Sierra MatchKing Bullets

[Duckslayer12]

Has anyone ever used these bullets for groundhogs or prariedogs? I know they are not really a hunting bullet but I figured with headshots and a hollowpoint, they should work fine. I got good accuracy out of my .22-250 using the 52gr. HPBT bullet but won't be able to see how it works till the g-hogs come out. Any information is appreciated. Thanks

 

[Kevin Thomas]

They'll work, but they're not going to be as explosive as a true carmint bullet. Take a look at the hollowpoint, and the reason is obvious. They close the nose down on MatchKings as far as they can, typically to about a .060" meplat. The hollow point openings on the hunting/varminting bullets are subtstantially larger, and promote much more violent expansion. The MatchKings tend to behave more like FMJs, but still, an FMJ at 3000 fps+ is some serious bad news on a varmint size critter. Just a matter of degrees.

 

[J E Custom]

If you trim the Meplat just enough to open the nose they will work fine.

If not , they sometimes fail to open like Kevin said.

Trimming the Meplat seems to have a positive effect on accuracy also.

J E CUSTOM

 

[tnshooter111]

I carried my 22-250 to south dakota a few years back to shoot prairie dogs. My load was 33.3 gr of varget and 52 sierra MK. I found that many of my shot lead to pin holes though the prairie dogs and them running off. My next tip I plan on having a good supply of 55gr vmax's

 

[VarmintGuy]

Duckslayer12: I have killed Prairie Dogs and Rock Chucks with the wonderfully accurate 52 gr. Sierra MatchKings in the distant past!
I found out though that they are simply to prone to ricochet to Hunt with. I quit using them about 25 years ago and won't Hunt with ANYONE that shoots them!
There are simply TO MANY frangible (safe!) bullets that are accurate to use these hard as nails bullets in the field.
I suggest the wonderful 52 grain Berger bullets if your 22-250 likes 52 grainers.
Its a long story but I used to Hunt Rock Chucks on a dairy farm in central Idaho for MANY years. One year I saw the farm owner and he was loading a dead cow onto the rendering truck. It seems a 52 grain Sierra MatchKing struck the adult dairy cow in the hip and the wound festered to the point they had to kill the cow.
They dug the bullet out (a Sierra 52 grain HP/BT!) of the dead cow and I asked my friend for the bullet as I had an idea WHO had let that bent nosed bullet ricochet into the Cow about a week or so before I came into the state.
The dairyman wanted to keep the bullet for himself and show the other folks who Hunted on his ranch what happens when due care is not used!
Nope... find another bullet and forsake the wonderfully accurate Sierra 52 and 53 grain MatchKings for Hunting and just use them at the range with a safe burm background!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

 

[tulku]

I agree with VarmintGuy , way too many Ricochets in my 223 . I was surprised at one Ranch in SD where the Cattle actually came-in and milled around once I started Shooting .....made me a little nervous ! That Rancher wanted to see the Bullets I was using and was happy with my Vmaxs . Not impressed with airtime on Pdogs either with the Sierras . The Sierras are wonderfully Accurate though , and I use them to judge if I have purchased a used Lemon . I've been fortunate : none so far . However , when I factor in the overall cost of the Trip , the small extra cost for Vmaxs or other Polytips is ( for me ) insignificant . YMMV .

 

[SBruce]

I used both the Sierra's and Hornady's for alot of years out of my 220 Swift.
Shot lots and lots of prarie dogs with them. I also used Nosler ballistic tips alot, and more recently the V-max's too. Also shot HP's designed for varmints.

As previously stated above, the matchkings were the most accurate with H-380 in my gun. They did expand on prarie dogs out to about 500 yds, but not quite the impressive shows of the Ballistic tips and V-max's.

I have never shot near cattle in a dog town, and ricochets are kinda the least of our worries in most parts of Wyoming usually. Most of the time we can see for 1000's of yards beyond what we're aiming at. I've heard them all ricochet, at one time or another. Nobody has any business shooting towards any kind of livestock, with any caliber or bullet!!

 

[Duckslayer12]

Thanks for the information guys. I have a few loaded up. I'll just see what kind of accuracy I will get with them and not use the for hunting. Im going to try to get the 50gr Noslers to work if I can. When I put a new stock on my other .22-250 the Noslers became accurate so hopefully it will do the same with the 250 Im working on now. Dropped it in a Bobby Hart LRT stock so it should support the action a lot more than its original plain wood stock. Thanks again to all who gave me some info. Nick

 

[cowboy717]

I've had great accuracy out of the 52 gr SMKs but for varmints I use the 50gr Vmax and the older speer 52gr hollowpoints. Both had very close to the same accuracy as the SMKs

 

[tulku]

I agree on not shooting towards cattle , but Richochets can an do come back and off to the sides at weird angles sometimes many hundreds of Yards . I've shot Ranches in Montana . Wyoming , and South Dakota , and have yet to shoot where I did'nt see some Cattle during the day, but they usually ( not always ) move off beyond eyesight once the shooting starts . I've even had Ballistic Tips break up into two pieces and land many Yards apart at long range . Not many , but maybe 2 out of 500 shots . My Spotter said he had never seen that before . You have to have eyes in the back of your head on some of these Ranches even when the Owner knows you are shooting there . I was once shooting a fence line at about 450 yards , and up comes a cowhand riding directly from left to right just beyond the fence . Good thing I spotted him hundreds of Yards off to my left .....and I know the guy could hear me shooting all afternoon . I just grabbed a cold water bottle and sat back until he disappeared way off to my right . I also remember driving a long way to a dogtown in SD . It was a huge , deep Bowl maybe 2000 Yards across with lots of guys all around the Perimeter shooting towards the center . When i saw this , I just left in a hurry ! I wish I could find a Ranch where all I could see all day long was Prarie Dogs . If you have such a place , please PM me ...... I might even bring some refreshments for you !

 

[woodnut]

Duckslayer 12, you can't go wrong with Sierra Blitz Kings ! They are super accurate and explode on contact ! Groundhogs and PDs are toast. I guess the folks are Sierra didn't want confusion and a longer name is why they didn't call it the Blitz Match Kings. It also has a higher BC than the Match Kings. I shoot them in 20 cal. and 224; 39gr. 20s in a 20 TAC(driver) and 55s in my 223A.I. and both shoot in the threes and sometimes smaller groups. It's the red mist on Pds and I've torn up several groundhogs with them. You can't go wrong with the Blitz Kings.