Match bullets for long range big game hunting

[John Klingenberg]

I did hog control on a large Texas ranch for a number of years. I used a .308 and reloaded most everything. I took in excess of 500 hogs a year between control and recreational shooting. I got to "test" a lot of bullets out since I wasn't real choosy about what I was shooting vermin with. Match bullets are not up to the task. They'll kill for sure. Logic says any high speed projectile hitting flesh CAN kill but what's it worth to you? Respect for an animal you don't want to wound? Loss during a lifetime hunt? Your life if it's game that bites back? I'll shoot a hog with pea gravel just to get it out of the population. A Texas whitetail or black buck will tip over from a 22 hornet. A Saskatchewan buck or an elk/stag/oryx/barbary no way. I want a bonded core of some sort. Nilgai...bring a bigger caliber and a DG bullet. Match bullets work mostly well for a shot in the ribs but if you're quartering or facing they're iffy. My experience says hunting bullets for game, match for target/vermin. There are plenty of accurate hunting bullets available...spend the money.

 

[406muley]

I'm for betting the reason that Sierra isn't in the game with their SMK has something to do with their military contracts........... which is of course much more lucrative for them than the hunting market would be........just a thunk

The SMK was the darling of the LR crowd before the Bergers gained popularity. 406muley

 

[Warbird2006]

I use Swift Scirocco II bullets for the last 7 years since I read Nathan's books. I had no failures, not a one. The Sciroccos arent the cheapest bullets, especially when you do the load development, but the ruined hunting trip is not cheap either.

 

[Plinker147]

I used and witnessed both over the years. I prefer hunting type bullets over match based on my experience. We never lost any animal shot with a match bullet I just don't like the results. Most match did pass through and left smaller exit holes which indicates minimal expansion. I'm a fan of Nosler ABLR where a lot of people aren't. Everyone has different experiences.

My personal theory on the subject is the type of bullet matters less if you can put it in the right place. Most of what people call " bullet failures" are really shooting failures and most often tracking failures. People have lost the skill and effort it takes to track correctly and blame the bullet for their failures.

 

[redleg1013]

I'm just tagging in to watch the dumpster fire.

 

[fiftybmg]

What are you guys thoughts on the use of match bullets for hunting thanks for any reply.

By definition, a match bullet is not a hunting bullet, it's in the name, and the fact that each have their own name tells you each was designed for their own purpose.

There may be cases where a match bullet is suitable for hunting, for the simple reason that hunting means different thing to different people, and somewhere in the great variety of game and circumstance, match bullets could be suitable.

 

[redleg1013]

By definition, a match bullet is not a hunting bullet, it's in the name, and the fact that each have their own name tells you each was designed for their own purpose.

Not the best analogy, the military uses match bullets to hunt two legged critters.

 

[Elkeater]

sooner or later, if you use a bullet long enough it'll do something that makes you go hmm...........

This is true!!! I love my 180 accubonds in my ruger .300 win mag. Killed a decent pile of elk with that rifle at ranges from 20-404 yards. But this one time I shot a cow elk at 130 yards and the bullet hit a rib going in not the shoulder but a rib and literally disintegrated. Killed her fast but wholly cow was that entrance big and no exit or any bulletin fragments bigger than a pencil lead were found. That one made me scratch my head a bit. All the other accubonds have performed on dozens of game animals just as advertised.

 

[CONChunt]

If I was to take a guess, it is because the vast majority of people are hunting at distances where the use of a match bullet would be detrimental. Average Joe grabs a box of eldms and shoots a deer at 30 yds from his tree stand, he's going to likely not have a good experience.

For those of us that don't know, could someone please explain what the theory is on why match bullets will not perform well on game at short distances?

This is true!!! I love my 180 accubonds in my ruger .300 win mag. Killed a decent pile of elk with that rifle at ranges from 20-404 yards. But this one time I shot a cow elk at 130 yards and the bullet hit a rib going in not the shoulder but a rib and literally disintegrated. Killed her fast but wholly cow was that entrance big and no exit or any bulletin fragments bigger than a pencil lead were found. That one made me scratch my head a bit. All the other accubonds have performed on dozens of game animals just as advertised.

I had this exact same thing happen last fall with 160 accubonds into the ribs on whitetail buck at about 90 yards! He only went about 20 yards, and it exposed multiple rib bones and spilled some guts out on the impact side. No exit. I never saw a bullet do that before.

 

[Plinker147]

For those of us that don't know, could someone please explain what the theory is on why match bullets will not perform well on game at short distances?

thin jackets. If you have the ability cut a Berger, AB, Edlx, matchking in half from tip to tail. Lay them all side by side and you can see why the bullets perform the way they do. Some match have thicker jackets but most don't. I'm not against using match bullet I just prefer not to.

 

[bigngreen]

Some of the worst wrecks I've seen were with Accubonds not making it into the vitals on elk, the most common I've seen is the 180 from 300's especially up close if someone hits a shoulder but I've seen them shallow also and I think sometimes it's the tips coming out and exposing the huge hole and then they have a huge hydraulic expansion vs the mechanical they are made for. On others it's the fact they are just too tough and create a huge frontal area and there just isn't enough momentum to over come the frontal area so they stop or turn.
I don't like shooting tipped bullets, they open to early and you need to mechanically open them vs the open tip match type which hydraulics open which is typically like a delay fuse. It's very common to see small exits with match type bullets because they open big in the middle and then just pop out with what little momentum they have left, when you look in the middle it's wreckage.

 

[GW Hunter]

It's all about placement...

 

[406muley]

It's all about placement...

Pretty much. Some guys find fault with every bullet except for the one they use, or is "popular". 406muley

 

[LVJ76]

I disagree, EVERYONE wants to blame the bullet, look how fast the bullet is blamed when something goes wrong, most of the time the animal wasn't even recovered and it's a bullet failure.
I can't count the number of bullet failure videos I've seen and some body puts a bullet into the legs, gutts, over the spine in the butt and yet they are all about it being a bullet failure.
I've seen ONE Berger failed to open, 210 at the back of the ribs on a doe mule deer, poor shot and it obviously penciled, we still were able to recover her.
I can't say only one failure about Barnes, Accubonds or Cutting Edge, but I only count the animals I recover and can look at the terminal performance

Aw come on, so my deer from few years ago that required a second shot because the first one was inches behind the shoulder and missed the lungs was not the Partition bullet's fault, dang, I guess I am to blame for that Lol.

Great point sir, many blame the bullet instead of shot placement, they hit the animal in a bad place and it's the bullets fault. Like @FEENIX always says, the nut behind the gun is what matters most.

One needs to pull the thumb and not point the finger at the rifle or bullet, otherwise we won't learn.