Who makes the best match bullet ?

powdergun

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In your oppinions who produces the most consistent and most accurate match and hunting bullets ?

I realize that there are many other factors to consider in both the rifle and other loading components but if anyone has some general observations I'd like to here it. Specifically oppinions on .30 cal
 
I have used Lapua, Sierra and Hornady. I still have all three on hand. The trick is to find out what your barrel likes before it is shot out.

As for hunting, the correct weight and style of bullet from any of these will do the job. Again, find what the rifle likes.

Some rifle shot them all well. Some are very fussy.
 
you tell us....
its the one that shoots best in your gun.

* I could tell you its Sierra, but then if it doesnt perform as well in your rifle.. are you going to agree with my opinion?
 
Sierra, Nosler, I've tried Lapua - they were OK in my rifle, and tried Hornady - just plain crap in my rifle.

It's a sujective question, because the question is "WHAT WORKS WELL IN YOUR RIFLE?"
 
Wow, what a question. The custom bullet maker could have the edge when it comes to keeping the tolarances of a match bullet to a minimum, and I have found Bergers to be very accurate in fast twist barrels. I still haven't seen any of the aluminum tipped bullets from Wildcat, but I hope to soon. When you consider the hundreds of millions of bullets manufactured by the big makers, match bullet accuracy is very good across the board. At one time I thought that a Hornady 168 gr International Match would out shoot the 168 gr Sierra MK, but the advantage did not last. Nosler J-4's I thought were quite good, and a little cheaper to shoot that the MK's. I have only shot a small number of Lapuas, perhaps a thousand or so, but from what I've seen they are very good. as said above it depends more on what bullet your rifle likes.

In a hunting bullet, terminal performance trumps accuracy, and the hunter should always consider what job he expects his bullet to accomplish. Most of us cannot shoot under 2 MOA in the field at any rate, so a bullet that is capable of quarter MOA is of little advantage. Seeing a bullet totally fail will underscore this point.

It happened to me when I loaded Speer 130 gr hollowpoints in my .30-06. These bullets shot close to half MOA, but the effect on the one seal I shot with these things was abysmal. It took several shots to put the poor thing away as it dragged itself around on the sea ice, and finally a neck shot finished it. An autopsy showed that none of the bullets penetrated into the body, and the bullets exploded on bone leaving only flecks of jacket material in a fist sized hole. I thought these bullets would be super deadly, because most shots on seals are head shots, but this guy was facing away from me on the first shot, and although he would raise his head from time to time, I didn't have a good shot, so elected for a body shot. At the shot he went down his hole, but quickly came back up on the ice. As it happened his back end was paralysed, and he could only pull himself around on his front flippers. The subsequent shots, 4 of them, were broadside, but he was moving, and the neck shot was more luck than good planning.

No one wants to intentionally inflict this level of distress on an animal, and I will never use those bullets again on anything but light framed animals. So there you have it. Base you bullet choice on the weight and body structure of the game you are hunting, and take into account that the bullet will have to work regardless of the angle of the shot.
 
In .30 cal 150gr FB? BIB. But if you don't want a custom bullet, try in this order Lapua, Sierra, Hornady. As the other guy said, target bullets and hunting bullets are different, so choose the one you need.
 
My preferences are Nolser then Sierra for ranges out to 600 yards.
Beyond 600yards Lapua, Burger VLD's, Nolser, Sierra.
If I could only shoot one bullet at all ranges either Nosler's or Sierra will work just fine. I find no advantage of shooting Lapua or Bergers at short range, but they really start to shine out past 600 yards.

For a hunting bullet, accuracy is not as important as knock down preformance.
 
My personal experience indicates that in 6.5mm, Lapua is hard to beat. In 6mm it's a tossup between Lapua and Sierra in the heavyweights. 30 Cal, Bergers have really shone for me, but Sierra has done fairly well also. 7mm has to be Sierra for me with the Hornady A-max looking very good. Rifles are individualistic, and will display marked preferences for some makerw's bullets, and even certain lot numbers of bullets from one maker. You have to experiment a bit to find out. Regards, Eagleye.
 
I have had good results from bergers and Seirras as far as "over the counter" bullets go. Had some pleasent suprises with Hornady's too.
Those were all in .22 and .284 diameters though. Never got into the customs in a match bullet. Just the varmint stuff from Calhoons
 
Match: choose from these manf and see what your barrel prefers - 30cal

Berger, Hornady, Lapua, Sierra, Nosler. I am partial to the Amax in 30cal, 7mm and 22cal.

Shoot alot of 6.5 Lapuas. Just started playing with 7mm 180gr Bergers and am impressed (favorite have been the 162gr Amax).

Hunting: 30cal - Hornady SST/Interbond or Nosler BT/Accubond (poly tipped). None better for both terminal, ballistics, and accuracy as long as impact velocity is 2900fps and under.

Jerry
 
From my experience and clients for long range general purpose...

Best performance first...

Berger, Sierra, then Lapua

Custom bullets like Barts, Gentner are also first rate.

Couple them with Lapua Brass and your off to the races.......
 
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