Wait, WHAT?!!! Is THAT what the ‘m’ stands for?!?!?!That can't be!
You can't use target bullets for hunting you maniac
And a .223? A real man uses a .300 windbag
All along I thought that ‘m’ was for Murder!
.223 for everything, the gunnutz version
- Thread starter CamV
- Start date
All along I thought that ‘m’ was for Murder!
Bet you can’t guess what turned these moose lungs to mush after busting a humerus….
One hint, my 223AI identifies as a 300 Ultra.
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That can't be!
You can't use target bullets for hunting you maniac
And a .223? A real man uses a .300 windbag
The massive impenetrable moose shoulder. Sloped armour, you know. An 88 can make it through, but the rest probably glances off.
Kodiak, tellin ya man, some people might really see their game animal and decide they want to save meat, do less damage, and move to a bigger gun
Kodiak, tellin ya man, some people might really see their game animal and decide they want to save meat, do less damage, and move to a bigger gun
Thats absolutely a legit reason though. I killed stuff with the X/TSX/TTSX/GMX for quite awhile and always marveled at how little meat damage there was - just busted bones and holes in vitals. I never really had any issue killing stuff with mono’s, but I also shoot for shoulders. I also put quite a few finishers into the bases of skulls, and I had some stuff go farther than I thought it should have with the placement that occurred. I never had anything go unrecovered, but I had a couple critters take graduate level trailing to find.
So for me, it makes sense to use a bullet that puts stuff on the ground faster, that travels less distance after the shot, and isn’t still gasping when I walk up to it.
Know what you mean. Going to be playing with a 450 BM as a shorter range option this fall to counteract that some. More cause a buds really wanted to for a while tho. CVA single shots are cheap. The other "big" gun is a 308 with 110gr ttsx.
So far the monos have been fine for me but you've shot more stuff with them than I have by a fair bit.
With the 223 bullets you use it's not hard to see why you say keep em off shoulders, 77gr tmk at least.
All of those are on par or worse than the animals I shot last year with a 270 and 130gr blue box sp or 308 with 168gr fusions. Dead sooner, uglier inside
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I don’t think it’s good for everything.
I mean, I wouldn’t intentionally use it for cape buffalo or elephants. But I don’t run into many of those in NE BC.
The stuff I have around here where I hunt though? Sure. 88’s from a 1:7 twist are a world different from 55 FMJ spun out of a 1:12 twist.
john-brennan
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Vancouver Island B.C.
like I said the shot has to be perfect, or you have more chance of a wounded animal than with a rifle that has minimal energies for moose and I guess blacktails are tougher than moose. I am not saying moose can't be killed with a .223 but I am saying I don't think it is a good choice in most hunting situations. In 55 years of hunting there are a half dozen deer I might have considered a .223 might have been enough cause of the situation but I would not use one on anything larger I think that is a little unethical for the fact that most hunters won't be able to make the perfect shot under hunting conditions and you end up with wounded animals. We each have our opinion I like mine you like yours but they are different, good luck cheers.
Mono’s work great when you keep impact velocity on the higher end and shoot for bones, or use the bigger versions with the gaping hole up front.
Got the call that my 22 Creedmoor is done now, so that will likely get used a fair bit this spring and fall. (Not for moose though.) One thing that I won’t be using on meat with that is the 77 TMK. Its just a little too effective for my tastes.
The 450 sounds like an interesting cartridge. Crashed a few critters with a 44 Mag and 45/70, big bullets are fun too.
Dorian Gray
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I'm just going with 73gr ELD-M Match factory loads this year. G4C had a really good promotional deal on them not long ago and I couldn't pass it up. I've also got some regular Fusion 62gr ammo stashed away and a couple cases of the MSR load to try as well.
A very nice CGN'er hooked me up with a 500 round pack of 77gr TMK's for a good price about this time last year but I still haven't learned how to reload yet. I'm a visual learner and learn best by being shown and then doing things step by step. I've never had anyone close to me reload their own ammo before, so if anyone in the West Kootenay region of BC is reading this and is willing to spend some time teaching a fella the in's and out's of reloading, I could most definitely use it. Willing to travel on weekends as well.
Have you tried the 8208 XBR that you have Joel? Seems like it's the RS standard powder for the special. Budget shooter supply had decent prices on it a year ago but I haven't looked at prices in a while. I bet things have gone up like everything else.
I haven't seen 8208 in stock anywhere in the last year or so.
My 75 gr eldm load is as follows
75gr eldm
Pmc brass and whatever primer
23.7 gr benchmark
2.475 coal.
The load shoots tiny little 20-40 round groups.
I started at 21.5 gr and worked up .2 grains at a time.
All ten round groups were very acceptable but 23.5 shrank right down and 23.7 is tiny little groups.
No pressure signs.
I'm using mag3d magazines which are great bang for buck.
I have some 77tmk loads to test but have been sick and unable to get out for a bit.
My 75 gr eldm load is as follows
75gr eldm
Pmc brass and whatever primer
23.7 gr benchmark
2.475 coal.
The load shoots tiny little 20-40 round groups.
I started at 21.5 gr and worked up .2 grains at a time.
All ten round groups were very acceptable but 23.5 shrank right down and 23.7 is tiny little groups.
No pressure signs.
I'm using mag3d magazines which are great bang for buck.
I have some 77tmk loads to test but have been sick and unable to get out for a bit.
22.7grs Varget under the 77TMK shoots very well in my Tikka CTR. Lapua brass / CCI450 primer ~ 2630 fps 20" brl
Shot a 1.1moa 20 round group at 100m, next trip out was 1.37moa 26 round group 300M with mean radius of .28/.34 moa
Shot a 1.1moa 20 round group at 100m, next trip out was 1.37moa 26 round group 300M with mean radius of .28/.34 moa
Oh good! Glad you got to take advantage of the good deal on loaded ELD-Ms, and that you came ito 500 TMKs. Distinctly remember touching off my first handloaded cartridge and thinking "well here goes my face" but I was shooting a LOT of 30-06 at the time so it was that or sell a kidney haha.
I have't used the 8208 in 223 yet, but did load a run of 6.5 Creedmoor with a 100gr ELD-VT and it was promising. Since it was pretty much made for the heavy 223 and to be temp stable, I can see why the RS guys love it, but with "gold dust" being so hard to find...hope StaBall match is a decent performer
CamV, that's awesome! And gotta love those Mag3D mags. They do great things for the Tikkas at less than half the price of the factory mags for sure. Mine were perfectly reliable too.
Tod, great load. Love how you guys are using big, statistically powerful groups AND trying them at actual decent distances too instead of using 3 shot, uber flattering groups and assuming they do well at 300-400 meters haha
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StaBALL Match works well for us with 69gr Sierra TMK, although Varget groups a bit better in my kids rifle
