Sierra 168 Mk vs 169 Mk

[wcat]

Hey,
Is anyone having success shooting the Sierra 168 bthp MatchKing ever tried, or switched, to the new 169 Matchkings?
How were they?
I'm shooting the 168s with good results but the b.c. of the new 169 is way up, even better than the 175 Mk.
Sierra wrote that the 169 shoot the same as the 168, but I know they want to sell, right?
I'd like some feedbacks before going in.
Thanks.

 

[jamesharrison]

Only your rifle can tell you if they like them or not. Buy a box & see; if they do, buy lots!

 

[wcat]

Only your rifle can tell you if they like them or not. Buy a box & see; if they do, buy lots!

Yeah, I KNOW you're right, but you know how it is, a little opinion before buying is always a good idea because I prefer buying these by the 500cts

 

[boxhitch]

found it

 

[boxhitch]

 

[todbartell]

I can't imagine a SMK shooting poorly

 

[wcat]

I can't imagine a SMK shooting poorly

Yeah, that's what I figured, so I went ahead and bought a brick of 500 this morning. I'll get my answer next summer it seems.

 

[DiMP]

Yeah, that's what I figured, so I went ahead and bought a brick of 500 this morning. I'll get my answer next summer it seems.

Hope you bought that half price box Frontier Firearms was advertising

 

[iron cat]

The .308 169 grain Match Kings stay stable out to 1,000 Meters, the 168's were designed for inside 500 meters .
Cat

 

[gohisk1]

I fire both 168 and 169's in my .308
The 168 SMK was #### of the walk way back when .
I have successfully shootout to 1200 yds with the 168's
The 169's defiantly have higher BC and in my experience (limited with the 169) there is about 5+ inches difference in impacts on steel at 1024 yds.
Have a bunch of 168gr pills to use until I make the switch to 169gr pills

 

[iron cat]

I fire both 168 and 169's in my .308
The 168 SMK was #### of the walk way back when .
I have successfully shootout to 1200 yds with the 168's
The 169's defiantly have higher BC and in my experience (limited with the 169) there is about 5+ inches difference in impacts on steel at 1024 yds.
Have a bunch of 168gr pills to use until I make the switch to 169gr pills

I would be interested in the scores were you getting at 1,200, or were you shooting steel?
Cat

 

[dannyss]

The 169 SMK is now my bullet of choice, for 100-300m. Perfect gyroscopic stability in my 1:10 barrel. The 175 SMK was over stabilized. I shoot at 1000m during the summer and the 169 is designed for it. Haven't shot the 169 at those distances yet. That's going to happen next summer.

 

[boxhitch]

The .308 169 grain Match Kings stay stable out to 1,000 Meters, the 168's were designed for inside 500 meters .
Cat

maybe, but i doubt many 168s will now feel inadequate about reaching to 1000

 

[iron cat]

maybe, but i doubt many 168s will now feel inadequate about reaching to 1000

Honest question ,I don't know anybody who competes in Fclass or TR that is actually using the Sierra 168 International for the longer distances, do you?
Cat

 

[boxhitch]

No competing with others, still trying to best myself

 

[gohisk1]

Shooting steel only. Paper out to 100 and 200 yds . Can't fathom going out that far for a score .
Just happy turning the Caldwell Flash Bang green light on at 1200 yds, 36" diameter out there .

 

[boxhitch]

what the Pros use

These PRS shooters are regularly engaging relatively small targets at distances from 300 to 1200 yards

There were a total of 10 shooters who were using a 308 Win to compete in the Tactical Division that ended up in the top 200 in the Open Division. Here are the bullets they reported that they compete with:

• Berger 168 gr. Hybrid (2 shooters using this bullet)
• Berger 175 gr. OTM Tactical
• Hornady 174 gr. ELD-VT
• Hornady 176 gr. A-Tip (2 shooters using this bullet)
• Hornady 178 gr. ELD-M
• Sierra 169 gr. MatchKing
• Sierra 175 gr. MatchKing
• Sierra 177 gr. MatchKing

interesting, 10 shooters 8 different choices

 

[iron cat]

what the Pros use


interesting, 10 shooters 8 different choices

And not one Sierra 168 grain International.
BTW, in case you did not know, an ICFRA F class target has a 1MOA bull and a 1/2 MOA Vbull, with normally 15 rounds shot at each distance out to 1,000 meters , the accuracy patarameters are different from PRS . They also do not use brakes and rhe F/Tr shooters have an 18 pound weight limit.
Us fullbore shooters do it with sling'n'irons prone with a 2MOA bull and a 1MOA Vbull, and yes we go
out to1,000 with the irons prone
Cat

 

[peterdobson]

It's ridiculous to think the 168 SMK is adequate for 1000 yards. I have see them tumble @ at 800. I have heard that some have truly stretched the limit with long barrels and hot loads, but why bother using an inferior bullet?

They are not used as they are not competitive. This is basic old knowledge for those who do well at long range.

Regards,
Peter

 

[maynard]

The old 168 SMK's were designed in the 1960's for shooting the 300m ISU match. They will work fine out to about 800 yards. We used Federal 168 GMM one year shooting in Trinidad out to 600 yards and the ammo was very good.

Here in Canada the Target Rifle Class (irons and slings) is limited to 156 gr bullets. Berger, Lapua, 2156 SKM (Palma) are all used. In the UK they use issued ammo using the old style 155 SMK bullets. As far as I know all teams that shot the International Palma Match (800, 900 &1000 yards) last year in South Africa all used 155.5 Berger Fullbore bullets.