Sierra matchking performance on game

I have run SGK for 35plus years and taken whitetails in the 160-260 # dressed range. I shoulder shoot the the Bucks and use a 7mm, 150 gr at about 2900 fps. Never a reason to look anything else.....excellent bullet.

Loaded the MatchKings for years for a BLR .243. Always a big exit hole, never had to track one when the boiler room was hit. Killed many Lake County Blacktails with the MK here in Kalifornia before the lead ban.

About thirty years ago I bought 1000 300 gr. .338 Match Kings. I have 68 left on my bench. I love to shoot jack rabbits at any range with them. Everything from ground squirrels to elk. Never had anything I hit in the ribs get away. I'm now 77 years old. I'll probably buy another 1000 because I like them and I know how and where they shoot. Main thing is don't out shoot the cartridge your using.

Chas1 said:

+1. Congratulations, a really nice deer.

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Thanks.

canyonhunter said:

Well sounds like your bullet pounded the buck , I wonder how he ran any distance at all. As for your wind call, I am sure we all get a little beat up on windage from time to time .

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I wondered that too. I guess that there is no definite way to drop a deer.

Up until last year when I switched cartridges, I ran a 190 SMK at 3100 fps out of my 300 win. Everyone's experience is different, but I have no problem recommending them. 14 elk and 6 mule deer from me alone, along with 8 elk and probably 15 deer from a close friend at ranges from 80-655 yards all died within 5 steps after being hit with a 190 SMK.

MTNRaine said:

Up until last year when I switched cartridges, I ran a 190 SMK at 3100 fps out of my 300 win. Everyone's experience is different, but I have no problem recommending them. 14 elk and 6 mule deer from me alone, along with 8 elk and probably 15 deer from a close friend at ranges from 80-655 yards all died within 5 steps after being hit with a 190 SMK.

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That sounds like some really good shooting.

Seems to me that most of the success with the smk's performance is coming from 30 and 338 projectiles. I'm not saying the smaller ones don't work as well; but, seems most posting these pics are using the bigger examples. Is there a correlation to that? I have some 142smks. It would be interesting to see some results from that bullet.

I have never hunted with Sierra match bullets. I have how ever hunted with Berger match bullets. Pigs don't like them Bergers one bit. They turn vitals into mush. I suspect Sierras will do just as well. Keep your distance in check and anything worth a marinade is grave yard dead. It might drop on a dime, or run 150 yards before it dies, but it will die.

mercerbear said:

@Petey308

We have a member on the board who has done extensive bullet testing on game and speaks highly of the Sierra Tipped Match King. Specifically heavy for caliber, ie the 195 grain in .308.

I suspect this bullet in 7MM gave you a similar terminal performance. Looks about perfect to me and it sounds like the performance of the bullet may have compensated for a slightly rear shot.

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SMKs, unaltered, tend to be very unreliable in most calibers. The cavity isn't that large under the meplat and ahead of the core to begin with on them, and the opening is also typically pretty small and sometimes jagged and can create inconsistent and unreliable expansion. I used to use them a lot at one point, and found drilling the tips and going slightly into the core with a 1/16" bit widened the meplat and increased the cavity enough to produce very reliable and consistent results. I later upgraded the process to a meplat trimmer and widened the tips to .070-.100" depending on caliber. It worked just as well and was more efficient than the drill bit, plus more consistent since there's a degree of error involved in drilling them.

Once I started using AMAXs, then ELDMs, and then TMKs, I stopped bothering with all that and just shoot those now. No loss in BC and no extra steps and tedious work at the bench.

If corrected like I mentioned though, the SMK has around a .026" thick jacket, just like the GameKings and TMKs, and they'll work well down to 1400fps with a good amount of impact resistance. For a shot like behind the shoulder on a whitetail, I'd maybe be more confident keeping it no lower than 1600fps though just due to the smaller cavity.

And yes, uncorrected/unaltered, they can and have still worked great for a lot of people, myself included. They've just had instances where they didn't open up properly though too and that's the unreliability and inconsistency I'm talking about. Correcting and widening the meplat will fix that, or using a tipped bullet .

Also, in regards to the 175 SMK specifically, it's used in M118LR and is made to consistently not be "inhumane" per the Geneva Convention and Hague Declaration. A lot of testing went into it and it's use as a sniper round in the DoD. It's still highly advised to open the tips up in order to ensure reliable expansion time after time, especially when impact velocities dip below around 1800fps. They're typically better than other SMKs, but I've found a lot of newer lots of SMKs across calibers are a lot better than they used to be.

Also, I do have a few posts related to things like this and showing differences in jacket thicknesses and construction, found here:

https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/bullet-construction.283735/

https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/selecting-a-hunting-bullet.283902/

https://www.longrangehunting.com/th...d-in-comparison-to-other-bullet-types.283812/

https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/berger-hybrid-vs-berger-vld.283905/

Also, I've not read through this whole thread, so my apologies if I missed something or echoed anything.

Hunt_4life said:

I wondered that too. I guess that there is no definite way to drop a deer.

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Yeah there is: Use enough bullet and hit 'em in the right place. You did both. Ignore the critics, enjoy the good memories and meat in the freezer.

bgremill said:

Seems to me that most of the success with the smk's performance is coming from 30 and 338 projectiles. I'm not saying the smaller ones don't work as well; but, seems most posting these pics are using the bigger examples. Is there a correlation to that? I have some 142smks. It would be interesting to see some results from that bullet.

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I used 7mm Match Kings for years while hunting for a museum. I was collecting, and on the small animals you wanted one small hole in and one small hole out. Hundreds of specimens. Absolutely deadly on caribou. Because you never knew what you would shoot next, I liked and still use a Krieghoff Drilling in 16x16x7mmx65r(280 Rem). One shot, be sure.

darreljwick said:

I have run SGK for 35plus years and taken whitetails in the 160-260 # dressed range. I shoulder shoot the the Bucks and use a 7mm, 150 gr at about 2900 fps. Never a reason to look anything else.....excellent bullet.

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Keep in mind we're talking about SMK's not SGK's...

bgremill said:

Seems to me that most of the success with the smk's performance is coming from 30 and 338 projectiles. I'm not saying the smaller ones don't work as well; but, seems most posting these pics are using the bigger examples. Is there a correlation to that? I have some 142smks. It would be interesting to see some results from that bullet.

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I used the 142gr in my 6.5x284 @ 3100fps for several years with great results and accuracy.

2018 - Montana whitetail buck at 250 yards....DRT
2019 - Montana bull elk at 400 yards. One shot to the boiler room and he didn't take another step.
2019 - Colorado muley buck at 550 yards. One shot and went about 10 yards before tipping over.
2020 - Montana whitetail buck at 150 yards.... hit him about 12" back from POA due to scope problem... Still ran 100 yards with a 4" gaping hole in his gut before bleeding out.

This is the same old debate that has been raging for years, but at the end of the day it is shot placement that counts and the match bullets perform great when put where they should be.