Sierra 69 Blitzkings

[FoxTales]

I'd be interested to see the "new" 69 grain SBKs and 69 grain TMKs cross-sections side by side . The TMKs are a varminters favourite over here .
The sceptic in me thinks they're rebranding the TMK which is why they are only available in loaded ammo .

 

[reed1911]

I have to jump in on this. I really like both companies and I shoot the heck out of both of their bullets. I do agree that Sierra is generally last to pop out with a new bullet design, but why try and re-invent the wheel and spend a lot of $ into R&D when another company is going to do it for you. We are not talking about bullets that will cover the cost of R&D anytime in the next 5-7 years here. They just don't make enough profit on a bullet that only run $0.25-$0.27 each.

We saw the exact same evolution on tipped bullets with Nosler first to the plate (To the best of my recollection which is not as good as it used to be) followed by Hornady and then by Sierra (who was very late to that party).

Then we saw Hornady change the composition of the tips, followed by Sierra, and we are still waiting on Nosler. We are also all waiting on Sierra to come out with a bonded or homogeneous bullet and I don't think they will any time soon, I would not bother if I were Sierra as that is not who they are targeting for a consumer base. I would be all over it just to test and play with them, but that is my job and I'm that kinda shooter anyway.

While over all Sierra is pretty well in the same price mix as HDY and NSLR, they used to be the lowest. Trying to compare them to a higher end bullet maker like Berger is quite disingenuous at best. Does Berger (or Hammer or Cutting Edge) make a better bullet? Yes. Do they cost a lot more? Yes. Is it worth it? Only your rifle will tell you.

Just my penny o' thought off the cuff

 

[urbanrifleman]

I have to jump in on this. I really like both companies and I shoot the heck out of both of their bullets. I do agree that Sierra is generally last to pop out with a new bullet design, but why try and re-invent the wheel and spend a lot of $ into R&D when another company is going to do it for you. We are not talking about bullets that will cover the cost of R&D anytime in the next 5-7 years here. They just don't make enough profit on a bullet that only run $0.25-$0.27 each.

We saw the exact same evolution on tipped bullets with Nosler first to the plate (To the best of my recollection which is not as good as it used to be) followed by Hornady and then by Sierra (who was very late to that party).

Then we saw Hornady change the composition of the tips, followed by Sierra, and we are still waiting on Nosler. We are also all waiting on Sierra to come out with a bonded or homogeneous bullet and I don't think they will any time soon, I would not bother if I were Sierra as that is not who they are targeting for a consumer base. I would be all over it just to test and play with them, but that is my job and I'm that kinda shooter anyway.

While over all Sierra is pretty well in the same price mix as HDY and NSLR, they used to be the lowest. Trying to compare them to a higher end bullet maker like Berger is quite disingenuous at best. Does Berger (or Hammer or Cutting Edge) make a better bullet? Yes. Do they cost a lot more? Yes. Is it worth it? Only your rifle will tell you.

Just my penny o' thought off the cuff

Are you saying that Sierra copies Hornady???

Blasphemy.

 

[Gary in MD]

I can't imagine that Sierra would want to start making less consistent and accurate bullets LOL

 

[urbanrifleman]

I can't imagine that Sierra would want to start making less consistent and accurate bullets LOL

Come to think of it, I don't recall Sierra developing any new innovative bullet designs in at least 30 years.

I like Sierra just fine, but I mean, it's been a minute.

 

[X Count]

Id rather have them done rite than done first.

People have mentioned varying success with the Hornady 62gr. Looks great on paper but if I'm building a gun around a bullet that has in intended purpose, it better be reliable. It's a high BC varmint bullet that you need a bit longer throat and a lot faster twist that you generally would for a varmint rifle. If it doesn't perform then what is the next bullet to test?

I like Hornady, keep more on the shelf than sieera but they dont all have ogives that are tolerant.

 

[357Mag]

Name any company that has developed a new varmint bullet in the last 20 years.

All

Howdy !

My personal field testing of .224” cal varmint bullets on tough NE Indiana groundhog:

- I did not see any remarkable ballistics performance or terminal effects being demonstrated by the “ tipped “ 55gr .224” cal varmint bullets. Nosler’s stunt of offering
50 of their tipped bullets for the price they used to sell you 100 for; was pure price gouging foisted on shooters after their bullets were “ talked up “ in a varminting publication some decades ago. Were they worth that “ twice the price “ cost vis-a-vis
their demonstrated performance . IMHO - No. Neither were those Noslers somehow more notably accurate than other brands offerings.

Sierra basically tried to supersede their great .224” cal 55gr exposed lead tip “ Blitz “ w/ a polymer-tipped 55gr varmint bullet; and called it the “ Blitzking “. I myself did not see any notable enhancement of ballistics, accuracy, or terminal effects performance over their old tymee 55 Blitz. Price difference in their 2 different designs was not a real factor in bullet choice.

I myself consider Hornady’s .224” cal 55 SX as the performance benchmark, for a varmint in that calibre and wt class; when it comes to comparing anti-groundhog varmint bullets….

Hornady also, pretty much supplanted their well-proven super effective .224” cal 55SX varmint bullet w/ their new-wave 55 “ V”-Max. My experience with using the 55 “V” - Max on groundhog showed me no gains is ballistic performance, accuracy, or terminal effects * above or beyond what I thought I was going to get…. when comparing results from shooting the tipped BT bullet to their legacy 55 exposed lead FB SX. For me, there were not enough notable gains in performance; to influence a switch to use of their tipped 55gr.

My application of the 55SX has been in cases with capacities in the .22-250 through
.22 Creedmoor range. I have successfully propelled these to 300fps past Hornady’s suggested velocity limit for the “ SX “, using 1-14 twist rate barrels. Their .009” thin jackets are a major contributor to their “ explosive “ performance, and what I repeatedly obtain from use of the 55SX is no crawlers.

I have a gain twist .224” cal Bartlein coming soon, for my upcoming experimentation to see if I can safely and effectively propel the 55SX to 4,000 fps; along w/ getting great accuracy. It’s fer sher even flatter trajectory and deadly terminal ballistic performance will be there.


With regards,
357Mag

 

[Kracken McGraw]

This is exactly correct. I would never go so far as to say that Hornady makes the best bullets on the market. I WOULD go so far to say that they make the best bullets at their respective price points. I would also go so far as to say that if you're a competitor, you need to be shooting in the money before buying a better bullet than Hdy is going to make a statistically relevant improvement in your score. Whether its the ELD-VT, the standard ELD, or the old A-Max, Hornady has designed some of the highest BC bullets (per weight and caliber) on the market for the past 3 decades and the offer them at a price point that allows un-sponsored shooters to practice and train without going bankrupt. When I was consistently shooting at highmaster levels, it was worth the extra money to transition to a better bullet. Short of that, I was making better gains by sending lead down range in the wind than I was by spending more time at the reloading bench tweaking loads and trying better components.

Knowing that I can automatically start out with some kind of ELD or Vmax and have a projectile that's capable of shooting 1/2 moa if I do my part is a no brainer for me. I'm not going to fault someone for wanting to use the best of the best. Its their budget, not mine, and if they aren't shooting a lot it really isn't a big deal either way. That said, my favorite thing to do as a competitor is to show up at a match with plain jane equipment off the shelf and embarrass the guys shooting a $4,000 custom rifle or a $1,500 handgun. Not really possible in benchrest, but its usually pretty doable in the rest of the shooting disciplines.

I enjoyed all of your post except for wanting to embarrass someone. That’s not the purpose to be involved in any kind of competition.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Id rather have them done rite than done first.

People have mentioned varying success with the Hornady 62gr. Looks great on paper but if I'm building a gun around a bullet that has in intended purpose, it better be reliable. It's a high BC varmint bullet that you need a bit longer throat and a lot faster twist that you generally would for a varmint rifle. If it doesn't perform then what is the next bullet to test?

I like Hornady, keep more on the shelf than sieera but they dont all have ogives that are tolerant.

The 62 ELDVT is a good start. I agree it's fussy.

IF we could get a very explosive 69 grain varmint bullet that blows up like a 53 VMAX on steroids, and would be forgiving as a 69 match bullet, that would be a great thing.

 

[urbanrifleman]

I think if you look at the design of the 62 ELDVT it's simply tail heavy. A wing that is flying tail heavy is inherently unstable and unforgiving.

 

[Varmint Shooter]

Picky, Picky, Picky. Nothing is perfect in this world and will never be.
Why analyze every little thing.

 

[Gary in MD]

The 62 ELDVT is a good start. I agree it's fussy.

IF we could get a very explosive 69 grain varmint bullet that blows up like a 53 VMAX on steroids, and would be forgiving as a 69 match bullet, that would be a great thing.

That would be great.
It’s probably not as easy as it sounds. Even if someone did achieve that, then almost surely some people would shoot an elk or grizzly with horrible results and then report on what a failure the bullet is.

 

[X Count]

I think if you look at the design of the 62 ELDVT it's simply tail heavy. A wing that is flying tail heavy is inherently unstable and unforgiving.

Agreed. Think about it. To make it balance you need to fill the whole jacket. Once you fill the whole jacket it's not going to be 62gr and it's not going to be a varmint bullet. It's going to be a 75gr eldm

 

[Lefty2506]

I enjoyed all of your post except for wanting to embarrass someone. That’s not the purpose to be involved in any kind of competition.

Poor choice of words on my part. I never went with the purpose of embarrassing someone. The overwhelming majority of the competitors are just WAY too nice to ever want to do something like that. It just felt good to show up with "budget" gear and beat the guys running the newest and best gear on the market. There was usually that one guy though, who would get especially frustrated that someone not only beat him, but did it with "entry level" equipment. Everybody likes to embarrass that guy

 

[Lefty2506]

Agreed. Think about it. To make it balance you need to fill the whole jacket. Once you fill the whole jacket it's not going to be 62gr and it's not going to be a varmint bullet. It's going to be a 75gr eldm

Maybe the answer is to swage a hollow point into the lead core so that the projectile still has the same amount of lead in it (ie 62gr), but when the ogive is formed, the lead will be pushed farther up towards the tip like a regular poly tipped bullet. It would just be a much bigger cavity than normal. Might not be as forgiving as some of the other bullets out there, but should improve the stability while maintaining the high BC and presumably the rapid expansion on varmints.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Poor choice of words on my part. I never went with the purpose of embarrassing someone. The overwhelming majority of the competitors are just WAY to nice to ever want to do something like that. It just felt good to show up with "budget" gear and beat the guys running the newest and best gear on the market. There was usually that one guy though, who would get especially frustrated that someone not only beat him, but did it with "entry le" equipment. Everybody likes to embarrass that guy

I totally figured that’s what you meant!
It is a great feeling putting all the hard work into your loads and practice and getting rewarded for it.

 

[SteveOak]

I have to jump in on this. I really like both companies and I shoot the heck out of both of their bullets. I do agree that Sierra is generally last to pop out with a new bullet design, but why try and re-invent the wheel and spend a lot of $ into R&D when another company is going to do it for you. We are not talking about bullets that will cover the cost of R&D anytime in the next 5-7 years here. They just don't make enough profit on a bullet that only run $0.25-$0.27 each.

We saw the exact same evolution on tipped bullets with Nosler first to the plate (To the best of my recollection which is not as good as it used to be) followed by Hornady and then by Sierra (who was very late to that party).

Then we saw Hornady change the composition of the tips, followed by Sierra, and we are still waiting on Nosler. We are also all waiting on Sierra to come out with a bonded or homogeneous bullet and I don't think they will any time soon, I would not bother if I were Sierra as that is not who they are targeting for a consumer base. I would be all over it just to test and play with them, but that is my job and I'm that kinda shooter anyway.

While over all Sierra is pretty well in the same price mix as HDY and NSLR, they used to be the lowest. Trying to compare them to a higher end bullet maker like Berger is quite disingenuous at best. Does Berger (or Hammer or Cutting Edge) make a better bullet? Yes. Do they cost a lot more? Yes. Is it worth it? Only your rifle will tell you.

Just my penny o' thought off the cuff

I am not aware of Sierra changing the composition of the tips. Hornady did when they FINALLY discovered the tips were melting.

 

[reed1911]

Yes, Sierra changed the tips.