OFFICIAL .223/5.56 Hunting Thread

[Ndbowhunter]

Haven’t shot anything with a 77gr tmk since 2020.

Onto way better pastures with the 108gr eld-m and 6br

But it’s a good bullet if ur rifle likes em and ur at 2.26” mag confines.

 

[MK20]

Relevant to the above post.
From a friend.


Animal shot: Terrorist

Area hit: upper chest

Distance: 200-250m

Bullet used: 77 SMK w/ cannelure (MK262)

Muzzle velocity: not chronoed

Weapon used: 14.5 DD MK18 type

Terminal effects observed: fell without taking a step. Effect verified by Apache gunship.

This has been the experience of several of my friends who got the chance to get some MK262 on deployment. All reports were DRT. Apparently the bullet enters for about 4 inches or so and then frags out violently.

 

[RTH1800]

I shot 7 twist and Mk 262 w cannulure. Did not prove effective for me at any range.

 

[diggler1833]

Do you at least cut the backstraps out to fry up? You kill a lot of pigs so I’m figuring you drag most of them off.

I make all my sausage using straight wild pork, but those backstraps and tenderloins get tenderized and fried.

I have. However, my fat ass had to run in the heat to get to this one before she made it to cover. By the time I finished dragging her out to where I can shoot coyotes off of her I was worn out.

Usually the sub-80lb shoats or gilts that I can kill near the truck get the harvesting done.

 

[isofahunter]

I plan to do some hunting this year with hornady 75 bthp w/ cannelure. Anyone shot much stuff with those?

My default bullet in ranch gun for 15 years, but without cannelure. 2750 fps, 18 inch barrel. Bigger pigs I stick to head neck junction, while a body shot kills they tend to get too far into the brush, making recovery a PIA. TX whitetail are not hard to kill so it works there too. Bullet does come apart easily so I avoid heavier bones outside of head/neck.

 

[wpeach1912]

Haven’t killed any bigger game with it, but I shot a coyote at 300-350 yards with a 55 gr fmj a few years ago out of my 18” ar. Hit it somewhere in vitals and it ran about 50-60 yards and fell over dead. Think it just penciled through as I didn’t see any significant wounding. Shot a few other coyotes in the head/neck from 50-100 with same setup and DRT. Shot one at about 150-200 yards in the rear that crippled it and I ran up and finished it off. Same setup too. Killed several armadillos with that as well. Those were always incredibly graphic. Usually within 30 yards on those, but I think the hard shell caused the bullets to tumble and usually ended up in a blown up armadillo.

 

[xsn10s]

It works from muzzle to 600 meters exactly as the .308 did

That's interesting. If the 77 SMK has a MV of 2750 fps that means it's expanding even down to 1500 fps impact velocities. That's good news for the usefulness of this round. I'd expect less reliability down at that velocity. But just because I expect it to be so doesn't make it so. Good info!

 

[JoshPutman]

I just picked up a box of Hornady 73grn ELD Match bullets to try.

I'm shooting a 16" 1/8 twist AR. I don't have a chrono, unfortunately, so I won't be able to get speed data. I need to invest in one soon.

 

[xsn10s]

Anyone shooting the Ruger Americans? I saw one for sale and it didn't look like it was set up for AR15 mags. I'm wondering what the COAL we can get out of those. Even ones with AR15 mags might be interesting to look at if cutting the AR15 mags would allow for COAL out to 2.4XX" or more.

 

[81STFACP]

Handloaded screaming hot with 2000 MR launching them through AEM5 suppressed MK12 SPR clone, 77 TMKs work well on TX WTs. Boiler room take down, they work pretty much like Berger hunting VLDs. Farthest I shot was barely inside 200 yards.

 

[ggmanning]

I posted about the deer my son killed with his .223 when he was younger but forgot to add...I do a fair amount of cull/depredation shooting deer for farmers under our state wildlife permit program. We take about 40 does every summer out of bean fields at night using thermals and NV. All of these are shot with 5.56 or .223 and both are very efficient. These are all shot with 77gr SMK's

 

[xsn10s]

I posted about the deer my son killed with his .223 when he was younger but forgot to add...I do a fair amount of cull/depredation shooting deer for farmers under our state wildlife permit program. We take about 40 does every summer out of bean fields at night using thermals and NV. All of these are shot with 5.56 or .223 and both are very efficient. These are all shot with 77gr SMK's

I figured so much or maybe you're out in Virginia. My buddy lives out there and talks about how many does they need to take prior to being able to hunt bucks. Same it true for the pig pics in Texas.

 

[ggmanning]

Yeah NC. Pretty much the whole SE has too many does. We have nice good scoring bucks but too many does and they will eat an acre a night of beans without taking some out.

 

[xsn10s]

Yeah NC. Pretty much the whole SE has too many does. We have nice good scoring bucks but too many does and they will eat an acre a night of beans without taking some out.

They make better table fare anyways. We have big bucks and bulls over here in Oregon. But after a few forkies I like eating a good meal better. Of course I wouldn't pass on a trophy though lol.

 

[SilencedShooter11B]

-Whitetail deer: ~140lbs young male
-Behind front shoulder, broadside/slight quartering away shot
-Shot from 80yds, deer went less than 10yds dead
-62gr Barnes TTSX on top of 24.4gr Reloder 15.
-16” Rainier/Shilen barrel with Recce 5 suppressor, est velocity 2700fps. TA11 ACOG
-Complete pass through of the bullet

Shot another whitetail a year prior with the same rifle using a 64gr Winchester Power Point over Reloder10x (unsure of speed). Probably around 120lb Doe, no pass through at 150yds broadside, she dropped on the spot. Had a picture but lost it on my old phone.

Post your results of 223/556 hunting here for us to learn from.

Pics are appreciated.

Post....

Animal shot:

Area hit:

Distance:

Bullet used:

Muzzle velocity:

Weapon used:

Terminal effects observed:


Also, if you have a long history of using a certain bullet, please let us know how it is working for you.



NOTE to FUDDs:

This is not your thread. Do not preach to us about how anything less than your glorified "thuddy-thuddy" will fail to kill game ethically.
The world has proved you are wrong. Go Karen somewhere else.

 

[rottenruger]

Whitetail buck

Bullet entered in front of right shoulder, exited behind left shoulder.

80ish yards

62 gr Barnes TSX (varget and CCI 400)

Muzzle velocity unrecorded.

AR-15

Deer stumbled about 20 yards and keeled over. We didn’t cut open the chest cavity to investigate the carnage.

View attachment 7944211

Handsome. Nice Tax work.

 

[Pipefitter I’m]

I’ve been using a Remington 700 SPS tactical in 223rem since 2008 , my load is 24.5gr’s of varget pushing a 65gr Sierra Game King not cronoed but according to Sierra around 2900 FPS , unfortunately right now i can’t find any photos, it’s put meat in my freezer every year the biggest one to date is 9 pointer, i always go for a the head or upper neck, never had one go more than one step all shots taken between 30 and 70 yards

 

[isofahunter]

Follow up on earlier post about the 75 bthp. Did some digging around and found the fragment that was left from a head shot that ended up being closer to a tx heart shot. Doe was facing away about 100 yards away, she looked back at me and I went for the ear hole. Well bullet was low and hit her high in the ass along the left loin. This fragment which is the base of the cup was 18 inch up the loin next to the left shoulder. The wound channel looked like a small blade had been pushed through the loin. Yes there was damage but not devastating, she was down due to spine being shocked but required a final shot for dispatch.