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I remember waaaaay back with LRH was new there were a lot of people using them (Sierra MatchKings) for all types of game and said they were great! I've found them to be so ridiculously accurate in almost any rifle I ever tried them in, that the inclination to hunt with them is quite tempting.
I load/shoot Hammers in 8 different rifles but still shoot VLDs in my Cooper 6.5x284 because it shoots one hole groups……I've killed 12-15 deer and hogs with it in the last few years and only had one that didnt drop in it's tracks and he went less than 25 yds! My shots are ALL shoulder shots! The only one that ran was hit behind the shoulder.
I was invited at the last minute to a long range school at The NRA Whittington Center and didn't have time or the components to load enough ammo for my heavy 6.5 Creedmoor……at the time, due to my business, I had a deal with Hornady so I had them expedite me 300 rounds of the same lot of 140 gr ELDM since I'd found them to be accurate in that rifle during barrel break in before I started loading for it. They shot so well, I decided to try them on game and have since killed 2-3 dozen animals with them(deer, hogs, javelina, coyotes) and have yet to have one fail. Since they shot so well, when I acquired an AR 15 6.5 Grendel and a Tikka T3x Tac A1 6.5 CM from an estate sale during this hunting season and didn't have time to work up loads for them, I bought ELDMs for both of them and killed several hogs with each…..all dropped in their tracks. I guess circumstances are always different but they've worked so well for me, I won't be working up loads in those rifles I'm shooting them in! The ELDX on the other hand…..I've seen multiple failures from my clients on both deer and hogs!
Ive been loading since 1965 and wouldn't have changed 8 rifles over to Hammers if they didn't work!
We're on similar pages here haha. Hornady and hammer for me as my favourites. 225 eld m in my 300 win has been a joy to work with and one heck of an off switch. The tipped match bullets (Sierra tmk too) you don't ever have to worry about them penciling through, they blow up consistently and you shoot them knowing they'll do that - 225 gr is a lot of lead and I wouldn't be afriad to hit a shoulder as far as losing the animal…but what a mess that would be!
Unless you're hoping they will have "collector's value"…..you could use them on smallish varmints!
memtbI couldn't get any accuracy beyond 10 yards and my arm would get tired quickly.
Everyone may have different results from different bullets on different animals. I had a very bad experience with a mature Trans-Pecos mule deer inside of 100 yds (obviously high velocity), hit squarely in the shoulder from a 7 mag. Admittedly not a perfect shot from a high rack truck as he was trotting behind a doe, intended POI was high shoulder, but hit well none the less. Long story but the bullet never entered the chest cavity, totally exploded on the exterior of the shoulder blade. He was harvested after a follow up, but I choose to not have to follow up on squarely hit animals. So I choose to not use them.
