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

[TradLife406]

For something like the 6UM this makes sense, but with barrel life a non issue I use factory Berger ammo in my 223AI. Still seems to need two firings with Lapua.

I might try this Alpha brass for my regular 223 with CCI 450s.

After next week at S2HU I'll have over a thousand pieces of AAC 5.56 fire formed

 

[Stocky]

First animals with the new Tikka and adding to the 73 eld data. All single shot kills ranges from 200-430m thats down to 1900fps in the conditions.

 

[Deere_Man]

First animals with the new Tikka and adding to the 73 eld data. All single shot kills ranges from 200-430m thats down to 1900fps in the conditions.

View attachment 1076543

View attachment 1076544

View attachment 1076545

View attachment 1076546

View attachment 1076547

View attachment 1076548

View attachment 1076549

View attachment 1076550

View attachment 1076551

View attachment 1076552

They don’t appear to have traveled far after the shot. Nice work.

 

[Elk botherer]

I didn't read through all 677 pages of material here so forgive me for searching for a quick answer. My son has a Ruger American Gen2 .223 with a 1 in 8 twist. I have been doing some load work-up for it using varget and 77gr TMK's. Question for this group, what velocity should I expect this to get to with a 20" barrel once I work up to a near-max safe load? I'm limited to 2.260" OAL seating depth.

Also, varget is just what I have on hand. Has there been a different powder that has had consistent results for most people that are using the 77's?

My boy has the same rifle and with 24 gr of Tac at 2.260” with a fed 205 primer in LC brass, he’s getting 2,744.6 fps. It shoots great for him.

 

[Stocky]

They don’t appear to have traveled far after the shot. Nice work.

Some a few feet up to about maybe 30m (100feet). One shot was quartering too a little far back so only took one lung. It went the furthest and made it into the creek.

 

[Chris in TN]

First animals with the new Tikka and adding to the 73 eld data. All single shot kills ranges from 200-430m thats down to 1900fps in the conditions.

View attachment 1076543

View attachment 1076544

View attachment 1076545

View attachment 1076546

View attachment 1076547

View attachment 1076548

View attachment 1076549

View attachment 1076550

View attachment 1076551

View attachment 1076552

They all look awfully dead. What size beasts are we looking at here? I'm assuming those are 75 to 200 pounds or so. ??

 

[Stocky]

They all look awfully dead. What size beasts are we looking at here? I'm assuming those are 75 to 200 pounds or so. ??

Red Hinds(female) from an area renowned for large deer. 180 - 250 pounds sort of thing live except the one yearling which was probably 140 pounds. They are a slightly smaller version of elk for the closest comparison. Most other areas they would typically be maybe 20-30 pounds lighter in general.

 

[grfox92]

Its pretty funny to go back and read the first few paged of this thread and some of the fuddy replies. Here we are 679 pages later and those didnt age very well.

 

[Moose83]

Standard .223 tikka 1:8 twist. 88 gr tmk. 2590 fps. 100yds. Shot was directly facing me. Centered first ribs on the sternum. Took out the heart, one lung and continued on into the stomach which was packed with grass. 40 yd death run, was stone dead when I got to it. Squared roughly 6.5 ft. Over 18 in skull. Pretty happy with these 88's. Like a 77gr, but more better..lol.

 

[Thegman]

View attachment 1076978
Standard .223 tikka 1:8 twist. 88 gr tmk. 2590 fps. 100yds. Shot was directly facing me. Centered first ribs on the sternum. Took out the heart, one lung and continued on into the stomach which was packed with grass. 40 yd death run, was stone dead when I got to it. Squared roughly 6.5 ft. Over 18 in skull. Pretty happy with these 88's. Like a 77gr, but more better..lol.

Approximately what was the total penetration, and did you recover the remaining bullet?

I'd be really interested to see some terminal performance tests directly comparing the 77TMK to the 88TMK to get an idea of how much more better they are. I haven't had a chance to test any, yet.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

View attachment 1076978
Standard .223 tikka 1:8 twist. 88 gr tmk. 2590 fps. 100yds. Shot was directly facing me. Centered first ribs on the sternum. Took out the heart, one lung and continued on into the stomach which was packed with grass. 40 yd death run, was stone dead when I got to it. Squared roughly 6.5 ft. Over 18 in skull. Pretty happy with these 88's. Like a 77gr, but more better..lol.

Awesome report, congrats. Hard to believe to believe a .25 sd tipped match at moderate velocities performs so well

 

[Stinky Coyote]

Approximately what was the total penetration, and did you recover the remaining bullet?

I'd be really interested to see some terminal performance tests directly comparing the 77TMK to the 88TMK to get an idea of how much more better they are. I haven't had a chance to test any, yet.

~13% more better

 

[MattArcher2]

I’m not a big magnum guy, but the odds I took a .223 elk hunting (even with say 88grainers) is about zero percent...I elk hunt big roadless broken wilderness...have no interest in watching a big bull take its death run down to the bottom of a hell hole if a larger cartridge would improve my odds of putting him down right there.

I’m with you. I like improving/maximizing my odds.

 

[Deere_Man]

I’m with you. I like improving/maximizing my odds.

Yeah, I might would go 22 Creedmoor or a fast twist 22-250 for the elk sized critters.

 

[omicron1792]

I’m with you. I like improving/maximizing my odds.

That’s what whole thread is saying. Bigger doesn’t Maximize your odds. It might decrease them.

 

[Thegman]

~13% more better

I'm interested in seeing actual results rather than the hypothetical (88 - 77) / 77 =

I did that part a long time ago.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

I'm interested in seeing actual results rather than the hypothetical (88 - 77) / 77 =

I did that part a long time ago.

Lol, and it is always fun discerning differences in results of work from your own kills, and others. there’s a huge body of work in this forum alone to discern ~.2 to .26 sd tipped match examples launched/impacted at about any velocity so not sure how much more is needed? 73-88’s in .22, 103-108’s in 6mm, the 100-130 6.5’s, 155-168 30 cal. His report said everything that body of work has said already, no pictures or added detail required. He included just the right amount of data to tell the full story. Not trying to argue anything...the formula range is available although is discussed and focused on in various ways, boils down to as simple as he reported that one example.

Were you surprised at the result?

What pattern do you see in all that data? What formula do you like best? I like .25 sd at moderate velocities best, how bout you?

I find impacts from 2500-1700 are consistent in penetration which is shorter of course at 2500 but still plenty adequate and act more like a nice mushroom higher weight retention at 1700 end. So naturally I tuned right in to his result as that’s my favourite formula.

Clearly .2 and .22 sd formulas also work great...some 680 pages in one thread alone, so ~13-14% more sd is really all you need to know, if you don’t need it then no biggie, most here don’t, some want it, easy to overthink it though. I don’t find any surprises in the popularity or growing trend of the 88 though. And not because it’s 88, but because it’s .25 sd .

And all of these fall well under a 6.5 140....way overkill imo haha

 

[Moose83]

Approximately what was the total penetration, and did you recover the remaining bullet?

I'd be really interested to see some terminal performance tests directly comparing the 77TMK to the 88TMK to get an idea of how much more better they are. I haven't had a chance to test any, yet.

I didn’t have a tape with me, but I'd guess roughly 12-14" of penetration before it hit the grass bag. Did not recover the bullet. My sample size with the 2 bullets is very small.. just 2 moose last year and 2 bears this spring (one with a 77 and one with an 88). My impression is that the 88 does give a somewhat wider wound channel and I think would be possibly more likely to give an exit on a broadside shot. The testing will continue...
These are the few pics I snapped of the wound channels. The knife is a 3 in victorinox for reference.

 

[KHntr]

View attachment 1076978
Standard .223 tikka 1:8 twist. 88 gr tmk. 2590 fps. 100yds. Shot was directly facing me. Centered first ribs on the sternum. Took out the heart, one lung and continued on into the stomach which was packed with grass. 40 yd death run, was stone dead when I got to it. Squared roughly 6.5 ft. Over 18 in skull. Pretty happy with these 88's. Like a 77gr, but more better..lol.

@Formidilosus, first bear with an 88 TMK and 223?