168 grain Seirra match king for hunting??

[arthurj]

Not to start anything, or derail the thread but I don't see why people think that phone books make a good test medium. Buy some ballistics gel before you try to compare two COMPLETELY different test mediums. Wet phone books, in no way resemble the tissues of a deer. CPerkins, I am not trying to start anything I just don't feel that the phone book test gives the right results. I've killed 8-10 deer with matchkings and only 1 of them have taken a step. Most have big exits and the internals are always a giant soup bowl.

 

[Ksmirk]

I love the SMK's! mostly for LR tactical shooting steel or paper but 2 and 3 years ago I took a couple of does with them nothing crazy in distance one was almost 400 yards can't remember what Doug said but it was a nasty sight went in about 3 ribs back and the front shoulder well it didn't go into the meat pan! she was DRT, the other 2 one was 75 yards throught the neck DRT not a great hole but about the size of a golfball, the other was maybe 100 yards and the same through the neck with same results. I normally load Nosler BT's for deer but let's just say I was curious!

I have shot many thousand prairie dogs with the 52gr SMK from 223 and 22-250 and I would say that 3 of 10 would go skipping across the prairie which I don't like so I have given them up. Of the deer I have shot I never recovered a bullet to see if in fact it did mushroom or not but the effect was about the same as the Nosler BT's I do use. Later,

Kirk

 

[CPerkins]

Not to start anything, or derail the thread but I don't see why people think that phone books make a good test medium. Buy some ballistics gel before you try to compare two COMPLETELY different test mediums. Wet phone books, in no way resemble the tissues of a deer. CPerkins, I am not trying to start anything I just don't feel that the phone book test gives the right results. I've killed 8-10 deer with matchkings and only 1 of them have taken a step. Most have big exits and the internals are always a giant soup bowl.

No offence taken. I even stated in my post that I knew that those test were not the same as shooting an animal with them. I think that the tests did indicate that they might not be the best choice. I got lucky and the SMK sighted in dead on at 100 yards and the 165 Sierra HPBT hits about 1.5 inches high at that range. My first round will still be the SMK this year and I will have a 165 HPBT as the second round. Thanks for sharing your experiences though. Sure makes me have alot more confidence in that bullet.

 

[Colcalcipherol]

I've read lots of these posts of "SMK's vs. Hunting Bullets" and it has been interesting. Several people have asked why one would consider using an SMK rather than a hunting-specific bullet. In my case, when loading a .375 CheyTac, I could pay about $1.00/each vs. about $2.15 each--a pretty stron argument considering how many rounds are required to develop propper ballistics tables out to ultra long ranges. And with precision rifles, in particular, it's ideal to find one round that works well in a system and stick with it. So, this discussion is certainly worth the effort and is appreciated.

 

[Greyfox]

The SMK's were not designed for hunting but seem to yeild good results. Here is my take on it...

It was designed as a match round that found it's way into Military use. Hunters (the long range sort especially) tried it for it and some found it satisfactory for game.

If Sierra were to market it as a hunting round, the Military would not be able to use it correct? That being their largest contract i think they would redesign to make a hunting round.

I could be very wrong but that is the way I see it.

I see it the same way.

My first serious delve into long range hunting years ago was taken with a Remington 700, 308 VMT barrel rifle. The 168/175 SMK's were extremely accurate, and I had the drops/ wind dope under all conditions memorized , so I was planning to use them for hunting out to 600 yards. I spoke to a tech at Sierra and he was adamant that I should not use a SMK's because they would give erratic performance, and the Game Kings would not open up at 500-600 yards fired from a 308. This worked on my head so I began trying other bullets. The Nosler Ballistic Tips were claimed to open at 1600 FPS so I ended up working up a load that matched the ballistic data and accuracy of the 168 SMK's and found their performance/expansion on deer out to 600 yards to be excellent. I ran them at 2800FPS using 45.3gr of Varget. I ended up giving that rifle to my son in law and he found that the factory Nosler Custom 165 Ballistic Tips perform similarly.