amazing). After about 4 seconds she reared up on her hind legs and flipped over. The herd then took off but ran right towards us, a pretty cool experience. Shot was high double lung and bullet shrapnel was in the off shoulder under the hide. No necropsy pics due to being in a hurry because of the long distance we had to hike out across a lava flow (didn’t want to cross that in the dark). Two years, two shots, 2 cow elk. He’s getting be a killer.

 

[6creed]

My daughter used my RSS this year to take this young mulie buck on the last day of the rifle season here in Utah. We saw some nice bucks this year, but she had a few struggles getting on them. She shot just under a really nice bladed four point the first day. She was pretty upset after the first couple days and thought she was going home empty. She was telling me she wished she had shot the many younger bucks she had passed earlier in the hunt. The last morning we found this guy and she was very happy to get him. 20 in tikka 223 with 77 TMK. Did not range him, but was probably 120 to 150 yards away. First shot was not great middle body. He humped up a d hobbled a few steps. Second shot dropped him. No blood trail, but not needed. Sorry no wound cavity picks. This was the first deer with the RSS. Worked as expected. I am sure it would have been even better with a better first shot.

 

[Deere_Man]

My daughter used my RSS this year to take this young mulie buck on the last day of the rifle season here in Utah. We saw some nice bucks this year, but she had a few struggles getting on them. She shot just under a really nice bladed four point the first day. She was pretty upset after the first couple days and thought she was going home empty. She was telling me she wished she had shot the many younger bucks she had passed earlier in the hunt. The last morning we found this guy and she was very happy to get him. 20 in tikka 223 with 77 TMK. Did not range him, but was probably 120 to 150 yards away. First shot was not great middle body. He humped up a d hobbled a few steps. Second shot dropped him. No blood trail, but not needed. Sorry no wound cavity picks. This was the first deer with the RSS. Worked as expected. I am sure it would have been even better with a better first shot.
View attachment 967814
View attachment 967815

Nice work

 

[bigsky_hunter]

Picked up a used tikka .223 late summer. Bonus the guy also had 50 TMKs loaded for it. Put it in a compact stock and kids 8 and 10 were having a blast shooting it.

Fast forward to yesterday, I put in the spacer and figured I would give it a test run for opening day of whitetail. Wanted to make sure when my kids can hunt in 2 years that it will “kill”.

Sat down midafternoon to cook lunch and had this guy come in raking brush. Stopped in an opening at 17 yds. First shot took out back of lungs/liver. He trotted 20 yds , stopped and 2nd shot to back of neck dropped him. Lungs were mush and fragmentation damaged liver and tore stomach lining. Neck meat was hamburger and broken vertebrae.

Fairly heavy bodied Saskatchewan 4x4. Enjoyed the low recoil and fast time to get back on target. Will not hesitate to put my kids behind this gun now. I just have to convince my Dad with a bad shoulder that he should use it.

Thanks to those that have thought outside the box and shared those results. It probably won’t replace my everyday gun but I will use it again and am glad I can set my kids up for success.

 

[Good Stuff]

Great Buck!

 

[Kimber7man]

Picked up a used tikka .223 late summer. Bonus the guy also had 50 TMKs loaded for it. Put it in a compact stock and kids 8 and 10 were having a blast shooting it.

Fast forward to yesterday, I put in the spacer and figured I would give it a test run for opening day of whitetail. Wanted to make sure when my kids can hunt in 2 years that it will “kill”.

Sat down midafternoon to cook lunch and had this guy come in raking brush. Stopped in an opening at 17 yds. First shot took out back of lungs/liver. He trotted 20 yds , stopped and 2nd shot to back of neck dropped him. Lungs were mush and fragmentation damaged liver and tore stomach lining. Neck meat was hamburger and broken vertebrae.

Fairly heavy bodied Saskatchewan 4x4. Enjoyed the low recoil and fast time to get back on target. Will not hesitate to put my kids behind this gun now. I just have to convince my Dad with a bad shoulder that he should use it.

Thanks to those that have thought outside the box and shared those results. It probably won’t replace my everyday gun but I will use it again and am glad I can set my kids up for success.


View attachment 967851

That’s a big bodied buck, congrats!

 

[gbflyer]

One .270 130gr corlokt, one 30/06 180gr Hornady cup and core, one .223 75gr ELDM. Similar ranges, well placed shots, all dead. Can’t tell one from the other.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WestTN2288]

One .270 130gr corlokt, one 30/06 180gr Hornady cup and core, one .223 75gr ELDM. Similar ranges, well placed shots, all dead. Can’t tell one from the other.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Who shot the one in the eye ball?

 

[gbflyer]

Who shot the one in the eye ball?

Guilty.

 

[Jermh]

Just got my Tikka 223/SWFA 3-9 a couple weeks ago and popped her cherry last night. Just a little button buck but I had my 3 year old with me so the first thing unlucky enough to walk out was gonna get it and he was excited. ~220 yards, 73 gr ELDM factory loads. Shot broadside, just behind shoulder. No exit, bang flop, no drama. Definitely more enjoyable to shoot than the -06.

 

[Billogna]

Not what I was after today. But no exit from a 77TMK at about 30 yards. DRT.

 

[Chris in TN]

Not what I was after today. But no exit from a 77TMK at about 30 yards. DRT.

Good dog. Sit. Stay.

 

[Billogna]

Good dog. Sit. Stay.

First critter from the left handed tikka 223!! Just the tip!!

 

[Hardly_Hangin]

5th and 6th data point, 75gr speer gold dots 75 yards. Both exited but no blood. No autopsies this time.

Group of 7 does ran into a field and I whistled to get them to stop. Shot one and she ran 10ft and fell at the field edge. The rest kinda stood there bewildered, and number 2 got the pill. ran 10ft and fell at the field edge.

Love fast follow up shots and the can.

 

[Thegman]

5th and 6th data point, 75gr speer gold dots 75 yards. Both exited but no blood. No autopsies this time.

Group of 7 does ran into a field and I whistled to get them to stop. Shot one and she ran 10ft and fell at the field edge. The rest kinda stood there bewildered, and number 2 got the pill. ran 10ft and fell at the field edge.

Love fast follow up shots and the can.

View attachment 968635

Are those the exits pictured? Looks like they'd bleed pretty good out of those holes if they managed to make it past 10 yards.

 

[horpensky]

Adding another data point. A lot of excitement this year as both the Mrs. and the daughter wanted to go out whitetail hunting for the first time, and at the same time 22 centerfire became legal for big game here in Alberta. Armed with all the evidence and great info from this forum, I had the perfect excuse to add to the gun collection and picked up a Tikka .223 for them to use.

Today wife shot her first deer, a doe broadside at 200 yards along a cutline, using the factory 73gr ELDM. Watched through the binos as she put the bullet in the boiler room, saw the doe fall down immediately, then get back up and appeared to scramble off to the side. Walked up to where we thought she shot it, didn't see any sign of corpse, hair, or blood trails, and wife became disappointed thinking she clear missed. While a little concerned I couldn't find evidence of a hit right away, I told her I was confident I saw the impact, so we started the search. Didn't take long as we stumbled on the doe lying 25 yards over.

We were surprised to find no apparent entrance or exit wound. It was like the deer had just absorbed the bullet and died. Gutting the doe confirmed (to the wife's relief) that she had indeed hit it in the boiler room, with about a 2 inch entrance hole in the ribs, with bottom half of heart and lungs destroyed, and opposite front leg broken. Not sure why there was no outward sign of damage. Anyone with any insight? Doe was super fatty, so not sure if that makes a difference in plugging up wounds.

Anyways, while I would have liked a clearer entrance wound/blood trail, the bullet was clearly effective, and everyone in the family finds the gun enjoyable to handle and shoot. Will be going out with the daughter this week and hoping to add another successful data point.