match bullets on game

[J E Custom]

Matchking bullets

JMCS

I take a different approach to using Matchking bullets
on game.

Unless they are the only type of bullet that will shoot
under 1 MOA I will normaly use this method of bullet
selection.

All bullets have a range (Example=1800ft/sec to 2800
ft/sec that they perform best and have the best blistic
coefficient. The higher the velocity at the expected
hunting distance the heavier the jacket used.

Example A bullet traveling at 3200ft/sec and up at impact
distance, I would use a premium hunting bullet like the
Partition,A frame or a bonded core.

2400 ft/sec to 3200 ft/sec something like the balistic tip,
scirocco,or V Max.

Below 2400 ft/sec the matchkings work very well and at very
long distance they retain stability and velocity very well.

There are a lot of good bullets out there .Try to pick one
with the optimum performance at the expected range.
but if you get a shot at a longer or shorter distance then
shot placement can make the adjustment for the bullet.

Example= a very long shot with a heavy jacket try to clip
the back edge of the sholder to make the bullet expand early.

A very close shot with a hollow point (like the Match king)
try to hit soft tissue behind the sholder to slow expansion
down.

The Match kings have been used very successfully on all types
of game when well placed.

Just a method I use that works for me
J E CUSTOM

 

[Len Backus]

Here is the article in Rifle Magazine that Eric mentioned. You'll find it on page 40.

HERE

 

[mikenc]

jmcs,

The title of your thread compels me to respond. I of course can't help you with the SMK however our Berger Match VLD have been very successful on big game. I'll gladly send a free 30 minute DVD showing what our Match VLD does when used for hunting. Send an email listing your interest in the DVD and your shipping address to [email protected]. For more on this we were recently written up in the August 2007 issue of Handloader.

We do not have a 270 cal bullet right now but will have three different weights made in the next few months.

Regards,
Eric Stecker
Berger Bullets

Eric,

How can I attain one of those videos? I shoot the 64 grain flat base match bullets in my 223 WSSM with great accuracy and find them great on the small varmints. I will soon be the proud owner of a Bob Hart rifle chambered in his 30 Hart. I am very interested to see how the 30 cal. VLDs do on deer sized or larger game. I would love to see the video.

Thanks
Mike Alford

 

[jmcs]

Berger VLD article

Thanks Len - the article was very good and has hardened my resolve to hunt with this type of bullet. I cannot wait for Eric to bring out the .270 bullets but until then I will have to buy SMKs and support the opposition. I would love to know when they will hit the market and if any will arrive in South Africa. Perhaps Eric can reply to this. On Friday last week my ten year old son shot his second buck and lo and behold it was a trophy Southern Mountain Reedbuck that should qualify for SCI gold and Rowland Ward. I would attach a pic but I know not how?? He shot it with a 243 using 85gr Sierra game kings running at 3300 fps. I had a fantastic time with him and shot 3 of my own - 1 was also a trophy but not as big as his.

 

[mikenc]

davewilson,

The examples of match bullets from a 270 is not shocking at all. Those examples could also be used as examples of poor shot placement. A person surely doesn't want to shoot into a bone or dense area on the animal with a bullet that will explode.

I guess the lesson is, IF you are going to use match bullets to hunt with, make sure your shot placement is in a spot where it will be able to perform at it's best. i.e. don't shoot and elephant in the shoulder with a ballistic tip.

 

[goodgrouper]

I have only experience with the 338 MK's on game, but my experience tells me that they are just the opposite of what has been said here. Instead of being a fragile bullet likely to blow up on the surface of an animal, they were more like FMJ bullets with little to no expansion. However, at extreme long ranges when angle of attack is very steep, they probably have a much bigger tendency to tumble which can be very deadly to game.

If I were to use them again on game (which might happen soon) I would surely aim for bone and forget soft tissue vitals. That way, if they tumble or not, they still break the animal down immediately.

I will say also that their terminal ballistic characteristics (in media) are more inconsistent than any other bullet I have ever tested. But again, this is with the 338 MK which admittedly and obviously has a thicker jacket than the other SMK's.

 

[mikebob]

smk

i haven't used them for hunting but i loaded some 90gr up in my 22-243 and shot them at my steel targets. It went completely through my 1/2" plate at 200 yards and too my suprise went right through the plate i hade at 250 yards behind it. i dont think you will have any kind of problem with them blowing up, maybe just passing through without expanding. btw the hole in the 250 target was twice as big.

 

[jmcs]

Berger VLD vs SMK

As Eric mentioned there is no 270 Berger available yet. How does the VLD compare with the Sierra Matchkings? The results I am having seem to be consistent with the VLD bullets tested in the article recommended earlier. The normal result of a medium to long shot (200 - 400 meters) with the 85gr and 135gr SMK seems to be instant death with acceptable meat damage even when shot in the shoulder. Small entry holes that must be searched for and often no exit hole but massive internal trauma. I see Sierra offer no bonded bullets so why not run a test on their matchkings like Berger did. The article on the Berger bullet really impressed me. I have not yet had a SMK fail on me and I have now shot 21 buck ranging from 50 - 350 lbs and some with tough skins too. Two of my really big Kudus dropped on the spot and one went on about 15 yards.

 

[specweldtom]

Goodgrouper has experience that I don't with .338 mk's on game. It is my belief that the 300gr should be devastating on game as big and heavy as Elk, but I haven't had a chance to prove it. Another .338 x .378 Wby shooter in the area told me about an experience he had at the range a while back. Shooting the 300gr bullets at 2750 fps m/v, he shot 5 holes through 1/2" steel plate at 400 yds. Got mad, went home and welded the holes up, went back to the range and set up at 600 yds and shot 5 more holes through the plate.
On our range, that's as far away as we can get, so now he only shoots paper with that rifle.
Goodgrouper didn't say if he was using the 300 grainers, (the plate puncher is), but it sounds like grenading isn't a problem with them.

A friend KO'd a buffalo bull in New Mexico with a .340 Wby I built for him (with Nosler 250 gr partitions). I wonder how the 300 gr mkhp in one of the bigger .338"s would handle Tatanka?

Tom

 

[goodgrouper]

Goodgrouper has experience that I don't with .338 mk's on game. It is my belief that the 300gr should be devastating on game as big and heavy as Elk, but I haven't had a chance to prove it.
Tom

Darryl Cassel swears by this bullet for killing elk at 2000 yards and has reportedly killed many far elk with it. However, he is no longer here to ask unfortunately. Anyone know how to get ahold of him?

 

[ss7mm]

Try this:

[email protected]

 

[Boss Hoss]

I have only experience with the 338 MK's on game, but my experience tells me that they are just the opposite of what has been said here. Instead of being a fragile bullet likely to blow up on the surface of an animal, they were more like FMJ bullets with little to no expansion. However, at extreme long ranges when angle of attack is very steep, they probably have a much bigger tendency to tumble which can be very deadly to game.

If I were to use them again on game (which might happen soon) I would surely aim for bone and forget soft tissue vitals. That way, if they tumble or not, they still break the animal down immediately.

I will say also that their terminal ballistic characteristics (in media) are more inconsistent than any other bullet I have ever tested. But again, this is with the 338 MK which admittedly and obviously has a thicker jacket than the other SMK's.

This is very interesting about the media performance thanks!! My shooting with the 250 SMK mostly and in the 338 Lapua has resulted in truckloads of dead feral hogs over the years. I am moving to the 300 because I have over 1k of them bought for a competition rifle and need to use them. The impacts are between 250 and 600 yards give or take a few.

Have killed a few coyotes and whitetails with the 155 Palma bullet and so far all exited and killed the anmial.

 

[davewilson]

actually i think his e-mail is now [email protected]. i know this add will work.

i also know he won't say anything bad about the 300SMK for game!

 

[jeff 300]

jmcs,

The title of your thread compels me to respond. I of course can't help you with the SMK however our Berger Match VLD have been very successful on big game. I'll gladly send a free 30 minute DVD showing what our Match VLD does when used for hunting. Send an email listing your interest in the DVD and your shipping address to [email protected]. For more on this we were recently written up in the August 2007 issue of Handloader.

We do not have a 270 cal bullet right now but will have three different weights made in the next few months.

Regards,
Eric Stecker
Berger Bullets

Thank you for the video. i just got it in today its a great video thanks alot.
i wish you made some 338 300gr bullets with a high BC. thanks again