Sierra Matchking Questions

I have shot most of the match bullets into gelatine. the sierra tends to go straight through or break in half.

The Hornady A-MAx mushroomed fairly well.

But why not use a hinting bullet? Cheaper and better performance.
 
PRO4X said:
Have you considered the Berger VLD hunting match bullets. Designed to maintain the ballistics of a match round and meant for taking down targets with a pulse. Plus a wide variety of weights...155,168,175,185,190 and 210 grain in .30 caliber.
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You've been watching too much "Best of the West".

I'd like to see them use the Bergers on animals at close range. Also keep in mind that they can edit their program as they see fit.

The Berger Hunting VLD actually have a thinner jacket than the Match VLD in some of their calibers. There's lots of info on the net about this.
 
I've used the Bergers at close range. 168 gr. vlds,7mm Wetherby Magnum. 1 buck 135yds.(ranged) Through both shoulders. 1 doe 250yds.(ranged) through the spine.bit far back. 1 big doe about 80 yds lung shot. Yearling WT 60 yds. lung shot. Doe 145 yds.? lung shot. Every one was a complete pass through. Exit wounds were all over 2" in diameter. The lung shots all resulted in the deer running a ways, but the blood trail was very easy to follow.
 
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ffwd said:
I've used the Bergers at close range. 168 gr. vlds,7mm Wetherby Magnum. 1 buck 135yds.(ranged) Through both shoulders. 1 doe 250yds.(ranged) through the spine.bit far back. 1 big doe about 80 yds lung shot. Yearling WT 60 yds. lung shot. Doe 145 yds.? lung shot. Every one was a complete pass through. Exit wounds were all over 2" in diameter. The lung shots all resulted in the deer running a ways, but the blood trail was very easy to follow.
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The main reason for that is probably good bullet weight choice. The issue I have is that many would have chosen the 140 grain in 7mm in order to gain velocity, that's where problems start.

I've seen catastrophic failure quite often with high velocity calibers and light bullets at close range, all because most reloaders look at drop charts,etc and pick the flattest shooting combo they find in the books.

About the only light bullets I've seen which hold together and penetrate in a high velocity,close range scenario are Barnes, but price reflects performance here.

FWIW, I don't care for any Sierra bullets for hunting. I've had some poor experiences with Gamekings as well, which are basically a Matchking with a bit thicker jacket.

I'd rather spend extra money on bullets than honing my tracking skills. :)
 
I bought some 155 gr. bergers to try out on deer this year from a .30-06. I have used SGK's with excellent results on moose, whitetails, and mulies. Some of the most dramatic kills I've made have been with SGK's. If I were to hunt with a magnum I probably wouldn't choose a SGK.

As for the SMK's...I have never used them for hunting and I won't in the future either.
 
Tried a 142 gr Sierra MK in a 6.5x55 Swede one time just to experiment. Hit the doe broadside @ 25 yds right in the shoulder. Bullet exploded and turned the whole shoulder area into hamburger. Pieces of the bullet went into heart and killed it instantly though.

Next big doe got a 140gr A-Max same caliber at @ 25 yds again broadside through the heart. Must have been pure luck. Not a bone hit, pinhole in and out. Doe bled out in seconds.

My best success has been the Nosler Ballistic Tips. They have not let me down yet.
 
I have used 168 grain SMK hunting; it worked well. I killed 3-4 deer with them and it never failed on me. I try to use "hunting" bullets whenever I can but I think expanding bullets are more important for the smaller calibers. I think when you are shooting a deer sized game, once you have bullets over the 140 grain point they are large enough that the hole they produce is going to kill the animal even if they don't expand a lot. I currently use Nosler Combined Technologies 168grain Ballistic Silver Tips but I wouldn't hesitate to use SMK again...
 
Thanks for all the constructive posts on this thread. You all have given good opinions. Now I get to have the satisfaction of showing up to the hunt with my normal bullets. May the hunting god smile on me, cause I really want to blow the heart out of bambi's father. LOL.

And my friends are gonna be really bummed out again. LOL.
 
bearkilr said:
You've been watching too much "Best of the West".

I'd like to see them use the Bergers on animals at close range. Also keep in mind that they can edit their program as they see fit.

The Berger Hunting VLD actually have a thinner jacket than the Match VLD in some of their calibers. There's lots of info on the net about this.
Click to expand...

Just making a suggestion of a product not listed, bud. Have you used the Bergers or just bashing off what someone else posted from their own personal issue with the round. I've had great luck with mine, but I've also had sone terrible luck with ballistic or soft point hunting rounds. No bullet is perfect. It's all trial and error and personal preference.

And what the hell is best of the west?
 
PRO4X said:
Just making a suggestion of a product not listed, bud. Have you used the Bergers or just bashing off what someone else posted from their own personal issue with the round. I've had great luck with mine, but I've also had sone terrible luck with ballistic or soft point hunting rounds. No bullet is perfect. It's all trial and error and personal preference.

And what the hell is best of the west?
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Best of the West is a 1/2 hour hunting program that pretty much put Berger bullets on the map for hunting applications. The shots on game are consistently 500+ yards.

I've used the Berger's for target shooting, their intended use.
 
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