What caused the Rokslide shift to smallest caliber and cartridges?

gabenzeke

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At the time it seemed quite clear that only a 223 was appropriate, not a 222, or 221, or hornet, or bee, or anything else. The 223 had some magical significance that I obviously didn’t understand. When I suggested the bullet doesn’t know what caliber it was fired from, and that any caliber can be fitted with a 1:8 twist, I was called stupid, because obviously I must be. If the idea was 223 velocities at 700 yards kill just fine, then reduced loads and velocities for guys only shooting 200 or 300 yards seemed like something everyone would jump at, but it turns out they are fine with overkilll. Lol
Definitely didn't read the thread.

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Big_wals

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Great thread! Something I have always found humorous is that even many Fudds who use 338 super mags will tell you to buy a .243, 25-06 etc. for a young hunter, but "once they get old enough they can buy a big gun". Always seemed to me that if a .243 is adequate for a 10 yo, it should work even better in the hands of someone with more years of experience and a better knowledge of a critters anatomy 🙂
 

eric1115

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At the time it seemed quite clear that only a 223 was appropriate, not a 222, or 221, or hornet, or bee, or anything else. The 223 had some magical significance that I obviously didn’t understand. When I suggested the bullet doesn’t know what caliber it was fired from, and that any caliber can be fitted with a 1:8 twist, I was called stupid, because obviously I must be. If the idea was 223 velocities at 700 yards kill just fine, then reduced loads and velocities for guys only shooting 200 or 300 yards seemed like something everyone would jump at, but it turns out they are fine with overkilll. Lol
That's not at all what was said. The replies were detailing the reasons that the hornet would not be an effective delivery system for the 77 TMK. It has less than half the powder capacity of a .223, and if you take up a bunch of that with a 77 grain bullet the difference is even bigger. Even if you got a custom fast twist barrel, ran single shot in order to load long and not eat up your powder capacity, all the headaches and expense don't solve any actual problems with the .223 and still introduce significant downsides even after the rifle is built and set up.

Literally nobody said the .223 was the only effective cartridge. Lots of reasons it is the most practical, but there are others that would be effective. Hornet just isn't one of them.
 
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I always wondered what kind of witchcraft was involved into the 17gr vmax in the 17hmr, it didn’t make sense to me when i first got one and used it a bunch over east… I got it For squeaks, but shot a bunch of jacks, rock chucks out to 200+yds, badgers and a bunch of coyotes, causing destruction.

Was using 22lr prior and the difference was crazy, hear every impact and turn things inside out… look at the specs, super light bullet, not warp speed… why do they cause so much damage?

The 223 thread connected a lot of dots for me, scale things up and it’s no wonder the 77gr tmk does what it does.

I remember one night shooting jacks on the hay stack, we would each shoot 400 rounds a night and call it quits… most are nearly blown in half. I decided to shoot one with my S&W 500 just to see what happened, I thought I just grazed it because it didn’t act hit, I ran around to shoot it again and it ran right by me and I ended up pistol whipping it which killed it… the shot was perfect, but the damage was not even comparable to the 17… 400gr bullet vs 17gr bullet, the 400gr bullet didn’t have much stopping power to a little jack rabbit, 17 gr bullet nearly tears them in two
 

TaperPin

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That's not at all what was said. The replies were detailing the reasons that the hornet would not be an effective delivery system for the 77 TMK. It has less than half the powder capacity of a .223, and if you take up a bunch of that with a 77 grain bullet the difference is even bigger. Even if you got a custom fast twist barrel, ran single shot in order to load long and not eat up your powder capacity, all the headaches and expense don't solve any actual problems with the .223 and still introduce significant downsides even after the rifle is built and set up.

Literally nobody said the .223 was the only effective cartridge. Lots of reasons it is the most practical, but there are others that would be effective. Hornet just isn't one of them.

I will admit, as long as you don’t mind overkill up close, the 223 does appear to be a good match with that 77gr. 🙂

One fellow said if I wanted to stuff a big bullet in the Hornet case, the 270 Ren has been around for quite a while. I’m imagining the 77 gr 22 bullets will fit ok.
5C99E7E2-F166-4456-8B4B-56EAC123253E.jpeg
 

TaperPin

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Great thread! Something I have always found humorous is that even many Fudds who use 338 super mags will tell you to buy a .243, 25-06 etc. for a young hunter, but "once they get old enough they can buy a big gun". Always seemed to me that if a .243 is adequate for a 10 yo, it should work even better in the hands of someone with more years of experience and a better knowledge of a critters anatomy 🙂
There is a lot of truth to what you’re saying. It did make me chuckle though.

And kids, ask Santa for a .243 for Christmas. When you get bigger and no longer believe in Santa, ask grandpa for a 7 mag.
 

Big_wals

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I will admit, as long as you don’t mind overkill up close, the 223 does appear to be a good match with that 77gr. 🙂

One fellow said if I wanted to stuff a big bullet in the Hornet case, the 270 Ren has been around for quite a while. I’m imagining the 77 gr 22 bullets will fit ok.
View attachment 634129
Looks like a nice cartridge if you want to hunt within bow range. Max load I could find with a 90 grain Sierra is 1888 mv. Also, a 77 grain .224 bullet is going be quite a bit longer than a 90 grain .277. But by all means, build a fast twist, custom Hornet and post some kill pics on here next season. It sounds like an interesting project, just not very practical IMO.
 

Big_wals

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I will admit, as long as you don’t mind overkill up close, the 223 does appear to be a good match with that 77gr. 🙂

One fellow said if I wanted to stuff a big bullet in the Hornet case, the 270 Ren has been around for quite a while. I’m imagining the 77 gr 22 bullets will fit ok.
View attachment 634129
On another note, I'm assuming that 270 ren just becomes a straight wall when you fire it? Interesting looking cartridge.
 

TaperPin

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On another note, I'm assuming that 270 ren just becomes a straight wall when you fire it? Interesting looking cartridge.
I don’t have any idea - it does grab your attention. The handgun silhouette folks come up with some interesting cartridges - apparently the steel targets vary a bit between different clubs, and what knocks down the ram at one club won’t at another, and they make up cartridges that are just big enough to work reliably with as little recoil as possible.
 

4cMuley

Lil-Rokslider
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Feb 6, 2021
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my go to for years now for mule deer has been Barnes ttsx via 7-08 (120gr) and .270win(130gr) and I’ve been pretty happy. I hold high shoulder when applicable and have been pleased with the “bang-flops” that occur with that and minimal meat loss. What I don’t like is the dog shit BC’s. Currently having a rem700 .243 get a new barrel spun on in 22 Creed. Very excited to get that back and plan on deer hunting with it next fall. However I’m second guessing my decision not going 25 creed….
 

Macintosh

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Feb 17, 2018
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DRT Technology.
Any specific detailed experience to share? In the past Ive seen you call them “promising”, but thats about as detailed as Ive seen. There is more or less zero info out there or in their website except that its supposed to be a frangible non-lead bullet with a “powdered
metal web” core. The website is severely lacking in info or specifics though. Not even any listed BC’s. Do they actually exist? Do they actually function, and if so what is the result? Maybe we need a separate thread.
 
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