Page 1 of 5 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 132

Thread: Black Hills 5.56mm 77 gr TMK and 69 gr TMK Review

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    AZ
    Posts
    32,939
    Feedback Score
    14 (100%)

    Black Hills 5.56mm 77 gr TMK and 69 gr TMK Review

    I got the chance to try some Black Hills 5.56mm New Factory TMK ammo in 69 grain and 77 grain bullet weights. We run a 77 gr SMK house load in .223 pressure/velocity, so I thought we'd use that as the baseline, and go from there.



    I initially wondered why they would take the 69 gr to the 5.56mm loading, but after our first time running the ammo today, I think this load is going to be something very impressive.

    The ammo comes in the same red/black box that Mk262 does with the nice plastic insert that protects the ammo. The box insert holds the ammo by the neck to protect the round and the bullet. Both of these loads come in LC brass with primer crimps and the visible annealing iris.

    "What would a $2,000 Geissele Super Duty do that a $500 PSA door buster on Black Friday couldn't do?" - Stopsign32v

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    AZ
    Posts
    32,939
    Feedback Score
    14 (100%)
    We only got to fire a box of each load today... getting the administrative stuff out of the way.... (POI check, chrono, etc.) The POI seems to come up very slightly for both loads. 1/2" high of POA which makes sense due to the higher velocities. We used the Magnetospeed today: Pappabear with his 20 inch 5R Rem 700



    Using the above pictured bolt gun, we captured the following:

    The 77 gr logged 2825 FPS with an SD of 10.

    The 69 gr logged 2969 FPS with an SD of 12.

    Both very nice velocities and standard deviations.

    At 500 yards, (we'll have to confirm this again) the 69 gr appeared to have a little edge over the 77 gr. Both of the loads creamed our SMK come up of 3.5 mils.

    The 77 got there with 2.9 mils, and the 69 gr got there with an even lower 2.7 mils. I hope to be able to figure out at what range the 77 takes over, but I was really impressed with both at 500.

    At 640 yards, (fighting mirage by now) Both rounds were getting good hits with 4.0 mils of come up. (impressive compared to my .308 175 gr SMK 20" bolt gun come up of 5.0 mils)

    At 900 yards, the 69 gr load was getting on steel with 8.5 mils of come up. (vs. 10.0 using a 77 smk .223 load)

    At this point, we were miraged out and getting hot... so we'll get back after it over the next several weeks. But so far, it's been easy to get quantifiable performance improvements over standard velocity ammo.
    Last edited by markm; 03-26-17 at 19:07.
    "What would a $2,000 Geissele Super Duty do that a $500 PSA door buster on Black Friday couldn't do?" - Stopsign32v

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    11,469
    Feedback Score
    46 (100%)
    This should be an interesting thread to follow. I remember Sinister also having kind words for 69-grain loading as well.

    I got some of that 69-grain stuff a while back, but have not had a chance to run it through my BCM Recce-ish carbine.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    AZ
    Posts
    32,939
    Feedback Score
    14 (100%)
    The 69 blew me away for sure. Our spot is often a mirage and wind torture chamber. We have a lot of distance, but it's challenging and even frustrating many days.
    "What would a $2,000 Geissele Super Duty do that a $500 PSA door buster on Black Friday couldn't do?" - Stopsign32v

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    11,469
    Feedback Score
    46 (100%)
    That sounds the perfect place to shoot.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Mid-West, USA
    Posts
    2,825
    Feedback Score
    63 (100%)
    Very happy to see this thread. I've wondered how the 69gr TMK would do. I'm generally limited to about 1/4 mile, so I wonder if the 69gr load would be hard to beat at that distance. How did it compare with wind drift to the 77gr load?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    AZ
    Posts
    32,939
    Feedback Score
    14 (100%)
    Quote Originally Posted by taekwondopreacher View Post
    How did it compare with wind drift to the 77gr load?
    I just don't know yet. I hope to be able to make that assessment, but we literally watch the wind ribbons reverse in the same 5 shot string. If this continues, we'll have to get two guns (with mil reticles) running at the same time.
    "What would a $2,000 Geissele Super Duty do that a $500 PSA door buster on Black Friday couldn't do?" - Stopsign32v

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Posts
    3,485
    Feedback Score
    58 (100%)
    Good plan.
    Let us know the score.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    1,797
    Feedback Score
    7 (100%)
    Barrels all have their own opinion. My SS410 Bravo barrel shoots 75 gr Hornady better with three powders. I'm finally getting acceptable accuracy from 77 gr SMKs with Varget, which won't run through a progressive press as consistently as a ball powder.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    AZ
    Posts
    8,431
    Feedback Score
    9 (100%)
    Quote Originally Posted by tylerw02 View Post
    Barrels all have their own opinion. My SS410 Bravo barrel shoots 75 gr Hornady better with three powders. I'm finally getting acceptable accuracy from 77 gr SMKs with Varget, which won't run through a progressive press as consistently as a ball powder.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    We use H322, Russian primers with remarkable results. Our 77's Nosler and SMK AND TMK sub moa with multiple barrels.
    Varget seems like a ruff way to go for 223 AMMO.

    Let me know if you want load data, best of luck

    PB
    "Air Force / Policeman / Fireman / Man of God / Friend of mine / R.I.P. Steve Lamy"

Page 1 of 5 123 ... LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •