.223 for bear, deer, elk and moose.

[Formidilosus]

Aww...Ok... so think of it like a bow shot. Ok, so potentially a bit of a longer tracking job then. Meh... not a good idea in the Zone I'm trying in right now.

Ok... since I don't have the time to re-sight-in, I guess I'll beat myself up with the 168gr .308 TTSX this year (If I'm lucky) Then next year try to switch over to the 130gr TTSX I just picked up.

In another different zone, I'd be totally confident with the .223, as long as there was enough distance away from private property boundaries. Meh... just thought maybe it could help shed even more weight that's being carried around if I could lug the .223 around in San Bernardino Mtns also. But out there, I don't wanna risk a long tracking job. It's hard enough with my lower back stuff just travelling thru the place sometimes. Thx

EDIT: Just to be clear, those who are responding to me are talking with the TTSX in mind, correct? Not the TSX.

You won’t notice much difference between the 223 and 30-06 with TTSX’s. You should get an exit with either and blood trails will be fine. I would personally choose the 223 even with copper.

 

[MOBowkill]

Sorry, the dink 223 is not anywhere close to an 06

 

[Castle Rock]

Here we go again

 

[Formidilosus]

Sorry, the dink 223 is not anywhere close to an 06

Please… tell me more.

 

[307]

Sorry, the dink 223 is not anywhere close to an 06

Saddle up Amigo!

 

[Te Hopo]

Any one have experience with the Howa Mini in 223 with the 1/8 twist?

I have read the bottom metal/mag sucks, but I would probably put the aftermarket hinged floorplate on it. Interested in both the regular models and the newer carbon stock models or even a chassis set up so the kids can shoot it too

I love mine, I haven't been able to find TMKs here in New Zealand so I use the Hornady 75BTHPs.
They're sub MOA accurate and a chest shot drops red deer.

The action is not quite Tikka slick, but it is very nice, stock trigger is good.

I made a 5rnd mag which works flawless with the extra spring tension, the 10rnd mags can occasionally be a little finicky feeding.
I'd love to get a hold of the Jefferson bottom metal but the exchange rate makes it ridiculously expensive for me.

The stock they come with is very average, I fitted a Model 7 stock to mine while I save up for a carbon stock

 

[Lonewolf72]

Sorry, the dink 223 is not anywhere close to an 06

Clearly hasn't read the last 94 pages.

 

[MOBowkill]

 

[TheGDog]

You won’t notice much difference between the 223 and 30-06 with TTSX’s. You should get an exit with either and blood trails will be fine. I would personally choose the 223 even with copper.

What would you consider practical range limitation w/ .223 Rem load as such? I'm presuming you just lookup minimum velocity needed for proper expansion per manufacturer, and look up on Ballistic table at what distance it drops below that then?

 

[Formidilosus]

What would you consider practical range limitation w/ .223 Rem load as such? I'm presuming you just lookup minimum velocity needed for proper expansion per manufacturer, and look up on Ballistic table at what distance it drops below that then?

Yep. TTSX I wouldn’t go lower than 2k.

 

[TheGDog]

Yep. TTSX I wouldn’t go lower than 2k.

Thank you sir. Have a good evening.

 

[Castle Rock]

G Dog
That is a really open ended question, if you are capable of a CNS shot the world is your oyster, a lot of people are better than just aiming for the big bit at the front

 

[TheGDog]

G Dog
That is a really open ended question, if you are capable of a CNS shot the world is your oyster, a lot of people are better than just aiming for the big bit at the front

Well, I wouldn't want to mess up the head though. I desperately want to add my 4th Euro to my office room and end this 4 year curse brought on by lots of fires and bad luck there for a bit here in SoCal in terms of Ahole Newscum et al just willie nillie ordering closures there for a bit.

It was upsetting me greatly not long ago because a fire broke out very near to where I'd be concentrating my efforts in this (new to me) D14 Zone of San Bernardino Mtns.

But on my last visit out there trying to scope out some new territory for a backup plan, since didn't see any activity in the few days I could go up there for bow. My fear was the fire being nearby shoo'd em all away in one direction or another.

So then, when coming back down outta this new spot.... I'd seen 3 Jack Rabbits running across the dirt road in response to my headlights, as they often do when it's dark before dawn... so decide to try Predator Calling and score a nice female yote!

While I was processing her on the tailgate of my truck, some dude who worked for some outfit nearby there I believe roles up in his truck, and we got to chatting while I'm field dressing her... and he tells me he saw two 4x4's cross that road not all the far up from where I was. And I could totally see them using that area as a pathway to attempting to cross the nearby Hwy. Cause it kinda flattens out, but has a nice amount of timber and low-lying rabbit brush type of stuff.

So I figure if my first area I plan to ambush sit on ends up sucking, first I'll travel to a spot where I finally glassed-up one feeding in a bunch of burnt timber about 600yds up an unholy monster of a buckthorn covered nightmare of a hill last year.

If that doesn't pan out, I'm likely gonna try to walk up that closed road I think he was talking about, see if I can see some sign, and then pull another ambush sit, maybe try some mild grunting if I end up waiting long. And see what happens. You never know. And if the Universe elects to have pity on me before my lowerback stuff gets worse, I'll be so damn happy you'd probably hear me whoopin' and hollerin' all the way from Hawaii to NYC, you know what I mean? I've been trying to mentally prepare myself to be ok mentally ok, if I have to try again next year. But with all the time I've been putting in to learn this new (to me) zone, which is kinda tough to get around in. I'm determined that I must make it happen in this new zone. I gotta prove to myself I'm not just some 1-trick pony that got lucky for just employing brute patience on that prior zone on an ambush sit for multiple days in a row. If possible I'd like to have an opportunity to maybe attempt a spot and stalk again. LAst year I ended with that buck somehow giving me the slip since that mount with so steep and thick covered in buckthorn I had to look down A LOT at my feet and try to go slow hoping to make least amount of sound possible. I realize my mistake was not stopping profusely on the way up to re-acquire him in the binos. So.. ya know.. I'm choosing to look at each season as a move in a loooong chess game, if I have to.

But at least in D11 (Angeles NF) I found a location I think is likely to have a bear pass by me. So if deer tag fizzles I'll ride that out every weekend left after that and hope for the best. Then if things are still a nogo, I now have two good places to try for more yotes at. So want to put the FoxPro a work again. This last time on Sunday it was the tiny lil PocketPrey mini eCaller that did the trick. I brought that and some mouth calls for backup just in case it failed. It's interesting and ya gotta be on your toes when you're using that little one because you have to hold it in your hand, and I was changing the direction it was pointing in constantly to give it more realism, to the sound they would hear. When I got lucky and saw her bounding in at a little bit of a distance, I was able to set the lil eCaller down on my lap still playing and raise the rifle and was totally ready for when she reappeared on the other side of the pine tree that blocked her view of me raising the rifle to bear. That was the right kind of excitement and ego boost I needed to help me get my head back in the game and stay positive about possible success, rather than just committing myself to going thru the motions, ya know?

 

[Castle Rock]

And on another note, as Form said on the 6.5 thread, the root of the tail, just above the date shot is a definite anchor.

 

[Jimbee]

77tmk seconds at Powder Valley

 

[TheGDog]

And on another note, as Form said on the 6.5 thread, the root of the tail, just above the date shot is a definite anchor.

RE: "the date shot" BUAAAAHAHAHAAAA...!!!

 

[h2so4]

RE: "the date shot" BUAAAAHAHAHAAAA...!!!

** “the SECOND date shot”

 

[260madman]

Taint shot.

 

[fwafwow]

Wow - 96 pages in a day or so. Thanks everyone! Where to begin?

1. Lessons learned. I think I was reading this early on, but admit that my beliefs caused me to drop out ("those guys are crazy!" I thought). I could have saved a lot of time, and maybe money, by watching this thread live. Less arguing about Covid and other stuff in the GD, and less stockpiling of ammo that I'm now second-guessing. But my meme game may not have fully developed (and funny to see one or two pop up here).
2. Next steps. I've been thinking about a 223 bolt action for deer for years, but based on a guy who used his due to recoil problems (a physical limitation) and he only did "neck shots". It was long enough ago that I doubt he was in the "bullets matter" and TMK crowd.
   • Bolt action - I'm looking into joining the bandwagon and leaning towards my first Tikka. Would be cool if the Sako S20 was offered in 223. I want a short barrel and threaded for suppressed - per the full RS special. Also looking at the Howa Mini.
   • AR options. I've got a couple of 5.56 and 300 BLK options, including short options for both. Looks like there is a 300 BLK 125 TMK option, and I've confirmed my twist rates are both 1:7. I guess it can't hurt to start here, especially if I can get ahold of some TMKs.
   • My existing bolt actions. My current are 25-06, 270 and 30-06. Based on my memory, I don't know that there are any TMK options, or even ELD-M or -X, for those calibers. Or maybe more importantly, if there are similar setups, would I be in the overkill category? That leaves with me with quite a bit of ammo on hand...

 

[Formidilosus]

Wow - 96 pages in a day or so. Thanks everyone! Where to begin?

1. Lessons learned. I think I was reading this early on, but admit that my beliefs caused me to drop out ("those guys are crazy!" I thought). I could have saved a lot of time, and maybe money, by watching this thread live. Less arguing about Covid and other stuff in the GD, and less stockpiling of ammo that I'm now second-guessing. But my meme game may not have fully developed (and funny to see one or two pop up here).

Haha.

1. Next steps. I've been thinking about a 223 bolt action for deer for years, but based on a guy who used his due to recoil problems (a physical limitation) and he only did "neck shots". It was long enough ago that I doubt he was in the "bullets matter" and TMK crowd.
   • Bolt action - I'm looking into joining the bandwagon and leaning towards my first Tikka. Would be cool if the Sako S20 was offered in 223. I want a short barrel and threaded for suppressed - per the full RS special. Also looking at the Howa Mini.
   • AR options. I've got a couple of 5.56 and 300 BLK options, including short options for both. Looks like there is a 300 BLK 125 TMK option, and I've confirmed my twist rates are both 1:7. I guess it can't hurt to start here, especially if I can get ahold of some TMKs.

The T3 223 with 8”twist is just silly in how good it is as a practice and field rifle with 75/77gr bullets. Cut and thread at 18”-20”, suppress, put a scope with large FOV that is reliable= you most not shooting anything else much.


The Howa mini is fine, the mags are the shortcoming, it’s not as smooth in bolt throw as the Tikka, and in my experience they don’t shoot as well (though we’ll enough).

1. • My existing bolt actions. My current are 25-06, 270 and 30-06. Based on my memory, I don't know that there are any TMK options, or even ELD-M or -X, for those calibers. Or maybe more importantly, if there are similar setups, would I be in the overkill category? That leaves with me with quite a bit of ammo on hand...

Those calibers all have similar bullets available. However, tissue damage can start to be a bit much. Sometimes that ok. None of those are optimum for long range, and they all have more recoil than needed, however the 06 certainly has bullets that will work.