Here we ago again... .223 bullet selection given following parameters.

[Panhandler80]

So, I have a Tikka .223 Compact on order for my son. 20 inch barrel. 1 : 8 twist. Will be a gift for his upcoming birthday. Goal will be to get comfortable with it over the summer and early fall, and then hopefully take his first whitetail this upcoming season. He's shooting a tiny .22 single shot rifle now with a peep sight pretty well.

Anyway, will be hunting relatively small whitetail (likely 90-140 pounds live weight), and 100 yards or less. I'm more inclined to lean towards bonded lead core as opposed to solid copper. I know there's a lot of love for the Sierra TMK bullet, but even on these smallish deer, I'm still leaving towards something that stays together a little better, but a bit more explosive than a monolithic.

Have done quite a bit of searching on here, and elsewhere... head kinda spinning to be honest. Really just trying to get a pulse for preference on the following two given the parameters above:

1. Federal Fusion 62 grain
2. Barnes TSX 55 graiin

Open to hearing a little more about the Tipped Match King, but it would be third in my list. ZERO firsthand experience with anything in 223.

 

[43.6N]

Do you have any coyotes or hogs you and your son could go shoot before deer season?
Gaining first hand experience with the bullet will be more valuable than anything else.

The fusion is plenty tough. No need to jump all the way to the tsx in terms of toughness.
The TMK will 100% punch through a scapula at close distances, and still wreck the heart and lungs.
A slightly tougher version of the TMK is the Sierra tipped game king. Thicker jacket, and harder lead. I have trouble getting it to reliably open below 2000fps in a 6.5creed.
I believe Sierra/Barnes loads it in the Harvest line of ammo. Could be worth checking out.

Harvest Collection .223 Rem 69gr

Pioneering the world's most effective all-copper hunting bullet. For over 30 years, we've been engineering the most advanced hunting bullets, trusted by the world's best hunters and shooters.

barnesbullets.com

But Again, to put your mind at ease, a regular 77tmk WILL punch through a scapula just fine inside of 100yds.

 

[coyotekilla]

Speer gold dots, 62 & 75. Ive done well with good old standard 55gr softpoints too. Shoot a bit of fox, coon, possum, skunk, coyote with them. They will even drop a deer.

 

[zekepa]

My grandson wanted to hunt last year, he is very small for his age. I decided .223 was as big as I wanted him to shoot.

I have a Rem 7615 width a 16" 1 in 9 barrel and collapsible stock. In the past I shot 1 deer with 55gr Nosler ballistic tip, and my cousins grandson shot his first buck with the same gun and load.

I also did some looking around and decided to go with the 62 gr fusion this past year. Granson got 2 deer with that combo. Small doe at 50ish yards, shot in the crease went about 30 yards and died. Spike buck at 75ish yards, high shoulder hit, never took a step, DRT. I really didn't discover the 77TMK thread till after the season. For Factory loaded ammo the 62 gr Fusion was the easy choice with what was available locally.

I've since acquired 2 T3x .223 on 16" one 20". I'm playing around with the differnt heavier ELDM 73/75 and TMK 77 and 88, for the coming year. hoping to try them out on some crop damage deer before the regular season starts. Shot one at apx 100 yards with the 75 ELDM this spring with good results I'm just not getting the group size I'd like with them.

 

[vonb]

The kids in my family have used the Nosler 64 gr BSB out a 16" AR for deer hunting. This platform gave us the ability to shorten the stock for the shooter. What we learned about the 64 gr BSBs is:

1) They will most certainly provide an in and out hole.
2) They are hard _and_ bonded which means the temporal wound cavity isn't as large as other bullets.
3) Shot placement is paramount as even a double-lung hit will allow them to run farther than cup and core bullet.

With that said, I've changed my thinking to using more cup and core in .223s for deer hunting.

 

[WhatToHunt]

The .223 for everything thread helped me when in a similar position. This post from Form helped a lot: https://rokslide.com/forums/threads...n-goat-deer-elk-and-moose.130488/post-1907289

I tried the 62 gr Federal Fusion and they were okay for accuracy. Killed one whitetail doe at abut 100 yards. Shot was in the lungs, no exit, so it made tracking difficult but I found her.

You mentioned the TMK is third on your list. This last year I switched to the 77 gr TMK and accuracy is really good (BoneFrog 5.56 is what I went with but others did well too). My 13 year old shot a doe at about 150 yards. Shot was in the lungs, hit rib on entry and exit, she made it maybe 15 yards with blood everywhere that wasn't needed for tracking.

Obviously those are small sample sizes of each. I just went with the 77 gr TMK given all the RS support for it and evidence of its effectiveness.

 

[Panhandler80]

The .223 for everything thread helped me when in a similar position. This post from Form helped a lot: https://rokslide.com/forums/threads...n-goat-deer-elk-and-moose.130488/post-1907289

I tried the 62 gr Federal Fusion and they were okay for accuracy. Killed one whitetail doe at abut 100 yards. Shot was in the lungs, no exit, so it made tracking difficult but I found her.

You mentioned the TMK is third on your list. This last year I switched to the 77 gr TMK and accuracy is really good (BoneFrog 5.56 is what I went with but others did well too). My 13 year old shot a doe at about 150 yards. Shot was in the lungs, hit rib on entry and exit, she made it maybe 15 yards with blood everywhere that wasn't needed for tracking.

Obviously those are small sample sizes of each. I just went with the 77 gr TMK given all the RS support for it and evidence of its effectiveness.

Yeah. Been reading a bit more on it. Hard to find in boxed ammo, and goes contrary to most things you find online (including similar gel tests), but real world doesn't lie.

I read several pages of that thread you posted, but grew weary. Hahaha. I think that's the one with like 50 pages. I did see where BoneFron has the Tipped Match King. You went with 5.56? Thought was a no-no in rifle chambered for .223.

 

[WhatToHunt]

Yeah. Been reading a bit more on it. Hard to find in boxed ammo, and goes contrary to most things you find online (including similar gel tests), but real world doesn't lie.

I read several pages of that thread you posted, but grew weary. Hahaha. I think that's the one with like 50 pages. I did see where BoneFron has the Tipped Match King. You went with 5.56? Thought was a no-no in rifle chambered for .223.

I think that's an old wives tale. I haven't died yet nor seen any issues. Plus I just trusted Form: https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/5-56-in-a-223-tikka-t3x.209676/post-2036332

 

[Steve300xcw]

I have some tmk's. Always seem to grab my 75gr amax/eld's or a good ol 55gr sp.

 

[Kyguy]

This forum has THE largest collection of empriacal first hand data in hunting big game with the .223 that's available. Why not use the bullets they recommended?

 

[Pharmseller]

This forum has THE largest collection of empriacal first hand data in hunting big game with the .223 that's available. Why not use the bullets they recommended?

I was thinking the same thing. He has no experience with the .223 but he’s choosing bullets other than those recommended elsewhere by many, many hunters. The bullet of choice is third on his list, despite having zero experience.

He wants recommendations, just not those recommendations.

Makes no sense to me.

But kudos to him for starting his kid right.

 

[LongWayAround]

I did see where BoneFron has the Tipped Match King. You went with 5.56? Thought was a no-no in rifle chambered for .223.

Your Tikka .223 should shoot the 5.56 without trouble.

I'm around 1500-2000 rounds of 5.56 in mine. A buddy bought the same gun and has put a few hundred rounds of 5.56 through his. Similar story for many on here...

 

[BLJ]

Yeah. Been reading a bit more on it. Hard to find in boxed ammo, and goes contrary to most things you find online (including similar gel tests), but real world doesn't lie.

Hornady Match 223 Rem 73 gr Extremely Low Drag-Match Box of 20

<p>Hornady's Match ammunition features extremely tight tolerances and strict quality control for superior lot-to-lot consistency. Cases are carefully selected based on wall thickness uniformity, internal capacity, case weight and consistent wall concentrically, while the powder is matched...

deleonrxgunsandammo.com

From a 20” Tikka compact. Eastern whitetails right at 90# each field dressed.

I know it’s not on your list but I thought I would recommend a loaded ammo option that has performed the same on whitetail as the 77 TMK for me.

Just a thought.

 

[PKR]

My kiddo shot his first doe last year at 95 yards with this ammo and the exact same gun.
Gun liked the ammo, the deer not so much.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

You know this forum has some smart asses but there’s also some very smart guys to.
They have shown us what works and what don’t so why not use it.
I have made a lot of decisions based on guys trial and error on here.

 

[Steve300xcw]

The one thing I find interesting on this forum is the group think and the parroting. And how if this bullet works, all these others dont. Rather interesting.

 

[gbflyer]

I know what you mean. The gold dots do less damage.

 

[Kyguy]

The one thing I find interesting on this forum is the group think and the parroting. And how if this bullet works, all these others dont. Rather interesting.

No one is saying that other bullets won't work or don't work. The combined experiences and photographic evidence in the .223 thread shows which bullets work the best for big game. The argument is no different than what takes place in debate with any other caliber.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

I’d stick with the TMK, but you could try these:

Sierra GameChanger Polymer Tipped GameKing Bullets | MidwayUSA

Introducing the Sierra GameChanger hunting bullet: the perfect combination of Sierra’s legendary match accuracy coupled with deadly penetration. Sierra re-engineered their legendary MatchKing bullet into a hollow point design.

www.midwayusa.com

 

[Deere_Man]

For the same application, I’m looking at the 64gr Winchester Power Point and also the 64gr Federal Power Shok. But I’m wondering if at 150 yards and closer, a regular 55gr soft point that seems to be available from literally dozens of manufacturers would also work just fine.