Sierra matchking performance on game

[Lapuatom]

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.

True

 

[dogz]

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.

Amen to that!

 

[Dutch Jennings]

I'm pretty sure Carlos Hathcock preferred match ammo for hunting commies in Nam, and would use M2 ball out of his Winchester 70 30-06 if that wasn't at hand in the field. You might reasonably argue that a larger game animal could be harder to kill, except with a competently placed shot that point probably becomes moot as demonstrated here. Even though I think the marketing machines called ammo manufacturers have done too good of a job in getting us to believe all they claim, I do use "hunting" ammo on large game just the same. On the other hand, coyotes get the cheapest M80 ball I can feed them and they work well in dispatching the pests. As long as it's a free country, just follow the law and do what works for you in your own experience.

 

[Gunnuts]

Shot this guy from 918 yards. He did go 10' from the spot the impact was. 142 SMK out of a 6.5-06.

 

[dogz]

Sweet combo and buck

 

[spladi]

View attachment 310453Hi all. Wasn't able to find much info on this subject before my general deer season started on nov 8 so I decided to test out the matchkings on deer. I'm shooting a 183 smk from a 26" 7 wsm @ 2860. I shot this big bodied whitetail at 180 yd impact velocity 2575 fps. It had a tiny entrance hole and the exit was 3-4" in diameter. This is my biggest buck so I'm glad I could test the load out on something other than a doe. I hit about 2" further back than I should've but that because i held wind when I shouldn't have. Ran 50yd with a great blood trail. I'm hoping to test it out on something past 500 yd. I will get some pictures of the entrance and exit wounds later today. Please post your experiences with smks and hunting on here. Thanks for your comments

Shot a few deer with the 168 SMK's and one shot one kill.

 

[greenejc]

View attachment 310453Hi all. Wasn't able to find much info on this subject before my general deer season started on nov 8 so I decided to test out the matchkings on deer. I'm shooting a 183 smk from a 26" 7 wsm @ 2860. I shot this big bodied whitetail at 180 yd impact velocity 2575 fps. It had a tiny entrance hole and the exit was 3-4" in diameter. This is my biggest buck so I'm glad I could test the load out on something other than a doe. I hit about 2" further back than I should've but that because i held wind when I shouldn't have. Ran 50yd with a great blood trail. I'm hoping to test it out on something past 500 yd. I will get some pictures of the entrance and exit wounds later today. Please post your experiences with smks and hunting on here. Thanks for your comments

They're not recommended as hunting bullets by Sierra, but they will work. Check out Ballistic Solutions at ballisticstudies.com to find out real world studies on the Gameking and the Matchking bullets, especially in the .284 and up diameters. And bullet failure is not having the bullet come apart on the way through. The Gameking and one or two other famous bullets are designed to do that at close range, and they leave three or four exit wounds as a result.

 

[greenejc]

Exactly to my point. A single case study is clearly the definitive word on the performance of a bullet not designed to harvest animals. People accept what they want to believe.

Check out Ballistic Studies.com, where extensive case studies have been done on the Sierra match and game-king bullets on Hog and red deer.

 

[greenejc]

Not a SMK but "Target" bullet none the less. I was given grief when I posted if anyone else used a Berger 22-55 gr Flat Base Target for chucks and varmints even though it is marketed as "Flat base target bullets are popular for shooters looking to shoot the tightest groups at short ranges but also work well for taking down varmints.". Used it in my 22-250 for a 583 yard chuck, worked just fine.

I use Sierra, Nosler, Speer and Hornaday target bullets for prairie dogs and coyotes all the time. In my Mini, I mostly shoot flatbase 55 to 62 grain bullets and they are just fine. They're small. Hitting them with a .224 cal. bullet is like shooting a deer with a .375 cal. bullet. They generally blow up even if the bullet is a FMJ. By the way, which unit is the taro leaf? I've forgotten. Mine was 25th Inf. Tropic Lightning, along with several others before I retired. Thank you for your service, too.

 

[greenejc]

I have used Si MK 107 6.5 mm's on rodents at MV's about 3,400 from a 6.5-06. Nothing spectacular but no pencil stuff on 5-8 pound rockchucks. I found one 6.5 107 resting on soft dirt from a 450 yard shot that was bent into a shallow U shape with core intact. The 107 6.5 has a low FF, real pointy & is surprisingly good at longish ranges. Almost 1/4 of total bullet length of the front of the 107, 6.5 is hollow (void).

Some of the 175 gr. .308 Si MK's I have seen have closed hollow points - just guessing if this is intended for military use.

Found some .338 300 grain bullets in pristine condition except for rifling engraving at my old range after the snow melted. Some local guys used them to shoot elks with .338 Edge's.

Yep, the 175 grain Matchking was designed specifically for the .308 Winchester as a sniper's bullet. It goes sub-sonic at longer distances than the 168gr. It was intended to increase the effective range of the M24 and M40 rifles, and it worked.

 

[greenejc]

View attachment 310453Hi all. Wasn't able to find much info on this subject before my general deer season started on nov 8 so I decided to test out the matchkings on deer. I'm shooting a 183 smk from a 26" 7 wsm @ 2860. I shot this big bodied whitetail at 180 yd impact velocity 2575 fps. It had a tiny entrance hole and the exit was 3-4" in diameter. This is my biggest buck so I'm glad I could test the load out on something other than a doe. I hit about 2" further back than I should've but that because i held wind when I shouldn't have. Ran 50yd with a great blood trail. I'm hoping to test it out on something past 500 yd. I will get some pictures of the entrance and exit wounds later today. Please post your experiences with smks and hunting on here. Thanks for your comments

Love the rifle. What does it weigh? As I recall, the last time I had a conversation with Sierra, they said that the Matchking bullets tended to be more explosive at close ranges due to its softer lead core and hollow cavity. It isn't a pencil through problem, it is a bullet tending to expand explosively problem, if I remember what they told me.

 

[greenejc]

We have had great success on whitetail and black bear with 200 grain SMK out of a 30-378 weatherby, and 300 grain SMK out of a 338-378. They're all we've used for the past 30 plus years.

Probably because they work? The heavier for caliber Matchkings are built heavier with thicker jackets.

 

[greenejc]

I'm pretty sure Carlos Hathcock preferred match ammo for hunting commies in Nam, and would use M2 ball out of his Winchester 70 30-06 if that wasn't at hand in the field. You might reasonably argue that a larger game animal could be harder to kill, except with a competently placed shot that point probably becomes moot as demonstrated here. Even though I think the marketing machines called ammo manufacturers have done too good of a job in getting us to believe all they claim, I do use "hunting" ammo on large game just the same. On the other hand, coyotes get the cheapest M80 ball I can feed them and they work well in dispatching the pests. As long as it's a free country, just follow the law and do what works for you in your own experience.

Carlos used 173 grain National Match in his 30-06, but he also tested various lots of 150 grain Lake City for accuracy, for use when the match rounds might not be available. The sniping manuals teach one how to do that. But the prevailing .308 ammo in Vietnam wasn't 30-06. It was only early in that conflict that we used any 30-06 ball. The Vietnamese army used it in M1 Garands some, along with the ROK, but it was not prevelent. I don't think that any of the snipers in either the Army or the Marines had a problem getting match grade 7.62 or 30-06, according to their preference.

 

[Hunt_4life]

Love the rifle. What does it weigh? As I recall, the last time I had a conversation with Sierra, they said that the Matchking bullets tended to be more explosive at close ranges due to its softer lead core and hollow cavity. It isn't a pencil through problem, it is a bullet tending to expand explosively problem, if I remember what they told me.

It's about 11.5 lbs fully loaded with all of the accessories. Thanks.