.223 for bear, deer, elk and moose.

[Hoyt tee toy tee]

I set my young daughter up with 223 55 grain tsx for whitetail because that's what other forums recommended and the outcome wasn't good. She hit 2 deer and neither one bleed a drop. Neither were recovered. I took the gun shot a doe at 30 yards with snow on the ground, the bullet took the top of the heart off and stopped on the inside of the hide on the exit side. The deer ran 25 yards and died. I found 3 drops of blood in the snow. In short I know 55 grains has less penatration then 77 but the opening is so small that the animals fat will seal it up, so if your shot isn't perfect you may lose your animal. And worse upset your daughter so much that the animal was lost she has lost her interest in hunting. Shoot all the coyote you with a 223 but would never recommended it for any large game.

Just started loading up the 77gr TMK. Using 8208, I seated the bullet to 2.260. First rounds were at 22.7gr. It was a little crunchy at the bottom of the seating cycle. Anyone else experiencing this with their 77gr TMK and 8208? I planned to work into the low 23s as thats where Im seeing a lot of people are loading this bullet. But I have yet to read about this combo being compressed at all. I verified the weight on my beam scale, which is reading the same as my electronic scale. Brass is FL size Federal brass.

 

[Gorp2007]

I set my young daughter up with 223 55 grain tsx for whitetail because that's what other forums recommended and the outcome wasn't good. She hit 2 deer and neither one bleed a drop. Neither were recovered. I took the gun shot a doe at 30 yards with snow on the ground, the bullet took the top of the heart off and stopped on the inside of the hide on the exit side. The deer ran 25 yards and died. I found 3 drops of blood in the snow. In short I know 55 grains has less penatration then 77 but the opening is so small that the animals fat will seal it up, so if your shot isn't perfect you may lose your animal. And worse upset your daughter so much that the animal was lost she has lost her interest in hunting. Shoot all the coyote you with a 223 but would never recommended it for any large game.

Nothing says “I didn’t read the thread” quite like chiming in to say that light-for-caliber monos aren’t optimal for killing things.

 

[Adam Gibbs]

Not sure why you quoted my post, but in short, read through just the first few pages of this thread. A 55gr Barnes TTSX is not a 77gr TMK. Our deer season doesnt start until November, but I know a guy with crop damage permits. I've given him some TMKs to try. I'll also be toting them come November. No worries in my mind.

 

[Hoyt tee toy tee]

Nothing says “I didn’t read the thread” quite like chiming in to say that light-for-caliber monos aren’t optimal for killing things.

I read the thread. And took the advise from other forums post and it sucked. So I simply stated my experience, because when I see a title for 223 and large game I will always tell my story, and I will let you tell yours. I just want people to hear both sides

 

[Shraggs]

Some read and never learn

 

[PNWGATOR]

As stated in the very first post on this thread: “Bullets matter more than headstamps”.

I’m truly sorry about your daughter’s experience. Hopefully the information and objective, first hand experience and education offered in this thread helps you and her both along the journey and passion of big game hunting and the efficacy of humane and clean kills.

 

[Billy Goat]

I read the thread. And took the advise from other forums post and it sucked. So I simply stated my experience, because when I see a title for 223 and large game I will always tell my story, and I will let you tell yours. I just want people to hear both sides

Would a .308 with an FMJ have fixed the scenario?

 

[260madman]

When it comes to Barnes a 62gr TSX is where the good stuff starts for a mono. I’ve used 53s with no issues but 62 is a different animal. TTSX would be better to help expansion.

 

[PNWGATOR]

Aside from living in a sh!thole state that requires monos, WHY would you choose to shoot them out of a 223 for anything?!?!

 

[Ryan Avery]

I set my young daughter up with 223 55 grain tsx for whitetail because that's what other forums recommended and the outcome wasn't good. She hit 2 deer and neither one bleed a drop. Neither were recovered. I took the gun shot a doe at 30 yards with snow on the ground, the bullet took the top of the heart off and stopped on the inside of the hide on the exit side. The deer ran 25 yards and died. I found 3 drops of blood in the snow. In short I know 55 grains has less penatration then 77 but the opening is so small that the animals fat will seal it up, so if your shot isn't perfect you may lose your animal. And worse upset your daughter so much that the animal was lost she has lost her interest in hunting. Shoot all the coyote you with a 223 but would never recommended it for any large game.

I would stop listening to other Forums!

 

[Castle Rock]

I set my young daughter up with 223 55 grain tsx for whitetail because that's what other forums recommended and the outcome wasn't good. She hit 2 deer and neither one bleed a drop. Neither were recovered. I took the gun shot a doe at 30 yards with snow on the ground, the bullet took the top of the heart off and stopped on the inside of the hide on the exit side. The deer ran 25 yards and died. I found 3 drops of blood in the snow. In short I know 55 grains has less penatration then 77 but the opening is so small that the animals fat will seal it up, so if your shot isn't perfect you may lose your animal. And worse upset your daughter so much that the animal was lost she has lost her interest in hunting. Shoot all the coyote you with a 223 but would never recommended it for any large game.

That one is squarely on you for a couple of reasons, for a start you chose the wrong bullet and more importantly you didn’t back her shot up

 

[Formidilosus]

I read the thread. And took the advise from other forums post and it sucked. So I simply stated my experience, because when I see a title for 223 and large game I will always tell my story, and I will let you tell yours. I just want people to hear both sides

I want to be clear- you read every single post in this 59 page thread, looked at every picture, followed each link on terminal ballistics, and came up with the 223 being the problem…?

If you didn’t read every single post in this 59 page thread, and instead just listened to others about Barnes, then Ryan is correct- despite popular opinion, not all opinions are equal…

 

[mtnwrunner]

I would stop listening to other Forums!

Exactly! There really is ONLY one.

Randy

 

[Woodrow F Call]

I set my young daughter up with 223 55 grain tsx for whitetail because that's what other forums recommended and the outcome wasn't good. She hit 2 deer and neither one bleed a drop. Neither were recovered. I took the gun shot a doe at 30 yards with snow on the ground, the bullet took the top of the heart off and stopped on the inside of the hide on the exit side. The deer ran 25 yards and died. I found 3 drops of blood in the snow. In short I know 55 grains has less penatration then 77 but the opening is so small that the animals fat will seal it up, so if your shot isn't perfect you may lose your animal. And worse upset your daughter so much that the animal was lost she has lost her interest in hunting. Shoot all the coyote you with a 223 but would never recommended it for any

I read the thread. And took the advise from other forums post and it sucked. So I simply stated my experience, because when I see a title for 223 and large game I will always tell my story, and I will let you tell yours. I just want people to hear both sides

Did forms recommend the .223 TSX or did you screw up?

 

[Castle Rock]

A plain old 55 grain Sierra or Hornady would’ve probably dropped all those deer on the spot

 

[Hoyt tee toy tee]

Did forms recommend the .223 TSX or did you screw up?

The 55 grain tsx

 

[JBradley500]

Has anyone on here used these with success on deer? I have the 77 TMK bullets, but no brass or dies yet.

 

[LimeSpoon]

Unfortunately I haven't personally shot any deer with them, but just from what I know of bullets in general: 73 gr ELD-M, as a fragmenting polymer-tipped hollowpoint, will also create wide wound channels, but as per both ballistic gel testing and anecdotal reports tends to penetrate significantly less than 77 gr TMK.

If I'm not incorrect there are some reports of both 73 gr and general ELD-M performance somewhere in the 30s? 40s? of this thread. I think the general conclusion was that it was doing fine on flesh damage, but was rather splashy.

 

[Nomosendero]

Aaaand Midsouth sent shipping notification late last night. Will be here Friday. UPS vs FedEx, who will deliver with the least amount of damage? I might lose sleep over this. No, no I won’t.

Got mine from MS today!

 

[BAKPAKR]

Aside from living in a sh!thole state that requires monos, WHY would you choose to shoot them out of a 223 for anything?!?!

My daughter and I have had really good luck with 62 gr TTSXs on whitetails, but none were much past 100 yards. She used 77 gr TMKs last year with equal success but stretched the range a bit.