177 gr. Sierra Match King

[Curmudgeon]

I was looking for bullets and saw this offering and wanted to know if anyone has experience with this bullet? This was on Grafs.com. This was not listed on the Sierra site. Is this something new like the 169 gr. .308 smk? I include a picture of the ad. Please let me know if this product is known to anyone. Thanks

 

[karrarararararar]

Brand new. Supposedly the same BC as the 175 TMK. Blue Collar Reloading has them for $19 cheaper.

Sierra 30cal 177gr HPBT-CN

Product Information Caliber: 30cal Bullet Diameter: 0.308” Bullet Weight: 177 Grains OAL: TBD Bullet Style: Hollow Point Boat Tail - Closed Nose MatchKing G1 BC: 545 Part Number: 2277 2277MP 2277C Quantity: 100 250 500

www.bluecollarreloading.com

 

[Ned Ludd]

Brand new. Supposedly the same BC as the 175 TMK. Blue Collar Reloading has them for $19 cheaper.

Sierra 30cal 177gr HPBT-CN

Product Information Caliber: 30cal Bullet Diameter: 0.308” Bullet Weight: 177 Grains OAL: TBD Bullet Style: Hollow Point Boat Tail - Closed Nose MatchKing G1 BC: 545 Part Number: 2277 2277MP 2277C Quantity: 100 250 500

www.bluecollarreloading.com

Where did you find the info about the two having about the same BC? Just curious because the Blue Collar site states the BC has yet to be determined (G1 BC TBD). I would suspect with the added 2 gr weight and being pointed (i.e. closed meplat), the BC of the 177s should be about 4 to 6% higher, or perhaps even a bit more, than that of the 175 SMK.

 

[Doom]

Sierra put the bullet up on there site early in the pandemic for a few weeks and some retail sites had it. It was then dropped from the site and shortly thereafter the 169 SMK was put up. I suspect these are holdovers but Sierra may be planning on making them in quantity. Looking at the difference between the BC of the 175 TMK and the 168 TMK I don't think the difference warrants having both weights or but that's just my opinion. I suspect that the new closed tip 169 if popular will replace the 168 TMK eventually.

 

[karrarararararar]

Where did you find the info about the two having about the same BC? Just curious because the Blue Collar site states the BC has yet to be determined (G1 BC TBD). I would suspect with the added 2 gr weight and being pointed (i.e. closed meplat), the BC of the 177s should be about 4 to 6% higher, or perhaps even a bit more, than that of the 175 SMK.

I read a post a while back, I believe it was on Snipers Hide. They said they called Sierra and that is what they were told. The 175 TMK's BC is ~9.4% higher than the 175 SMK, so it's a pretty good increase if the 177's BC is indeed on par with the TMK.

 

[Ned Ludd]

I read a post a while back, I believe it was on Snipers Hide. They said they called Sierra and that is what they were told. The 175 TMK's BC is ~9.4% higher than the 175 SMK, so it's a pretty good increase if the 177's BC is indeed on par with the TMK.

Sorry, I missed the "TMK" part. Even though I highlighted it, my mind apparently insisted on seeing "SMK". LOL

If this bullet indeed has a BC close to that of the 175 TMK, it might be a very good option for those wanting a bullet in the 175-180 gr range. The TMKs seem to be pretty particular with respect to seating depth, likely due to the secant ogive. Presumably, the 177s would have a tangent ogive like the other SMKs and be pretty forgiving to tune.

 

[fkimble@charter.net]

From the pic, it looks like a VLD design instead of the typical Matchking nose. VLD's can sometimes be a little picky trying to tune them.

Frank

 

[762willdo]

169 and 177 came out together to increase the BC for LR shooting……

 

[Curmudgeon]

Got message back from Sierra, very nice and speedy. Here is info from them.

 

[Straightshooter1]

I just got hold of some of these as they are available at various places now. I took some measurements of the various parts of the bullet to put that data into QuickLoad to give me some idea where I'll start with the AR-Comp that I've had such good luck with and have plenty of data from other bullets. Since I just wanted a little data to start with, I loaded up10 rounds with 40.5 grs of AR-Comp in Peterson SRP brass with CCI-400's primer, seating with a COAL of 2.297 (.020 off the lands for my particular chamber) and got an average MV of 2635 fps. with the ambient temperature at 93°F. Groups were not good, but I wasn't really expecting them to be. Now, I'll run an OCW test with .003 increments from 39.9 up to no more than 42.0 grs and see what the target tells me. And just as an additional look-see, I'll load up some Lapua SRP brass with Fed 205M primers and the 40.5 gr of AR-Comp.

Note: These 177's, like the 169's are pointed. Though they're pointed like the 169's, unlike my 169's, this box of 100 177's have quite a bit of variance in their OAL's. But BTO's are quite consistent.

 

[Ned Ludd]

A friend recently obtained a few of these 177s and loaded them for a local F-Class 600 yd match in his .308 Win F-TR rifle. I was squadded with him and they shot pretty well, in fact, remarkably well, IMO. As noted, the 177 is an updated version of the venerable 175 SMK, and are pointed during the production process, providing a markedly higher BC than unpointed 175s (G7 BC of ~.277 vs .243). I don't know any of his load specifics, but they shot quite well. Obviously, they don't have quite the same BC as one of the .30 cal 200 gr bullets, but I've shot lighter 168 Hybrids in F-TR matches in the past and done reasonably well. Increased velocity from a lighter weight bullet can make up for some amount of BC deficit, as long as the precision is good.

 

[Straightshooter1]

For anyone wanting to add the 177 SMK and some data on it to their QuickLoad program bullet files, this data that I've put together seems to work well . . . at least until an official update that might include better data: