Thread: 223 loads or bullet recommendations for tahr.

Hi all. Could get a little backlash from this but it’s a goal of mine.
I have picked up a cz mannlicher in 223 1-9twist and will be taking it down south to try get onto a tahr or cham nice and close. For people who have had good success with a 223 on larger animals, what bullet would you recommend and ones to stay away from. Looking at the slightly heavier 69-75g and that should be good for anything 100yards or closer. Thanks in advance

I use the factory 55 grain Hornady on everything. reds, Tahr, pigs. All of them die. Shot a few tahr over the weekend for the freezer and they all died as well

70 grains will be the heaviest you will stabilise. Availability will be the problem. Ive tried the 70 grain Accubond and they are a good stout bullet that shoot well. Got mine from Gunworks.

62 grain Gold Dot are bonded and good but don't shoot well in some rifles.

A really really good bullet for Thar would be the 64 grn Nosler Bonded Solid base, but they ave recently gone out of production - you might pick some up off here. They will go right through a red deer.

I would use any of those for shoulder shots on nannies out to 250 yds odd.

I wouldn't shoulder shoot a bull though (hmmm, maybe I would with the 64 Nosler) - and if you lung shoot them they will certainly die but you might have some tricky recoveries after they have run a hundred yards.

So its neck shooting for bulls I guess, and for that I would go for the 69 grain Sierra Tipped Match. They are so accurate and not too soft. But really, any good 55 grn would be ok for that too.

Another bullet Im mucking around with at the moment (because you can get them) is the 62 grn Norma. Looks to have potential for killing stuff.

62g Swift Scirocco might be worth a look. Gunworks has them in stock - not especially cheap though...

Originally Posted by Tahr

70 grains will be the heaviest you will stabilise. Availability will be the problem. Ive tried the 70 grain Accubond and they are a good stout bullet that shoot well. Got mine from Gunworks.

62 grain Gold Dot are bonded and good but don't shoot well in some rifles.

A really really good bullet for Thar would be the 64 grn Nosler Bonded Solid base, but they ave recently gone out of production - you might pick some up off here. They will go right through a red deer.

I would use any of those for shoulder shots on nannies out to 250 yds odd.

I wouldn't shoulder shoot a bull though (hmmm, maybe I would with the 64 Nosler) - and if you lung shoot them they will certainly die but you might have some tricky recoveries after they have run a hundred yards.

So its neck shooting for bulls I guess, and for that I would go for the 69 grain Sierra Tipped Match. They are so accurate and not too soft. But really, any good 55 grn would be ok for that too.

Another bullet Im mucking around with at the moment (because you can get them) is the 62 grn Norma. Looks to have potential for killing stuff.

Thanks. I’m looking at the 60g interlock also the 55g gmx as they both are available in factory ammo also Winchester has a 64g bt extreme point all in stock also. Was looking for ttsx but are out of stock.

@dale, the 65gr Sierra GameKing is worth looking at as well.

Can't say I've shot Tahr with them, but they work very well on Reds and Fallow.

From my uncle who was a culler : "I shot probably four thousand with a 222. We used Norma 55 grain handloads. All other projectiles were too soft. Shot hard in behind the front leg into the lungs and then leave them alone, dont put a second into the same animal or they will run and jump off a bluff. Several times I shot a dozen bulls in a mob in one go, then just wait and they all start to plonk over in a delayed slow motion"

I like the 62gr hornady SP, reloaders might still have them. The projectiles have a bit more whack than the standard 55gr and stabilize nicely in my tikka 1:8 twist.

I used 60gn Hornady's in my 222, worked fine. And in my 22-250. Good ol' fashioned cup and core, nothing fancy, stick it in the crease, job done.

50-55grn barnes as fast as you can drive them....you will be getting similar preformance to bigger rifle and hitting bone wont be so much of an issue...hitting bone is good...

69 Sierra TMK if you can find some

+1 for the 65gr Sierra game kings

+ 2 for the 65 grain game kings

For those taking neck shots, where is your aiming point? Is the whole neck good, or is there a preferred spot?

Not a great fan of neck shots, even less of one for head shots. The target areas small and prone to quick movement but does have a high bone to tissue ratio so a hit is likely to close down the cns.
I much prefer shooting at the heart lung liver triangle
For a neck shot presentation needs to be right and aim precise but you do get a bit of leeway with elevation.
I shot this the other evening and yes it's a neck shot however I might have been aiming somewhere else but if I was aiming for the neck about there or a bit lower would have been my pick.