Sierra TMK vs TGK (GameChanger)

[Bob Wright]

Good write up! I bought 500 each of the 168 SMK's hollow points in 30 cal and 7mm for practice.
Where does the construction fall into these tipped categories?
Lead hardness and jacket thickness? I know some use these as hunting bullets as well so that's what I'm asking for. Maybe it's a bracketed performer as far as close range/ mid to long range?

 

[Petey308]

My four kids are all close together, oldest 5, middle turns four next week, and the youngest are twins, two years old. There was a one month window in 2020 where we had 4 children under the age of 3 haha. Suffice to say the last years haven't seen much time for this hobby. No regrets of course.

But now what's the biggest time killer is the game of "musical germs" they be playing all the time haha! There is never not at least one sick person in my dang house!!!!!

Wait until they get older and are involved in extracurriculars lol. I thought it was bad when they were little, it just gets worse lol. At least they're a bit more self sufficient now lol.

 

[Petey308]

Good write up! I bought 500 each of the 168 SMK's hollow points in 30 cal and 7mm for practice.
Where does the construction fall into these tipped categories?
Lead hardness and jacket thickness? I know some use these as hunting bullets as well so that's what I'm asking for. Maybe it's a bracketed performer as far as close range/ mid to long range?

SMKs have the same thickness jackets as TMKs and the same pure lead cores. The open tops are small and uneven/jagged though and the cavities are relatively small. Without improving the opening, they're pretty inconsistent and unreliable as far as expansion goes for hunting. You can go a long time with them working well unaltered, but you just never know when it's going to fail.

For practice though, they're great.

 

[Bob Wright]

SMKs have the same thickness jackets as TMKs and the same pure lead cores. The open tops are small and uneven/jagged though and the cavities are relatively small. Without improving the opening, they're pretty inconsistent and unreliable as far as expansion goes for hunting. You can go a long time with them working well unaltered, but you just never know when it's going to fail.

For practice though, they're great.

Was hoping so for practice. I hate to burn my favorite hunting bullets. Gives me a lot of dialing up, down and wind call practice.
The meplat on these are like you mentioned.

 

[LVJ76]

My four kids are all close together, oldest 5, middle turns four next week, and the youngest are twins, two years old. There was a one month window in 2020 where we had 4 children under the age of 3 haha. Suffice to say the last years haven't seen much time for this hobby. No regrets of course.

But now what's the biggest time killer is the game of "musical germs" they be playing all the time haha! There is never not at least one sick person in my dang house!!!!!

Wow, we have our hands full with one, with 4 we'd go crazy.

Now with sports involved it takes lot more planning. Like @Petey308 said, it will get crazier.

 

[Calvin45]

Wow, we have our hands full with one, with 4 we'd go crazy.

Now with sports involved it takes lot more planning. Like @Petey308 said, it will get crazier.

Different for sure. Crazier but less crazy no doubt. This is the season of intense 24/7 need but they're already getting some independence of their own. Getting easier for sure. But more complicated as they get older no doubt.

 

[LVJ76]

Good write up! I bought 500 each of the 168 SMK's hollow points in 30 cal and 7mm for practice.
Where does the construction fall into these tipped categories?
Lead hardness and jacket thickness? I know some use these as hunting bullets as well so that's what I'm asking for. Maybe it's a bracketed performer as far as close range/ mid to long range?

We used those 7mm 168gr MK's for a while for silhouette in the 7mm-08, they have always been very accurate. They'll work great for practice.

 

[Petey308]

Wow, we have our hands full with one, with 4 we'd go crazy.

Now with sports involved it takes lot more planning. Like @Petey308 said, it will get crazier.

I have three. Two boys and a girl. My boys are both doing football AND soccer right now, plus one does guitar and piano lessons. My daughter does dance, volleyball, and tumbling right now. Then it'll be basketball, indoor soccer, swimming, baseball, etc, etc lol

Oh, and both boys hunt. My daughter did, but currently thinks it's boring. I hope to get her back into it. She still loves to fish at least lol.

 

[Petey308]

We used those 7mm 168gr MK's for a while for silhouette in the 7mm-08, they have always been very accurate. They'll work great for practice.

The tangent ogive in the SMKs makes them easy to get shooting well. They self align to the bore and aren't picky about seating depth (jump). They're just not as aerodynamic is all.

 

[LVJ76]

The tangent ogive in the SMKs makes them easy to get shooting well. They self align to the bore and aren't picky about seating depth (jump). They're just not as aerodynamic is all.

Yup, and I hadn't bothered trying the new TMK because they shot so well. But when I ran out last year and couldn't find any I tried the TMK that I got froma member here, and they shoot just as good.

And the TMK doesn't drop as bad at 500m, I don't have to dial up as much as I did with the 168gr or 150gr MK. Just hope Sierra does a run of those 160gr TMK soon.

 

[Petey308]

Yup, and I hadn't bothered trying the new TMK because they shot so well. But when I ran out last year and couldn't find any I tried the TMK that I got froma member here, and they shoot just as good.

And the TMK doesn't drop as bad at 500m, I don't have to dial up as much as I did with the 168gr or 150gr MK. Just hope Sierra does a run of those 160gr TMK soon.

Yep, they gave the TMK more of a secant profile, but made the junction where the ogives meets the bearing surface pronounced and it acts like a hybrid. I've loaded them for several rifles now and several calibers and cartridges and not yet had issues getting them to shoot and group well.

I'm dying right now for more of the 195gr TMKs, so I feel your pain lol.

 

[Tac-O]

You're welcome. I'm glad you found it informative. A heavy for caliber TMK is currently a favorite combo for me.

What is your specific favorite and on what game? If that 165tmk on deer is a 7mm.... Way too splashy for me

 

[Andrew Massi]

Thats not good news. I loaded some (.284 165 TGK) to 3000 MV for WT deer for 200-300 yd average range. Only hunted paper so far. Id hate to loose that much meat.

Nice work with the sectioning.

Shoot em in the lungs

 

[Petey308]

What is your specific favorite and on what game? If that 165tmk on deer is a 7mm.... Way too splashy for me

I do custom loads as a service for my side business. That wouldn't be my personal choice.

After my experience, and that of which I've gained via friends, customers, etc, I've come to prefer heavy for caliber soft/frangible bullets such as the TMK, ELDM, Berger hybrids, etc but when the situation calls for a bullet that will be used close range and would typically be impacting at a high impact velocity and/or experience a high amount of resistance upon impact, a good mono or bonded bullet can indeed be a better choice.

That 165gr from the 7mag impacted over 2700fps on the shoulder of a running deer, so muscles likely tight and contracted. It did it's job and did it well, but it was on the extreme side for that particular scenario too. I personally wouldn't pick a 7mag for whitetail for close range hunting for that reason unless I was using a bullet that would shed enough speed fast enough to not impact at a high velocity, or I'd use an actual bonded or mono (light for caliber).