I use 250 and 300 grain SMK ,s in my 338 lapua and have the same results.
Match King- There are better
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I use 250 and 300 grain SMK ,s in my 338 lapua and have the same results.
300rum
Well-Known Member
I know. I test them and used them and ifor my sistem works just fine.
Ilove them alot better then vld match because the bullet is passing through and no bullet fragment inside the meat.
Berger vld is more explosive round and the inside damage is huge. Everything is transformed to gelly
.
All im doinflg is i try to keep them above 1800 fps on double lung shot
On highshoulder or neck shot i can run lower at 1600 fps.
This are my findings using matchking or target vld on games.
Ilove them alot better then vld match because the bullet is passing through and no bullet fragment inside the meat.
Berger vld is more explosive round and the inside damage is huge. Everything is transformed to gelly
.
All im doinflg is i try to keep them above 1800 fps on double lung shot
On highshoulder or neck shot i can run lower at 1600 fps.
This are my findings using matchking or target vld on games.
I've tested a lot of bullets including the Matchking and that is what they do! The Matchkings have a tangent ogive which will not open as easily as a secant ogive because of the angle of entry on the tip. (it pushes inward more rather than outward with equal pressure). Case in point; a Berger will open easier because it is a secant. That's why they are called MATCHking.......Rich
Rich,
Never heard anything about how a tangent ogive is harder to open. Aren't most every "hunting" bullets made with tangent ogives? Or do I have it backwards and didn't realize it? Are these your findings or has there been research done on it and I have never read it? Not calling you out, just thinking I may learn something new today.
Looks like we are starting the monthly "Don't use match bullets on game" thread.
I use 300gr Matchkings in my Edge and have had nothing short of amazing results from 50 yards to past 1400! Never had an animal take a step. The past two years I have used 175SMK's from a .308 with very good terminal performance out to 300 yards.
Pic 1 is of a 300 SMK I recovered from a good buck I shot two Friday's back. Almost straight on shot @ 75 yards, hit in frony of his left shoulder. Destroyed the shoulder and I recovered what was left in the rear of his intestines. Everything inside was jelly.
Pic 2 is a 300 SMK Recovered on the far side of en elk hide shot @ 1006 yards. Broadside, slightly quartering away. Smashed it's shoulder and the lead core made an exit.
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westcliffe01
Well-Known Member
Flip, why should they encourage the use of Match King bullets when the Game Kings are 2-3x the price ?.... Personally I do not have experience with the SMK on larger game, but do you suppose that the marine sniper teams gave no thought whatsoever to the ballistic performance of the 175gr SMK's that are loaded in the LR ammo ? After all, what can be worse that shooting at people that shoot back ?
We have no say so on what we are issued, the military doesn't use matchkings for the terminal effect.
westcliffe01
Well-Known Member
Maybe the grunts don't have any say, but I'm pretty sure there was a committee put together of ranking officers who chose the 175gr load and bullet. On the other hand, is it possible to do worse than the previous 168gr or 149gr loads ?
SidecarFlip
Well-Known Member
Not sure how to address that. When I was in the Navy during the Vietnamn campaign, I wasn't involved directly in combat so I never had anyone shooting at me. Working in ship board communications on a carrier insulates you from direct cintact with the enemy...
I happen to deal direct with Sierra on projectiles and thats what they recommend (SGK's). I don't own an underground world class shooting tunnel and employ professional ballisticians who do nothing day in and day out other than optimize projectiles to loads.
Far as price, I don't really look at a per bullet cost. I look at the BC, how the bullet acts down range and the fragmentation in gelatin, all within the testing regimen at Sierra.
If you ram any pill with enough velocity and kinetic energy at impact, it's going to do damage, most likely lethal damage, however, at less than optimum velocities and kinetic energy, thats where a ballistic tipped pill outshines a solid tip.
You and I both have been on this forum long enough to note the penchant for ultra high muzzle velocities, in fact, almost to a poster, the vast majority here likes to load at the very upper end of whats considered safe case pressures and then some, with the resultant case head to bolt issues and throat erosion on 3 series and better calibers.
Not I. I find my accuracy loads to be more toward the mid point of most load tables (for a corresponding propellant). That results in a lower muzzle velocity as well as less kinetic energy. Consequently, a solid pill or a pill with a modified point (hollow or semi), isn't as capable of fragmentation as a ballistic tipped pill.
I look at guns like tools. You don 't put a cheater pipe on your 1/2" drive ratchet every time you use it and expect it to last, because it won't. Same applies to a rifle.
I read the Berger blather and the Hornady blather and the Barnes blather but, I think we can all agree that more animals, both large and small, have been taken with Sierra Bullets than any other brand...probably humans too.
