168g SpeerMatch vs 168g Sierra Matchking

[nuvreaujason]

Hello,
I'm new to the forums so please tell me if do anything wrong. I just started reloading and looking at different bullets to use in my tikka .30-06. So far I've used only sierra matchking 168g bullets with 58g of H4350 to get a 5 shot group of .37 MOA at 100yds. Love the bullets, but they are a little more on the expensive side. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the 168g match speer bullets? Is the extra money for the Sierra's worth it?

 

[Ned Ludd]

The 168 SMK is a very fine bullet. It suffers from having a very steep 13 degree boattail angle, which creates some dynamic stability problems once you get past 500-600 yd. However, it was designed as a 300m competition bullet and it performed very well in that role. There are much better choices for 700 to 1000 yd shooting, anyhow.

Frankly, if you consider the prices of some other bullet manufacturers, the Sierras are very reasonably priced. So it's all relative. Berger makes a very good 168 gr Hybrid design. Several other manufacturers also have 168 gr designs, none of which suffer from the steep boattail angle problem. However, you'd have to work up loads with them to determine whether any shoot as well in your hands as the SMKs. In any event, spending some time checking various vendors on the internet can sometimes save you some money if you buy in bulk during a sale. You can also use ammoseek to search for the lowest price (select the "Reloading" button, then any specifics for the bullet of choice):

https://ammoseek.com/

 

[rfl42431]

Hello,
I'm new to the forums so please tell me if do anything wrong. I just started reloading and looking at different bullets to use in my tikka .30-06. So far I've used only sierra matchking 168g bullets with 58g of H4350 to get a 5 shot group of .37 MOA at 100yds. Love the bullets, but they are a little more on the expensive side. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the 168g match speer bullets? Is the extra money for the Sierra's worth it?

Since you have not yet tried any of the 168 Speer's, it may be wise to try some of them and determine whether the accuracy levels that you get from the Speer bullets is good enough to meet your requirements, without having to spend the extra money to use the Sierras. I used Sierras for many years in NRA High Power Competition and they won the vast majority of High Power Competitions for a long time.

The type of shooting you'll be doing will have a significant impact on what bullet(s) you ultimately end up using. If you are going to get into serious competitive shooting (NRA High Power, F Class, Precision Rifle Shooting) you may end up buying bullets that are a good bit more expensive (and better) than the Speers or Sierras. Berger BUllets are also some that I have used in F Class, and they are excellent. Good luck in finding the right bullet for you. I'm sure there will be others who have additional input that you'll find useful.

 

[Rsadams]

In .308 I use the SMK only... If I run across the Speer I would try them... You never know what a rifle might like.....BUT there's plenty of boxes of bullets out there with the word match on them that are anything but match bullets.... Normally the true match grade come with the match grade price tag also...

Match grade...lol

 

[nuvreaujason]

Thank you for the response! @ my local range, it only goes up to 600 yd. So I dont need anything to crazy.

 

[fkimble@charter.net]

Had one barrel on my M1A XTC gun that shot much better with the Speer 168's. All other barrels, M1A and bolt gun's, seem to shoot as good or better with the Sierra. Could get Sierra's at Perry cheaper than ordering Speer's so just stocked the 168 Sierra's. Would go 175 Sierra's now if still shooting 30 caliber.

Frank

 

[Laurie]

The 168gn 0.308" Sierra 'International' (later renamed 'MatchKing') was the original 300-metre match bullet way back in the 1960s and produced a step-change in bullet performance. It later proved successful in 600 yard XTC stages in the days when 30-calibre was the competition king and is still loaded today as a first choice by many, many 30-06 and 308 using competitors in CMP matches for M1s and M1As and suchlike. It is also loaded in Federal's FGGM match 308 ammunition which is even today regarded as the gold standard by many law enforcement departments and agencies.

Hornady's and Speer's same weight and very similar design BTHPs were later attempts to join this 168gn bandwagon as it picked up speed and generated sales. I'd reckon that in terms of success and sales, the ranking was Sierra top by a very large margin; Hornady second but selling more than well enough to be ranked as a success; Speer third by a long way. That about says it all. Speer used to make a lot of match bullets but has dropped all bar a few models over the last 20 years as they were rarely highly rated even when competition was a lot less intense than today.

Still, your rifle might like this model - barrels are individuals when it comes to bullet designs / dimensions. Just don't use any of the trio in long-range shooting - they might scrape by at 800 barely but generally perform badly beyond this distance.

There are other designs though I'd suggest looking at unless your shooting is all at 200/300 yards. There are some excellent and tolerant 175gn HPBT match designs out there, the Sierra 175gn MK and Berger same weight BT, and for long-range use the 185gn Berger BT 'Juggernaut' is an outstanding model in a good 30-06. There used to be an online publication called 'The Rifleman's Blog' by a great Arizona (?? Texas ??) shooter called German Salazar who was an enthusiast for the 30-06 in modern target rifles and who wrote some superb articles on handloading the cartridge for all-distance match use and bullet choices. Sadly, he shut the blog down a few years ago, but some 30-06 handloading articles were archived somewhere and are still available - but I can't remember where.

 

[fatelvis]

If your rifle/ load combo is producing .37" groups, I wouldn't change a thing, and call it good! And just accept the component prices, because Sierra bullets are relatively reasonably priced. Welcome to the best reloading forum on the web!