Coyote hunting with 69 TMKs

C

Coyote-conquest

Member
I finally decided to go coyote hunting today and figured I would switch it up and take a 556 AR instead of the usual 6x6.8.
I wanted to try some 69 TMKs over some 8208 that Ive had laying around for a year or so. I mean after all I was assured I can hunt moose with the 77s so 69s should definitely be good enough for coyotes.
I did pretty good for the first time out this year. It was a nice cool day. I ended up shooting 3. I didnt have very good results with the TMKs though. 2 were splashes. First was a slightly raking shot that hit a rib. Ended up with an at least 5" hole. He made it about 25 yards across a creek. Im not sure how he wasnt anchored by looking at the damage.
The 2nd actually went between the ribs and it took 30 minutes to find him. He made it about 50 yards in some thick stuff. I don't think I would've found him if I didn't have my dog with me. It took a while to find where I hit him. He just had a .224 sized hole.
The third one looked like it may have nicked his hip bone or maybe grenaded off a rib. It was hard to tell what exactly happened. It was a massive hole. I almost put a 2nd one in him. He was spinning and I was afraid he would eventually straighten up and run off. He went down in a dip or I would've.
Has anyone else hunted with the 69 TMKs? Have you had better luck? I know 3 isn't enough to judge from but at this point I'm going back to the 6x6.8 with a 70 gr BT.
 
I would think you answered your own question. 1 in 50 is an anomaly, 3 for 3 is proof enough for me that the bullet isn't suited for hunting. I get one bad one in the first couple kills and that bullet gets relegated to the target pile.

There are a lot of good proven hunting bullets out there, 50/55 gr NBT, 55gr Vmax, 55gr SPs,, 52gr Speer Varmint HP, I even killed a couple last year with some bulk 62gr SPs.
 
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Not trying to dig up an old post but I have some info to share from my experiences.

Match bullets dump all their energy into a target like a varmint bullet. You typically won't get a pass-through with them which kills your blood trail. Most match and varmint rounds don't perform well when shooting through a shoulder. So aim for a headshot or neck/chest.

I have killed a dozen whitetail deer with match bullets. They perform well if the shot placement is good.

223 Rem (AR)- 77Gr TMK
224 Valk (AR)- 88gr ELD-M
 
I've used hornady 68gr match hp bullets for years in 223 with barrel lengths from 16" to 10.5". Carnage, yes. Splashes, no.
 
I haven’t shot that many with the TMKs yet but here’s some shoulder shots with the 77 TMK. Big holes and all died without fuss. I use the 77TMK as a deer bullet too and it’s a devastating bullet from my limited experience.
 

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Duhhh said:
I haven’t shot that many with the TMKs yet but here’s some shoulder shots with the 77 TMK. Big holes and all died without fuss. I use the 77TMK as a deer bullet too and it’s a devastating bullet from my limited experience.
Click to expand...
Why would you shoot a deer with a bullet that destroys meat like that?
 
I’ve taken quite a few coyotes with the regular 69 MK out of a 223. They work and the coyote dies, what more do you want?
 
I had one of the most bizarre things happen on a whitetail doe I shot with a 69 SMK. It was a perfect broadside double lung shot and I got a pass through but she ran at least 200 yards and little to no blood trail for the last half.

I field dressed her and hung it a couple days in the cold and brought her home from the out of state hunt. When I skun her the whole far side front leg nearest the exit was ruined, the front leg was absolutely full and marinated in blood, i had to throw it out. She didnt leave a good blood trail at all, and most of what bleeding she did ran a decent ways under the skin over to and down her whole leg. It was weird, maybe I could have saved the leg if I skun it right away and washed it off but it was massive amounts of blood over a foot away from the somewhat high and back double lung, I like to save hearts and front legs so I like to stay a bit more high and back with a rile.
 
Have shot maybe 50 with the 69 TMK. Launching em at 3060. Usually get an exit, dramatic at times. Shoulder shots can keep them from exiting. Best bullet I've used so far, but, have a 6DTI on order. Have brass & some 75 Vmax waiting by the bench.
 
When I was playing with 22 grendals I found 3250 to 3300fps with the tmk was a great performer. Knocked the crap out of them, typically there was an entrance and no exit and any hole was usually very small.
 
Coyote-conquest said:
I finally decided to go coyote hunting today and figured I would switch it up and take a 556 AR instead of the usual 6x6.8.
I wanted to try some 69 TMKs over some 8208 that Ive had laying around for a year or so. I mean after all I was assured I can hunt moose with the 77s so 69s should definitely be good enough for coyotes.
I did pretty good for the first time out this year. It was a nice cool day. I ended up shooting 3. I didnt have very good results with the TMKs though. 2 were splashes. First was a slightly raking shot that hit a rib. Ended up with an at least 5" hole. He made it about 25 yards across a creek. Im not sure how he wasnt anchored by looking at the damage.
The 2nd actually went between the ribs and it took 30 minutes to find him. He made it about 50 yards in some thick stuff. I don't think I would've found him if I didn't have my dog with me. It took a while to find where I hit him. He just had a .224 sized hole.
The third one looked like it may have nicked his hip bone or maybe grenaded off a rib. It was hard to tell what exactly happened. It was a massive hole. I almost put a 2nd one in him. He was spinning and I was afraid he would eventually straighten up and run off. He went down in a dip or I would've.
Has anyone else hunted with the 69 TMKs? Have you had better luck? I know 3 isn't enough to judge from but at this point I'm going back to the 6x6.8 with a 70 gr BT.
Click to expand...
Are those 69gr TMK's hollow points? If so you may have well seen what I found with HP's years ago. They generally tend to close up the point and penetrate like a solid. On some if they open they go all to pieces. Some that didn't open bent and bullet penetrated crazy.
 
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