.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.

[WestTN2288]

Anyone know of anywhere that is loading 77TMK in the 22ARC? The 75gr ELD-Ms are shooting great out of my 16” barrel but I’d like to give the mythical TMK a try

Not seen one for sale, but I have made a few. Settled on 2.23 COL and generally have to go down 1-2gr of powder compared to 75eldm to have the same pressure and ~50 fps less MV. Shoots great though. Basically a 22ARC = 223 with a 4-6in longer barrel.

My favorite gun right now is a 12.5 22ARC shooting 77 TMK ~2700 FPS

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Reasonably sure that is Tyler Freel’s pic, from the moose he shot last year with an 88 ELD m ala 22 ARC gas gun.

Was the second shot (about 1.5 seconds after the first IIRC) and quartering away as the bull was still crossing and in view. Broke femur into the pieces you see after penetrating the thickest part of the ham and then carried on into the body cavity and wasn’t recovered in the lower intestines.

There’s video of the shots floating around, as well as Tyler’s breakdown on Outdoor Life of how it went down. Not to mention that he’s a member here….
@bearcreekbandit

That's what I thought. Went and found the Outdoor Life article on it but didn't see the same pic so I wasn't 100% sure.

 

[Thompy]

Bullet is key . I shot a big doe whitetail that centered a rib with my 22-250 . Hardly a trail to follow but found her alive and had to finish the job with my knife. That was with a hornady 50 grain varmit load which was a terrible choice for a bullet.

 

[BAKPAKR]

Reasonably sure that is Tyler Freel’s pic, from the moose he shot last year with an 88 ELD m ala 22 ARC gas gun.

Was the second shot (about 1.5 seconds after the first IIRC) and quartering away as the bull was still crossing and in view. Broke femur into the pieces you see after penetrating the thickest part of the ham and then carried on into the body cavity and wasn’t recovered in the lower intestines.

There’s video of the shots floating around, as well as Tyler’s breakdown on Outdoor Life of how it went down. Not to mention that he’s a member here….
@bearcreekbandit

Found it:

Looks like the 88 gr ELD will work.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Found it:

Looks like the 88 gr ELD will work.

Yep, there it is. Timestamp 16:25

 

[ACHILLES]

Anyone know of anywhere that is loading 77TMK in the 22ARC? The 75gr ELD-Ms are shooting great out of my 16” barrel but I’d like to give the mythical TMK a try

Copper creek does with a 77smk, call them and I’m sure they would do the TMK for you. I’m hoping AAC will in the near future.

22 ARC 77gr Sierra Matchking – Copper Creek Cartridge Co.

coppercreekcartridgeco.com

 

[KHntr]

Found it:

Looks like the 88 gr ELD will work.

Considering I’m 3 bull moose, 2 bull elk, some whitetails, muleys, and a bunch of black bears deep with the 88 and nothing but immediate results, probably a reasonable conclusion.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Score at the lgs today. First time I’ve seen these in person.

 

[Antares]

I just rezeroed and checked drops on my .223 without a suppressor for an out-of-state trip.

73 ELDM factory load; looks good to me!

 

[mt terry d]

Ahhh... Gotcha! I misread your earlier post. So to answer. No there are not Shloads of kills sub 1800fps. As far as I recall there has only been the single one posted. Which also does reinforce the 1800fps threshold in a round about way. So... for RELIABLE expansion, its become the standard for tipped match bullets as reported by Form. I'm sure he has access to data that would support this. I think he was just trying to save us all some time. I'm sure he has other data regarding less than emphatic kills at lower velos- which is why he recommended keeping it keeping it at 1800 or above. I always took his recommendations intended to what works without fail the majority of the time. Sub 1800 is sub optimal.

I d love if Form would chime in on this as my (admittedly selective) memory tells me he only recommended >1800 is because of very limited data on <1800

Not intended to you or anyone else in particular but the >1800 fps “required” for the 77TMK rings of the “30 cal minimum for elk” mantra.
This whole thread is somewhat about searching out the lower limits of reliable killing ability of our weapon systems. This little bullet is pretty impressive. I’m suspicious it might be even more impressive than we/some give it credit for
That’s the whole reason for my harping on this point

Maybe there’s been <1800 fps gel testing on this particular bullet that indicates one way or the other. ??
If so I missed it.
If not maybe someone with the ability and curiosity would give it a go.

 

[mt terry d]

Post in thread '.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.'

Jan 9, 2023

Another elk. This one at very low impact velocity. 1,440fps impact. 77gr TMK. First shot was through scapula, high lung, second shot back of ribs and broke the spine. Total distance traveled was 30’ish yards.








Still upsetting quite well-

• Formidilosus

• 
• 

This is a big critter at 1440 impact velocity

Just saw this. Excellent! Thank you.
Sample of one. That’s a start

 

[mt terry d]

I’ve seen around 10 animals or so with the 77gr TMK below 1,800fps- there are several that I posted in this thread. All of them the bullets upset well and created very good, to excellent wound channels. It is very likely that the 77gr TMK is reliable well below 1,800’ish fps. However, in general bullets start struggling to upset consistently somewhere around 1,800 or so regardless of make. Being that is the case, until I see a bunch more, I would suggest 1,800fps as a safe bet.

Okay. On my phone. Missed this too.
Thanks

 

[BLJ]

1/8 twist 22 Hornet to find the bottom number????

@mt terry d

 

[BOLIO]

First hog with 77 TMK. 22-250 1 in 8 Tikka. . Guesstimate of 3350 fps. High shoulder. Small eater hog about 35-40 pounds. Distance was only 45 yards. Stressed the bullet…a lot.



Entrance was devastating.


It made it through the rib cage and the smallest piece of shank was stuck in the offside hide.


Damage to the inside area of the offside ribs.


Lungs.


In summary, I am good with this performance. I hit a quarter inch above the shoulder blade. It did not even twitch. I had my choice from the small sounder of six hogs. I had two lined up perfectly for a twofer but this bullet, at that speed and the short distance…nope. Anyway, it reminded me of Roy Weatherby’s goal. Wicked fast. An explosive bomb in the vitals and no exit…Check.

I look forward to many more case studies. I also started loading the 77 TMK for a 5.56 AR. I am interested in its performance as well. Out of a safe full of rifles from 243 to 45-70, the little Tikka is going to be my main rifle for the next year. I will also use a Weatherby Mark V I just bought in 25-06. The little 100 grain Speer behaved very similarly to the TMK two weeks ago on another eater hog.

Good times. I am glad I found this thread last month.

 

[Valumpessa]

First kill with the new .223/77 tmk.
360 yds across a canyon. One shot and rolled downhill 20 yards, drt. I'm sold!

 

[kkp005]

165 yards and dropped right there.
18” 223 and a 77 tmk. My 8yr old continues to be deadly with her little tikka

 

[Grant76]

Haha. I doubt any/many commercial NV or thermals scopes do. Much like aiming lasers, daily/multiple daily zero confirmations need to happen.

Do we know of any thermals that are relatively trouble-free in the commercial market?

 

[Nine Banger]

Do we know of any thermals that are relatively trouble-free in the commercial market?

I can grab my pulsar trail lrf and move it around with my hand. The mount is solid with loctite but the device housing flexes.

My buddy just got the XL60 from pulsar and its form factor is more like a scope than a camera and its solid.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

I haven't seen any issues with the Zulus stuff. I have the regular NV but it's the same housing they use on the thermals. Mine is on an AR that gets tossed into an aluminum boat and pounds crossing a big bay and I've not had to adjust the zero on it. These things all have the one shot zero that gets it close enough for hogs so wouldn't be terribly difficult anyway but it would be annoying.

 

[NWBLKTAIL]

First kill with the new .223/77 tmk.
360 yds across a canyon. One shot and rolled downhill 20 yards, drt. I'm sold!

View attachment 942701

That’s a good looking bear and rifle