Sierra Match Kings???

[JasonYuke]

Most guys tell you a big sob story about how they do not work but have not tried it!

I have shot many deer to date with SMKS with a 243, one with 300 wsm and one with a 308! My cousin has borrowed my 243 and so has his wife to count for another bunch of deer that we have lost track! His boy also shot his first deer with this gun 3 years ago, and has used it every year to shoot one at his stand and its so effective he picked a 243 up and ordered 100 loads from me. All shots with SMKS 20 plus bang flops I guess that dont count!!!!!!!!! and trust me some of the shots were not perfect ones. To boot we recovered a bunch of bullets and has been a bunch of pass throughs.

I would not use it on anything bigger or thicker than deer, but come on deer are not cape buffs we are talking 10-13 inches thick light rib case and 150-250 lbs.

No they are not a hunting bullet but that shoot so well from a lot of guns, and have never had one blow up to dust.

 

[Boomer]

If Sierra ever brings out a 370 gr MK in .375" I might visit them again for a long range caribou bullet, but my experience thus far has worked out with the bullet penciling through, or explosively loosing the core . . .

.308"

.243"

 

[Jordan Smith]

bcsteve,

My experience is with 100gr .257 MK's. They fragment up close, but expand nicely at long range.

Here is Hornady's comment on the A-Max:

"*Match bullets are not recommended for hunting medium & large game."

A-Max and MK bullets are not recommended for hunting because they perform erratically at the distances many hunters shoot game- under 300 yards, when they are pushed hard out the muzzle. Sierra also has the added incentive to advertise their MK as a non-expanding bullet (even though it definitely expands) in order to hold on to their military contract.

The only allure of match bullets over conventional hunting bullets is the high B.C. value that is attached to them. The high B.C. value equates to a smaller margin of error when correcting for wind drift. This is really meaningless at 350 yards or less. There is no reason to use match bullets at any range under 350-400 yards, but I definitely use them for shooting over 500 yards. For 500 yards and under, I use the TTSX. I am a hunter who will gladly stalk to within 20 yards of my quarry, if possible, but am also prepared to take a shot out to 700 yards if needed. Luckily, the MK's hit to the same POI as my TTSX load in my hunting rifles, so I can make the swap in the field if the need arises. I would rather have a bullet that expands rapidly in the vitals (whether a MK, A-Max, or VLD), than a hunting bullet that was pushed around by the wind more than I expected, and hits the paunch. Just MO.

 

[LloydM]

Besides gophers I have only shot one animal with a SMK; it was a coyote running up a hill away from me at almost 200 yards. I used a 168gr SMK from a 7mm Rem Mag. The bullet entered somewhere close to the spine towards its rear end and exited somewhere between its front legs. It completely gutted the coyote, all the abdominal organs were left hanging out of it, and it liquified most of the lungs too. That being said the coyote stumbled around for close to half a minute after I shot it. One shot is not enough for me to be able to say how expandable SMK's are. They are soft for sure though - 300gr SMKs at 3000fps just put a tiny crater in metal targets.

"Bang flops" are not that strong of evidence that a bullet has great terminal ballistics. There is a lot of chance involved in whether an animal will drop on the spot or not. A FMJ .223 Remington might drop a deer quicker than a soft point .300 Win Mag in the right combination of circumstances. Shooter accuracy, shooters ability to pick the right place to shoot in the first place, angle the animal is hit at, what structures the bullet travels through (dense organs, hollow organs, bone, vessels, etc.)...

Also, remember that bullet travel through body tissues causes a cavity, if you shoot a second round through the same place it is now traveling through a somewhat more 'hollow' space, now with much less tissue to expand in. This could have contributed partially to the results on the bear from post #15.

 

[honkerhitter]

There is apretty detailed article in shootin times by greg rodriguez on this very subject, he keeps adetailed log of all his clients/cal/bullet, just for a record. He found that the MK's have no rhyme nor reason on how they expand from one shot to the next,pencil holes one time, fragmentation next time with little penetration. Botttom lin is they are not designed for hunting big game, proably smoke yotes though. I've found that game-kings can ussaully be loaded to get some very nice groups. IE. .270 cal 110 gr. GK/ RL-19 3/4 to 1'' at 100 consistantly. Perfect yote mediciene.

 

[thatmikeguy]

i use a parker hale 308 and found that match kings give the best accuracy. i got a .455" 3 shot group at 100 yards which is why i like it. i'm positive it'll work on yotes but i just don't want to lose a bick buck if i get the chance. hornady sst's group 1.5" out of my gun which is not bad. i shot a deer last season with bang flop results....i also hit the spine.

 

[liberty]

With all the excellent hunting bullets out there, find one that shoots well in your gun and use them.

Save the SMK's for thr range.

 

[bcsteve]

bcsteve,

My experience is with 100gr .257 MK's. They fragment up close, but expand nicely at long range.

Here is Hornady's comment on the A-Max:

"*Match bullets are not recommended for hunting medium & large game."

They must have changed their opinion recently. I remember reading it on their website. I just pulled my 6th edition Hornady reloading manual and it states:

"A-Max bullets are genrally for match shooting, with jackets drawn to less than .0005" concentricity and given , as here, Hornady's Ultra-Low Drag Tip. this bullet is also excellent for hunting thin-skinned game."

 

[ffwd]

Use what you like to use. Many people successfully use the SMK's. Many use the Berger vld's. Many use cast bullets in "obsolete" calibres.

Get out there and quit worrying about it.

 

[Jordan Smith]

They must have changed their opinion recently. I remember reading it on their website. I just pulled my 6th edition Hornady reloading manual and it states:

"A-Max bullets are genrally for match shooting, with jackets drawn to less than .0005" concentricity and given , as here, Hornady's Ultra-Low Drag Tip. this bullet is also excellent for hunting thin-skinned game."

I remember reading the same thing on their website, but as of a couple months ago I noticed that it now says that they're not recommended for any medium to heavy game.

 

[Westside]

I took my Elk this year with a 300 gr SMK.

Both shots were through and through.

1st shot was Lungs and liver with a broken rib on entry.

2nd shot was neck and shoulder, shoulder on exit.

The jacket fragmented into 1/4" sized chunks which we found traces of during skinning. Never found the lead cores.

I will switch the Barnes for hunting rounds and keep the SMK for target.

 

[todbartell]

I shot a coyote and a wolf with a 6.5mm 107gr SMK. As far as I could tell, zero expansion. Coyote ran half a KM before he got into his den, I didnt go in after him. Wolf took a couple hits before escaping into the trees. Caught up to her a ways later bedded down and shot her in the head.

I will never use them for hunting anything ever again.

 

[kayaker1]

I am always amazed when this topic of target bullets for hunting comes up. They are designed to be precise, consistent and have high BC's. Terminal performance is not a factor that is taken into account for paper punchers and steel topplers, so how can people be surprised when they use something in an application it is not designed for, and they achieve poor results?


Think of it applied the other way, "Hi guys, I am using swift a-frames and nolser partitions in 1000yrd match and man, the guys with the target bullets are really outshooting me, what are you experiences using hunting bullets for long range targte use - I am really hoping they will work out".

What would the response be?

 

[KodiakHntr]

I run a 168gr SMK in my 300RUM for general plinking, shooting the heads off of grouse, and long pokes at coyotes if the opportunity presents itself.

Of the 30 or so coyotes I've hit with the SMK some crumpled, a some would run like hell leaving a very fine blood trail, and the rest would come apart like a gopher shot with a 22-250.

Based on what I've seen, I certainly wouldn't shoot a deer with them.

 

[thatmikeguy]

i never thought of that way todbartell. it makes sense. in your experience, have you found an accurate reliable hunting bullet?

 

[thatmikeguy]

i've heard that the berger bullets work well for hunting but i thought those were target bullets.

 

[Dogleg]

[QUOTE="kayaker1, post: 4124012, member: 51971"]I am always amazed when this topic of target bullets for hunting comes up. They are designed to be precise, consistent and have high BC's. Terminal performance is not a factor that is taken into account for paper punchers and steel topplers, so how can people be surprised when they use something in an application it is not designed for, and they achieve poor results?


Think of it applied the other way, "Hi guys, I am using swift a-frames and nolser partitions in 1000yrd match and man, the guys with the target bullets are really outshooting me, what are you experiences using hunting bullets for long range targte use - I am really hoping they will work out".

What would the response be?[/QUOTE]

The choices for short/midrange hunting bullets or longrange target shooting is easy enough. The subject comes up for hunting at ranges normally associated with longrange target shooting.