too funny, I was just lurking on that thread yesterday.Yep, I'm aware of that. I was very very skeptical about it at first, but there's a thread over on Rokslide that has quite a bit of discussion on that bullet in particular. I did some testing on some discarded livestock carcasses when I was living in New Mexico and it was fairly impressive in tissue. Performed about as well as the 123gr SSTs I was using in a 6.5 Grendel, so I gave it a shot and it's been acceptable so far.
@orygun might be worth looking into as well if you're on the fence.
.223 for bear, deer, elk and moose.
DON'T HAVE TIME TO READ 176 PAGES? HERE'S THE CHEAT SHEET. “Bullets matter more than headstamps.” “Spent primers offer the supreme tutorial”. I’ve read it here and elsewhere online. It got my attention. I started digging and asking questions and listened. The 77gr TMK delivered by a .223...rokslide.com
My take, I would not recommend 223 on elk or moose, its fine for deer and under with the right bullet.
I do appreciate your attention to detail and testing, maybe consider doing a Paul Harrel "meat target" test at 200yds to confirm your TMK results? I'm skeptical of a match/target bullet for big game hunting but thats me. There are better choices than the TMKs that will deliver plenty of accuracy for hunting out to 223 ranges. Accuracy isn't an issue with hunting bullets so I dont see a need to take that chance hunting is difficult enough to risk losing one on a long shot thats might be your only chance.