Sierra Match King bullets for hunting

Sierra does not recommend these bullets for hunting because they are not designed for predictable performance on game. They may expand violently - this has been the experience of a friend using 300 SMKs from a .338 Lapua, and another friend with a .22-.250AI and 80gr SMKs, both against caribou. Or they may not expand at all. Why not use bullets specifically intended for proper performance when hunting?
 
Levi has it right, Sierra GAME KING, not match king... The match king performance is unpredictable...

Cheers
Jay
 
I shot a coyote and a wolf with the 107 gr. MK in 6.5mm

the coyote dropped to the shot, then got up and ran off, hit him again running away at 100 yards, coyote didnt even slow down. followed a weak blood trail for 30 minutes before the thing crawled into a brush pile. :mad:

figuring it was a fluke, I tried them again, and ran into a wolf @ 150 yards. a frontal shot resulted in a 500 yard sprint for the bush. managed to roll it at 350'ish yards, only to have it get up again. by the time I tracked it in the snow to the timber, I found little blood at all. caught up to her laying under a tree, and shot her in the head at 15 feet. upon skinning, it revealed the Sierra HPBT MK to not even expand at all, even on lengthwise shots.

terrible choices for hunting, when you got dozens of suitable options to choose from. I know I for one will never use them again on critters...:( :rolleyes:
​
 
With all the great choices in hunting bullets today, why would anyone use a SMK?
Leave those for punching paper, what they were designed for.
 
OK, I'll jump in...

I use 7.62 X 54r and shoot .311 174 SMK at the range, love them. Thanks to comments on this board I will not attempt to hunt with them though. Leaves me with the question, what .310 - .311 bullet should I look into for deer, black bear and moose this year? Moose would be my main target, bear would be a just in case he comes around situation. Thanks for any input
 
Holleyman said:
OK, I'll jump in...

I use 7.62 X 54r and shoot .311 174 SMK at the range, love them. Thanks to comments on this board I will not attempt to hunt with them though. Leaves me with the question, what .310 - .311 bullet should I look into for deer, black bear and moose this year? Moose would be my main target, bear would be a just in case he comes around situation. Thanks for any input
Click to expand...

I'd take a hard look at either the 174 gr. Hornady Interlock, or the 180 gr. Remington CorLokt
 
Holleyman said:
OK, I'll jump in...

I use 7.62 X 54r and shoot .311 174 SMK at the range, love them. Thanks to comments on this board I will not attempt to hunt with them though. Leaves me with the question, what .310 - .311 bullet should I look into for deer, black bear and moose this year? Moose would be my main target, bear would be a just in case he comes around situation. Thanks for any input
Click to expand...
Holleyman, the 180 grain Winchester and the Hornadys both work fine in all the 303's that I have loaded for.

My favorite is the Seirra however.....
Cat
 
TheCanuck said:
Ok, so i keep hearing this bullet will not expand and this and that.It's a poor choice bla bla bla

http://longrangehunting.com/ubbthre...s=matchking+kills&topic=&Search=true#Post7368

Ok now it's settled, no more #####ing about SMKs for hunting:)
Click to expand...


I'll just tell you what my experience is with em. Do what you will.....
In the late 80's I owned a gun shop. As I was closing it down because of having to much on my plate. I decided to treat myself to a limited production sako deluxe in 300 wea...Of course a gun that nice would never see the bush,so I proceeded to put it on a diet of matchkings..However things have a knack of slowly transforming..In other words ,your driving home one night,see a deer on the side of the field,race home to grab a gun,and bang before you know it the gun has been through dense hills deer hunts,to moose hunts,to 900 yd caribou shots,to you frigin name it......Oh whats that,the matchking bullet is still on the menu and of the literal 100's of animals big and small ,close and far,theres none left wounded....Like I said,take that for what its worth...
 
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