Sierra matchking performance on game

[Hunt_4life]

Well just another example of placing a bullet, doesn't matter what size in into the boiler room of an animal does what it is supposed to do, wreak havoc with the organs that sustain life. A .22 long rifle could have done the same thing given a reasonable range and shot. Bullets kill by disrupting the function of major organs, doesn't matter if that happened with a .22 long rifle (which many poachers can attest to) or .458 Winchester magnum. The only difference is how much of the target animal is desecrated by the impact of the bullet. Here in Wisconsin it is verbotten to shoot at any game with either FMJ or Match hollow points. If a warden had checked and found that you had shot the deer with an illegal bullet you could have lost the deer, your rifle and anything else connected with your illegal hunt to include your car or truck that transported you to your field destination. Your ability to hunt for many years could have been taken away with the same speed your bullet traveled to the target . While I congratulate you for your harvest, I also chastise you for shooting illegally . Good hunting ammo costs somewhere between $30 an $70 these days. Cheap compared to what it could have cost you. Also keep in mind that your words here stating that you most likely broke the law where you were hunting can come back and bite you in your behind when a warden or police officer reads it. All for the want of a good hunting bullet.

First of all I know the laws where I hunt and I didn't break any of them. The only restrictions in my area is that you cannot use fmjs. Please do not assume I am breaking the law when you do not approve of my methods. Laws are not the same everywhere so do not put me down for making a 100% ethical kill. Please do not make statements without the facts that are needed. The last thing I would want to do is break the law while hunting. I would also never feel comfortable shooting factory at the ranges I am prepared to shoot game at.

 

[old_heli_logger]

You can actually eat a chunk of lead and it wont do any damage to your body because you can not digest it. Only when it is in atomized form such as in water will it enter your blood stream.

Thank God! We crimped split shot sinkers with our teeth all of our lives...of course we rode in the back of pickups and drank from the garden hose too...

 

[extreme]

Been using 250 SMK for years on Elk in my
338 lapis. Keep using them.

 

[greenejc]

We used them for precision shots on targets where failure was not an option. The targets were pretty frail, and a 168MK was instant action over on impact if good expansion and the opposite if not. It did not take long at all to figure out they flat sucked if there is any barrier before entering the vitals intended. Even heavy outer layers would cause constant inconsistent internal performance. Yet, those who were smarter than everyone else refused at the time (Late 80's early 90's) to listen because according to them "those are the most accurate loads, and it's match grade ammunition". Luckily that has changed for many people, but the old BS from 30+ years ago still hangs on.

Precision targets: Where did you find yourself using them? I was in the ROK and Iraq. Precision targets. The .308 would at least go through the several layers of mohair robes.

 

[greenejc]

We used them for precision shots on targets where failure was not an option. The targets were pretty frail, and a 168MK was instant action over on impact if good expansion and the opposite if not. It did not take long at all to figure out they flat sucked if there is any barrier before entering the vitals intended. Even heavy outer layers would cause constant inconsistent internal performance. Yet, those who were smarter than everyone else refused at the time (Late 80's early 90's) to listen because according to them "those are the most accurate loads, and it's match grade ammunition". Luckily that has changed for many people, but the old BS from 30+ years ago still hangs on.

Precision targets: Where did you find yourself using them? I was in the ROK and Iraq. Precision targets.

First of all I know the laws where I hunt and I didn't break any of them. The only restrictions in my area is that you cannot use fmjs. Please do not assume I am breaking the law when you do not approve of my methods. Laws are not the same everywhere so do not put me down for making a 100% ethical kill. Please do not make statements without the facts that are needed. The last thing I would want to do is break the law while hunting. I would also never feel comfortable shooting factory at the ranges I am prepared to shoot game at.

I don't think anyone assumed you didn't know the laws in your state. But some don't know them, and they vary from state to state. Because of this, caution is advised in using them as hunting bullets, and I hunt in more than one state. I would feel bad about anyone breaking a law that caused them the kind of trouble this could out of unintentional ignorance. Please don't take that personal. I'm sure it wasn't. Think of it more as a caution for those who might not know the laws in their state or other states in which they hunt. By the way, I reload everything for my centerfire rifles except .223/5.56, which I only use on varmints, and at ranges inside around 300 yards. Longer ranges are for my 6mm Rem. and my 25-06.

 

[xsn10s]

First of all I know the laws where I hunt and I didn't break any of them. The only restrictions in my area is that you cannot use fmjs. Please do not assume I am breaking the law when you do not approve of my methods. Laws are not the same everywhere so do not put me down for making a 100% ethical kill. Please do not make statements without the facts that are needed. The last thing I would want to do is break the law while hunting. I would also never feel comfortable shooting factory at the ranges I am prepared to shoot game at.

You handled it and I read the laws in your area. I'll leave it at that. As far as "hunting" bullets we've seen plenty of complaints of penciling through or not having instance kills. That includes popular monos, bonded, controlled expansion, and polymer tipped bullets. So there is no perfect bullet for all situations. The SMK in question was successful in your hunt. Many knowledgable hunters here have used SMK's and other "Match" bullets successfully. You have to know the abilities/ traits of the bullet and use them accordingly.

 

[Hunt_4life]

You handled it and I read the laws in your area. I'll leave it at that. As far as "hunting" bullets we've seen plenty of complaints of penciling through or not having instance kills. That includes popular monos, bonded, controlled expansion, and polymer tipped bullets. So there is no perfect bullet for all situations. The SMK in question was successful in your hunt. Many knowledgable hunters here have used SMK's and other "Match" bullets successfully. You have to know the abilities/ traits of the bullet and use them accordingly.

Exactly. At the distances that I was planning on shooting to the hunting bullets would have performed the exact same as the smk at that distance. This tread was meant for real world experiences hunting with the smk "where legal" and not saying that you feel that they are unethical or a bad bullet for hunting without any real examples. Please to not take away from anyones joys of killing game to eat with a bullet that you see unfit.

 

[Hunt_4life]

Precision targets: Where did you find yourself using them? I was in the ROK and Iraq. Precision targets.

I don't think anyone assumed you didn't know the laws in your state. But some don't know them, and they vary from state to state. Because of this, caution is advised in using them as hunting bullets, and I hunt in more than one state. I would feel bad about anyone breaking a law that caused them the kind of trouble this could out of unintentional ignorance. Please don't take that personal. I'm sure it wasn't. Think of it more as a caution for those who might not know the laws in their state or other states in which they hunt. By the way, I reload everything for my centerfire rifles except .223/5.56, which I only use on varmints, and at ranges inside around 300 yards. Longer ranges are for my 6mm Rem. and my 25-06.

Yes people should always know there hunting laws backwards and forwards like I do. But in the original post she did say that she chastises me for hunting illegally. I was prepared to shoot at 800yd+ and the only other bullet I had access to could not hold a group past 500yd so I had to go with this option.

 

[mawbro]

You did a fine job putting meat on the table! Nice little buck too. That deer was dead as soon as you pulled the trigger. Good shot too and that's why you got to pose for the picture. Congratulations!

 

[greenejc]

Thank God! We crimped split shot sinkers with our teeth all of our lives...of course we rode in the back of pickups and drank from the garden hose too...

Oh, surely not. And don't call me Shirley. Don't forget being around heavy farm equipment, various animals of considerable size, and big dogs too. Oh, and handling knives and firearms before we were 12, too. And all without state or school supervision, just our parents.

 

[Hunt_4life]

You did a fine job putting meat on the table! Nice little buck too. That deer was dead as soon as you pulled the trigger. Good shot too and that's why you got to pose for the picture. Congratulations!

Thank you very much for the support.

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

Hater gonna hate man. I've been killing stuff with non "hunting" bullets for years. Great job on your deer!

 

[Hunt_4life]

Hater gonna hate man. I've been killing stuff with non "hunting" bullets for years. Great job on your deer!

Thanks.

 

[greenejc]

You handled it and I read the laws in your area. I'll leave it at that. As far as "hunting" bullets we've seen plenty of complaints of penciling through or not having instance kills. That includes popular monos, bonded, controlled expansion, and polymer tipped bullets. So there is no perfect bullet for all situations. The SMK in question was successful in your hunt. Many knowledgable hunters here have used SMK's and other "Match" bullets successfully. You have to know the abilities/ traits of the bullet and use them accordingly.

Most of the 'controlled expansion' bullets begin to fail to open up at around 1700fps. Cup and core bullets with exposed lead will generally still expand at around 1400fps. Nosler Partitions are an exception, due to their dual construction. Speer Grandslams are also an exception. As for the mono bullets, and a number of the 'bonded' bullets, most of them are designed to hold together for high velocity (2800fps or faster) impacts. This means they're a tough bullet, and its corollary is that they don't expand well at velocities below about 1700fps. There are exceptions such as the Barnes bullets, but not many, and very few of these bullets (Burger and some Noslers) have good B.C.'s. The match bullets tend to be on the other end of the scale, being more lightly constructed, with lead cores that are softer than some of the hunting bullets. I think Matchking and other match bullets, such as the Nosler Competition and the Hornaday Amax are great game bullets at distances past 200 yards. But if you talk to Sierra, they'll tell you that the accuracy requirements for the Gameking and the Matchking are basically the same. I get groups of 0.6" from the 180 and 200 grain Gamekings in my 300 Win Mags and 0.7" in my 1903A3 with 5 shots at 100 yards, and under 1.5" at 300 yards. Since they meet or exceed my accuracy requirements and cost up to $10 less a hundred, I'm happy with them. I've posted 4.5" groups with them at 600 yards in windy conditions (whipping winds up to 20mph), and while not barn burning groups, in a standard rifle with only minor modifications and a little tuning, that's good enough for me. My 35 Whelens will group both the Sierra Gameking 225 grain boat tail 5and the 250 grain Speer Hotcor into 5 shot groups inside 0.8" at 100 yards, too. Since these bullets still have around 1950 fps at around 500 yards, they are extremely effective. I use the 35 more than I use the 300 for big game.